Forests represent an important sour

Forests represent an important source of fuel, food, building
materials, and medicine. The men, and especially the women, in many
forest villages spend long hours in the forest gathering a multitude of
forest products, some ofwhich are consumed at home,while others are
sold. Among landless families, forest related activities might represent
the primary source of income.While it is difficult to estimate the
number of rural Indians primarily dependent on public forestlands for
cash and goods in kind, it is likely to be huge.One “minor” forest product
available in plenty in the tropical forests of India, the leaves of the tendu
plant (Diospyrosmelanoxylon), used towrap traditional cigarettes (bidi),
generates revenues of over $300 million annually. If the uncalculated
value of the fibres, medicinal and food sources, oils and essence in
immense variety had been available, it is likely that the income from
“minor” forest products in many forest districts would make timber
revenues appear insignificant by comparison. However, historically
professional foresters have overlooked these products and concentrated
their attention on timber extraction. Forest communities have suffered
as the forests are logged and the habitat, which supports their forest
product gathering enterprises, happens to be disrupted