Abstract
We identified 67 and 21 NTFP-yielding plant and animal species, respectively, in a reserve forest in Cachar district of Assam. We recorded globally threatened species listed by IUCN as Critically Endangered (plant species Dipterocarpus turbinatus), Vulnerable (plant species Aquillaria malaccensis), Endangered (animal species Hoolock hoolock, Indotestudo elongata and Manis pentadactyla), and Vulnerable (animal species Nilssonia hurum and Rusa unicolor). The whole plant or animal and/or their various parts were used as food or medicine, in house construction, magico-religious activities and others. While some NTFPs were harvested throughout the year, others were harvested seasonally. A comprehensive NTFP policy, along with scientific measures for regeneration, restoration and augmentation of NTFP-yielding plants and animals, would help in addressing the conflicting demands of conservation and livelihood in the forests of this area.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boot RGA. 1997. Extraction of non-timber forest products from tropical rain forests. Does diversity come at a price? Netherland Journal of Agricultural Science, 45(4): 439–450.
Choudhury A. 1997. Checklist of the Mammals of Assam. Guwahati: Gibbon Books, p. 103.
Choudhury A. 2000. The Birds of Assam. Guwahati: Gibbon Books and WWF, p. 240.
Dattagupta S, Gupta A, Ghose M. 2010. Non-Timber Forest Products of the Inner Line Reserve Forest, Cachar, Assam, India: dependency and usage pattern of forest dwellers. Assam University Journal of Science and Technology: Biological and Environmental Sciences, 6(1): 21–27.
De Beer JH, McDermott MJ. 1996. The Economic Value of Non-Timber Forest Products in South East Asia. Amsterdam: The Netherlands Committee for IUCN, p. 197.
Emery MR. 1998. Invisible livelihoods: non timber forest products in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. New Brunswick: Rutgers University.
Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). 1995. Non Wood Forest Products for Rural Income and Sustainable Forestry. Non-Wood Forest Products. 7:127.
Ref ID-16 Food and Agricultural Organization, Rome, Italy. Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep.
Gupta A. 2000. Forests of Barak Valley, Assam: history, management and status as wildlife habitats. In: A. Arunachalam, M.L. Khan (eds), Sustainable Management of Forests-India. Dehradun: International Book Distributors, pp. 197–212.
Hegde R, Suryaprakash S, Achoth L, Bawa KS. 1996. Extraction of non-timber forest products in the forests of Biligiri Rangan Hills, India, 1: contribution to rural income. Economic Botany, 50(3): 243–250.
Hunter WW. 1879. A Statistical Account of Assam. Vol.2. Guwahati: Spectrum Publications, p. 490.
Iqbal, M. 1993. International Trade in Non-Wood Forest Products. An Overview. FO: Misc/93/11 Working Paper. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Rome. Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/v9631e/V9631e08.htm.
Joshi NR, Singh V. 2010. Non-Timber Forest Products (Ntfps) used by Tharu tribe of Kanchanpur District of Far-Western Nepal. New York Science Journal, 3(11): 111–119.
Kanjilal UN, Das A, Kanjilal PC. 1934–1940. Flora of Assam. Delhi: Avon Book Company, Vol I, p.184; Vol II, p. 409; Vol III, p. 578; Vol IV, p. 377; Vol V, p. 480.
Kataki SK. 1983. Some rare plants in Khasi and Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya. In: SK Jain, RR Rao (eds), An Assessment of Threatened Plants of India. Howrah, India: Botanical Survey of India, pp. 146–150.
Kutum A, Sharma R, Hazarika D. 2011. An ethnobotanical study of Mishing tribe living in fringe villages of Kaziranga National Park of Assam, India. Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Sciences, 1(4): 45–61.
Maithani GP. 1994. Management perspectives of minor forest produce. MFP News, October–December.
Ministry of Environment and Forests. 2010–2011. Report to the People on Environment and Forest. Government of India, p. 34.
Mishra M, Kotwal PC, Prasad C. 2009. Harvesting of medicinal plants in the forest of Central India and its impact on quality of raw materials: a case of Nagpur District, India. Ecoprint, 16: 35–42.
Mohammed GH. 1999. Non-timber forest products in Ontario: an overview. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario Forest Research Institute, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Forest Research Information Paper No. 145, p. 64.
Moulik S. 1997. The Grasses and Bamboos of India. Vol-2. New Delhi: Scientific Publication, p. 700.
Muraleedharan PK, Sasidharan N, Kumar BM, Sreenivasan MA, Sreethalakshmi KK. 2005. Non-timber forest products in the Western Ghats of India: floristic attributes, extraction and regeneration. Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 17(2): 243–257.
Murali KS, Uma Shankar, Uma Shaanker R, Ganeshaiah KN, Bawa KS. 1996. Extraction of non-timber forest products in the forests of Biligiri Rangan Hills, India. 2. Impact of NTFP extraction on regeneration, population structure, and species composition. Economic Botany, 50(3): 252–269
Myers N, Mittermeier RA, Mittermeier CG, da Fonseca GAB, Kent J. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, 403: 853–858.
Nath AJ, Das AK. 2010. Gregarious flowering of a long-lived tropical semelparous bamboo Schizostachyum dullooa in Assam. Current Science, 99(2): 154–155.
Pandey RK, Saini SK. 2007. Edible plants of tropical forests among tribal communities of Madhya Pradesh. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 6(1): 185–190.
Poffenberger M, McGean B, Ravindranath NH, Gadgil M. 1992. Field Methods Manual Vol I. Diagnostic Tools for Supporting Joint Forest Management Systems. New Delhi: Society for promotion of wasteland development, p. 101.
Raunkiaer C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, p. 632.
Sahani KC. 1998. The Book of Indian Trees. Bombay: Oxford University Press, p. 230.
Shiva MP. 1995. Collection, Utilization and Marketing of Medicinal Plants from Forests of India. In: PB Durst, A. Bishop (eds), Beyond Timber: Social, Economic and Cultural Dimensions of non-Wood Forest Products In Asia and the Pacific. Rome: FAO, pp. 271–281.
Shukla RP, Ramakrishnan PS. 1984. Biomass allocation strategies and productivity of tropical tree related successional status. Forest Ecology and Management, 7: 119–132.
TERI. 2004. Sustainable exploitation, cultivation and marketing linkage of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Andhra Pradesh. Project Report No-2003 SF 63. Available at: http://forest.ap.nic.in/JFM%20CFM/CFM/Special%20Reports/NTFPs%20in%20AP%20%20by%20TERI/NTFP%20Final%20Report%20July-04.pdf.
Ticktin T. 2004. The ecological consequences of harvesting non-timber forest products. Journal of Applied Ecology, 41(4): 11–21.
Uma shaanker R, Ganeshaiah KN, Krishnan S, Ramya R, Meera C, Aravind NA, Kumar A, Rao D, Vanaraj G, Ramachandra J, Gauthier R, Ghazoul J, Poole N, Chinnappa Reddy BV. 2004. Livelihood gain and ecological cost of non-timber forest product dependence: assessing the roles of dependence, ecological knowledge and market structure in three contrasting human and ecological settings in South India. Environmental Conservation, 31(3): 242–253.
Uprety Y, Boon EK, Poudel RC, Shrestha KK, Rajbhandary S, Ahenkan A, Tiwari NN. 2010. Non-timber Forest Products in Bardiya District of Nepal: Indigenous Use, Trade and Conservation. Journal of Human Ecology, 30(3): 143–158.
Vantomme P, Markkula A, Leslie RN. 2002. Non-wood forest products in 15 countries of tropical Asia: an overview. EC-FAO partnership programme (2000–2002), Project GCP/RAS/173/EC, p. 200.
Vasquez R, Gentry AH. 1989. Use and misuse of forest harvested fruits in the Iquitos area. Conservation Biology, 3(4): 350–361.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Corresponding editor: Yu Lei
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dattagupta, S., Gupta, A. & Ghose, M. Diversity of non-timber forest products in Cachar District, Assam, India. Journal of Forestry Research 25, 463–470 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-014-0477-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-014-0477-7