MINOR FOREST PRODUCTS MANAGEMENT - PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS IN REMOTE HIGH-ALTITUDE VILLAGES OF CENTRAL HIMALAYA

Problems and prospects of minor forest resource uses and management in three remote high elevation villages in the Indian Central Himalaya w ere studied. Of the 45 species constituting the minor forest product r esource base, medicinal plants (14 species), wild edibles (ten species ) and bamboos (four species) were important both for local use and for the rural economy. A range of tree species had fodder and organic man ure value. The management practices differ in the government-owned for ests and village community-owned forests. Local communities are more c onscious of sustainable utilization of the forests they own and manage . Indirect economic benefits from forests were much higher than the di rect benefits. The margin of profits to the villagers from minor fores t resources could be improved by appropriate changes in the extraction , regeneration and marketing systems, together with improvement in tra ditional knowledge in terms of the industrial values of the products a nd empowerment of local communities.