The keys to unlocking the bioeconomy with non-timber forest products.
Abstract
Almost one-third of the world’s nations are taking action to transit to a bioeconomy. Most strategies focus on eliminating fossil fuel dependence by improving the use of forest biomass. While important, this draws attention away from the billions of people worldwide directly consuming or selling non-timber forest products (NTFPs), providing other opportunities for transiting to a bioeconomy. We contend an urgent need to move beyond thinking of the bioeconomy as a tool primarily to reduce the use of petrochemicals to include common daily uses of sustainably sourced natural resources. This book shows there is no common bioeconomic experience but a multiplicity of them. Unlocking the bioeconomy for NTFPs requires leadership and knowledge development involving all value chain stakeholders, from primary producers to urban consumers, public and private cooperation to ensure sustainable resource management, high-quality value-added products, and better benefit-sharing. While the pathways to a forest-based bioeconomy with NTFPs are not well defined, the analyses in this book provide a set of keys that help unlock possibilities. Keys include country-level specific examples of transition processes and models, adapting forest management to include NTFPs, improving the infrastructure to collect and report volumes and values, and increasing benefits for primary producers.