Guest Editorial: Variegated NTFP Resource Deserves Creative Management

Abstract

Bringing non-timber forest products (NTFPs) into the mainstream forest management and the provincial economy is a challenge of major proportions. Many of the factors that affect harvesting, marketing, and maintenance of NTFP crops—a subset of non-timber forest resources (NTFRs)—are hidden in unrecorded traditional uses by First Nations, in the informal and underground economy of subsistence harvesters, in recreational pursuits, and in scientific obscurity. What evidence we have for the value to society of NTFPs is often so lightly documented that it is difficult to make a case for attention amid the clamour arising from traditional resource industries. Making room in our forest management for poorly documented resources that exhibit cultural, economic, ecological, and management complexity demands a high level of effort. Complexity is not, however, a reason to ignore the great potential of treating our forest land as a richly variegated resource that will benefit from an equally variegated approach to management.