The Importance of Non-Timber Forest Products in Tribal Livelihood: A Case Study of Santal Community in Purulia District, West Bengal

Abstract

Karkatia village in Purulia district is a tribal dominated village in the forest fringe areas. Lack of agricultural land, unfertile soil, lack of irrigation and poor communication compel the local people to depend completely on the forest ecosystem for their daily needs. Collections and sell of different non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for domestic and commercial purposes are considered as important means of their livelihood. The tribal people seasonally collect various NTFPs to satisfy the needs for their food, fodder and also medicine. The present study tries to explore the importance of NTFPs on livelihood of the tribal people in the forest fringe areas. Continuous field survey and interview were done with a structured questionnaire for data collection. The nature and pattern of NTFP utilization by the tribal people for domestic and commercial uses have been estimated indirectly. Result reveals that firewood and Sal leaves are the most important NTFPs which contribute significantly to the tribal livelihood. Hence, conservation of these forest products is to be given priority in forest management. Strategically, on the basis of information thus collected form field survey in NTFP resources obtainaed in the local Sal dominated forest ecosystem have been ranked according to their importance in tribal livelihood. Such importance has been assessed in terms of monetary value, volume of collection, availability and uses.