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Non-timber Forest Products (NTFP)

Non-timber Forest Products

 

The Non-timber Forest Products (NTFP)is one of the fastest growing areas in today's forest sector. Basically, NTFP's are products derived from natural sources that can be used for food, medicinals, decoratives and other uses. These products include maple syrup, berry-based jams and jellies, wild edible mushrooms, Christmas wreaths, and ground hemlock. You can learn more about non-timber forest products by visiting the sites listed on this page.


What Are NTFPs?

The Manitoba Agricultural, Food and Rural Initiative has an excellent web site on NTFP's. The Open Your Eyes site includes four insightful videos that explore a wide range of NTFP products and opportunities for the Boreal Forest. Most of the species examined in the video can also be found or grown on PEI.

Where can I Buy NTFPs?

From Our Atlantic Woods, is a free publication designed to increase awareness of the non-timber forest products produced and sold in the four Atlantic provinces, and to build connections between producers and customers. The range of NTFP products and services produced in this region is truly astounding and as more people seek local, high-value natural products, the sector is likely to grow.

Another NTFP resource that many Island land owners find useful is the Non-Timber Forest Products Photo Gallery. While most of the images are New Brunswick based, they are also applicable to PEI forests. 

 

Edibles


Forest Nut Crops

Maple Syrup

Medicinals


Ground Hemlock (Taxus canadensis):

Ground Hemlock is small evergreen shrub that grows in many Island woodlots. While its name seems to indicate otherwise, it not a true hemlock but is a member of the Yew (Taxus) family of trees and shrubs. Ground Hemlock foliage and branches are harvested to provide material for the production of chemicals called taxanes which are used to the manufacture of several different cancer fighting drugs.

Everyone involved in the commercial harvest and sale of Ground Hemlock on PEI, except land owners who only harvest on their own lands, is required to take mandatory training courses, become licensed and maintain records.

Other Forest Plants:

Island Woodland Plants is an introduction to forest plants on Prince Edward Island. Although trees are the most obvious plants in any woodland, this book focuses on common and not so common flowering plants, club mosses and ferns found is Island woodlands.

 

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