Lumber for home building is not the only product that northern forests provide to us. There are many other important products and benefits that come from our forests. They are called non-timber or non-industrial forest products.

Non Timber Forest products (NTFP) have been defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as:

• products of biological origin other than wood derived from forests, other wooded land and trees outside forests;
  
• that may be gathered from the wild, or produced in forest plantations, agroforestry schemes and from trees outside forests.

A widely accepted definition is: "all goods derived from forests of both plant and animal origin other than timber and firewood'.

The list of products covered by this definition varies widely in Canada, and may include mushrooms, wild berries, floral greens, medicinal herbs, crafts, botanical and landscaping products. In some parts of the world, wild animals are important NTFP's..

Aboriginal peoples of the North (the Dene and Metis peoples) have a great body of knowledge about these products and have harvested them in a sustainable manner for thousands of years. Much of what we know about how to gather and use the products comes from them.

In this section we will present some information on the different non-timber forest products that our northern forests provide. Click on a link in the left column for more.