Contribution of non-timber forest products (NTFPS) to economy: a case study of Karnataka

Forests provide wide range of goods and services, which have significant economic value. These include fertile soil and wood, non-timber products, recreation, landscape value and a wide range of environmental benefits such as climate regulation, watershed protection and the conservation of biodiversity. The national accounts statistics include the monetary value of only a small fraction of the total economic value of forests (e.g. timber, recorded NTFPs and firewood). Inclusion of other benefits would reflect the total quantum of contribution of forests. Presently, the officially extracted Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) are only included in the estimation of the state domestic product (SDP). The value of NTFPs collected by the local population which is unrecorded is not included in the estimation of SDP. The paper tries to estimate the value of NTFPs collected by the local people across different types of forests in Karnataka. It shows that on an average 55 per cent of households who are living in the vicinity of forest, collect these products. The average estimated value of NTFPs collected by households is Rs.7427 per household during the year 2012–13. The value of NTFPs collected by households varies from Rs. 16970 in Tropical Thorn forest to Rs. 3762 in Evergreen forest per hectare. The total estimated value of NTFP collected by the local people (unrecorded) is Rs. 2044 crores which is more than 20 times higher than recorded value of NTFPsin Karnataka.