Status, Utilization and Economic Valuation of Non-timber Forest Products of Arunachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Non-timber forest products are important component of subsistence and livelihood of tribal communities living in and near forests. This is of particular significance in the state of Arunachal Pradesh having more than 80% of geographical area under forest cover and predominantly inhabited by tribal people. Purpose of this study was to document the status and utilization pattern and to assess the economic value of NTFPs of the state. Present study was carried out in eight districts of Arunachal Pradesh viz., Changlang, East Kameng, Lower Subansiri, Tawang, Tirap, Upper Siang, West Kameng and West Siang covering 34 villages and 350 households. Altogether, 135 plant based and 36 animal based non-timber forest products were recorded. Among plant based NTFPs, 54 species were collected for leaves, 30 for stem and 22 for fruits. Most of the animal based NTFPs (93%) were collected/hunted for food. Average 20∼40 kg of NTFPs was collected annually per household. Maximum plant based NTFP collection was recorded from West Siang followed by West Kameng and Tawang. Similarly, highest collection of animal based NTFPs was recorded from West Siang followed by Tirap and Lower Subansiri. NTFP contributed more than 50% of annual income of the people of East Kameng, Tirap, Lower Subansiri and Upper Siang districts. An illiterate and unemployed person with minimum agricultural land was more dependent on forests for his livelihood than a literate jobholder. The study concludes that a large section of people of Arunachal Pradesh are dependent on NTFPs for their livelihood however due to its unscientific harvesting, the availability of NTFPs is receding with time. There is an urgent need to promote cultivation and scientific harvesting of NTFPs in order to conserve the plant and animal diversity of this global biodiversity hotspot and for ensuring livelihood security of the people living in this area.

Cornelian cherry (Cornus masL.) fruit as a non-timber forest product of Arasbaran biosphere reserve forests in Northwest of Iran

“…Our fi nding that the contribution of average net income from harvesting Cornelian cherry fruit to total average annual households' livelihood was 6.9 (ranging from of 3.6 to 7.3%) differs from that of Ghanbari et al (2011) who reported that in households with lower annual income, the proportion of income from fruit harvesting and sale to annual income was about 31%. Although a study on the contribution of non-timber forest products to annual income of the family has been reported to be more than fi fty percent (Sharma et al, 2015). In another investigation, Melaku et al (2014) found that the contribution of forest coffee, honey and spices was 47% of annual household income.…”

The Role of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Tribal Economy of Jharkhand, India

“…NTFPs based incomes vary across tribal households depending upon the degree of effort expended and contribute significantly to the total household income . The findings are not unusual and a significant number of studies (Salehi et al, 2010;Opaluwa et al, 2011;Singh and Quli, 2011;Saha and Sundriyal, 2012;Olaniyi et al, 2013;Bedia, 2014;Sharma et al, 2015;Islam and Quli, 2015;Shrey et al, 2017) across the world have demonstrated the dependency of forest dwellers on NTFPs for both subsistence and cash income.…”

Social Capital in Mangrove Management: A Case Study in Lampung Province, Indonesia

“…The communities in the three villages are allowed to utilize non-timber forest products, but the har- vesting of timber from the mangroves is prohibited. Non-timber forest products are important component of subsistence and livelihood of communities living in and surrounding the forests (Sharma et al 2015). However, the utilization of the non-timber forest products was not optimally performed by the communities in the three villages.…”