TY - JOUR

T1 - Environmental products

T2 - a definition, a typology, and a goodbye to non-timber forest products

AU - Smith-Hall, C.

AU - Chamberlain, J.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 Commonwealth Forestry Association. All rights reserved.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The material relationships between nature and people are complex and rich, ranging from support to current consumption to safety nets and poverty reduction. The term 'non-timber forest products' (in many different guises) has been used for decades in attempts to group a wide range of products, such as barks, bulbs, caterpillars, leaves, and fruits, without consensus on the definition. Here we argue that a different approach to product classification would be beneficial. We propose the term 'environmental products' defined simply and eloquently as "tangible biotic and abiotic goods gathered from any biome or created through synthetic production". We propose a typology with six dimensions: product type, mode of production, purpose of production, scale of production, resource tenure, and biome of origination. The typology allows for consistent and transparent delimitation of environmental products useful to actors with varying objectives. We apply the typology to two cases, illustrating that the older terminology is no longer needed.

AB - The material relationships between nature and people are complex and rich, ranging from support to current consumption to safety nets and poverty reduction. The term 'non-timber forest products' (in many different guises) has been used for decades in attempts to group a wide range of products, such as barks, bulbs, caterpillars, leaves, and fruits, without consensus on the definition. Here we argue that a different approach to product classification would be beneficial. We propose the term 'environmental products' defined simply and eloquently as "tangible biotic and abiotic goods gathered from any biome or created through synthetic production". We propose a typology with six dimensions: product type, mode of production, purpose of production, scale of production, resource tenure, and biome of origination. The typology allows for consistent and transparent delimitation of environmental products useful to actors with varying objectives. We apply the typology to two cases, illustrating that the older terminology is no longer needed.

KW - classification

KW - definitions

KW - non-wood forest products

KW - taxonomy

KW - terminology

U2 - 10.1505/146554823838028247

DO - 10.1505/146554823838028247

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85182917414

VL - 25

SP - 491

EP - 502

JO - International Forestry Review

JF - International Forestry Review

SN - 1465-5489

IS - 4

ER -