Non-wood forest products (NWFP) from the Sundarban Reserved Forest (SRF) play a major role in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who live near its boundaries. These products are harvested for both subsistence and commercial purposes and represent an important source of income for land-poor families, especially during the winter months of food deficit.

Golpata (Nypa fruticans) is a regal palm that grows in monotypic stands along the banks of the numerous rivers and canals that bisect the dense mangrove forests of the Sundarban. It is by far the most important NWFP in the region. Every year, from December to May, thousands of "bawalis" (traditional forest users) collect an average of 60,000 metric tons of fronds from throughout the SRF. This number, however, could be a fraction of the actual amount harvested. The fronds are sold at several trade depots in the adjoining districts and used as a traditional roofing material throughout the country. The fruits are used to make a local wine.

Other species are important as well. Hantal (Phoenix paludosa) is a palm used in construction as rafters and framework. It is not as popular as golpata and is harvested in much smaller quantities at an average of 3000 metric tons per year. An average of 3000 metric tons of a variety of grasses are annually harvested from the SRF as well. This includes malia (Cyperus javanicus), nal (Eriochlea procera) and ulu (Imperata cylindrica). Malia is used for making mats, nal for making baskets and fences, and ulu for thatch.

Goals/Approach of the NWFP Component

Our initial assessment indicates that there appears to be no outstanding sustainability issues for NWFP’s in the SRF, although some stands/populations have reportedly been degraded from intensive and/or improper harvesting. From a biodiversity conservation perspective, it is the secondary impacts of NWFP harvesting that represent the greater threat. Simply having more people in the forest for protracted periods of time can be disruptive and offers opportunities for poaching and other types of destructive behaviour. Large-scale harvesting can also lead to bank erosion and habitat degradation of fish, amphibians, crustaceans and other riparian fauna. At present, however, we do not completely understand the role of NWFP’s in the ecology of the Sundarban.

The crucial issue is that there are no viable income alternatives for the hundreds of thousands of poor people who live around the SRF and are almost totally dependent on its resources, including NWFP’s. Thus, the long-term goal of the NWFP component echoes that of SBCP: to improve the livelihoods of impoverished users by introducing viable economic activities outside of the SRF. In doing so, it is hoped that the overall pressure on the SRF will be reduced and the forest, wildlife and environmental services it provides will be preserved. Knowing that this can take several years - in fact, decades - to accomplish, the short-term strategy is to:

• Evaluate the effectiveness of current Forest Department management practices and recommend changes, if necessary.
   

• Identify value-addition opportunities for species currently harvested on a sustainable basis in order to bring greater economic benefits to the impoverished communities in the area.
   

• Identify and restore degraded stands of important NWFP’s inside the SRF.
   

• Search for areas outside the SRF to produce golpata and other non-wood species in a more intensive and accessible fashion through community and private forestry programs.
   

• Investigate viable income and livelihood alternatives based outside the SRF for those directly engaged in NWFP harvesting.