Indicators for a European Cross-country State-of-the-Art Assessment of Non-timber Forest Products and Services

Abstract

This paper reviews selected quantitative indicators designed to help in the comparison and classification of non-timber forest products and services in Europe. These indicators have been based on fragmentary data available through COST Action E30 (phase one) country reports. Two preliminary sets of indicators are suggested, which are applied to four selected countries from a larger survey as examples. A general description of the objectives and the theoretical background for the cross-country comparison is presented, and their usefulness and limitations are examined in these examples. The market potential of NTFP&S is unequally developed within and distributed throughout the countries that have been included in this sample survey. In this first attempt to sort out the importance NTFP&S have within the national economies of these selected countries, it became obvious that national and regional imbalances are major limitations for comparison. However, NTFP&S are relevant, according to particular regions and the social strata of the society that deal with them, predominantly for rural livelihoods.