A new study based in Baltimore, MD has documented that many urban residents collect, use, and even sell urban Non-Timber Forest Products such as fruits,nuts, mushrooms, medicinal plants, vines, seedlings, and decorative greens
and cones. These products provide important economic, nutritional,recreational, educational, and cultural benefits to residents, and represent an often over-looked value of the urban forest.
Foresters and researchers have long documented a number of benefits provided by urban trees and forests from pollution control to wildlife habitat to beauty. But until recently, scant attention has been paid to the role and value of products from the urban forest. In an effort to overcome this gap in knowledge, Community Resources, a regional non-profit organization, undertook a detailed study during 1998 and 1999 with support from the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council. In this study, Community Resources staff conducted over 100 interviews, field observations, and market visits to uncover the uses, benefits, and values - both monetary and personal - of urban non-timber products.
We hope this project will help environmental professionals, urban land managers, and policy-makers gain a better understanding for the potential importance of urban forest products, and that this will lead to better policies and management strategies that promote sustainable urban forest
use.
Key findings:
- Over 103 products are currently collected by individuals and organizationsin Baltimore City.
- These 103 include: edible products (43%), medicinal products (8%),horticultural or nursery products (31%), and craft and decorative products(18%).
- Collectors include public agencies, non-profits, and a wide diversity of individuals, including African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, and European-Americans.
- Products are collected from street trees, park trees, yards, vacant lots,roadsides, and forests.
- We calculate the Direct Net Economic Value of 60 products.
- The value of products ranges from $0.30 per pound for Pokeweed to over $10 per pound for some seeds and woodland mushrooms.
- Net annual per tree values range from $4 per year for an average mulberry tree to over $103 per year for mature Chinese chestnut, apricot, and peach trees.
- Urban forest product collection also provides important educational,nutritional, cultural, and recreational benefits, which we did not include in our dollar values.
- Key issues surrounding urban NTFP collection include the lack of collector empowerment, potential conflicts between collectors and property owners,health and toxicity issues, and sustainable harvest and ecological impact issues.
For more information, please contact: Community Resources, 4900 Wetheredsville Rd, Baltimore, MD 21207, USA
Phone: +1-410-448-4900
Fax: +1-410-448-0874
www.communityresources.org/ntfp.htm
