A nontimber forest product is any useful good from a forest that does not require cutting the tree for wood, such as nuts, berries, mushrooms, medicinal plants, maple syrup, resins, or foliage.

What “nontimber forest product” means

  • It refers to forest products other than timber, so the tree itself is not harvested for lumber.
  • Common categories include foods (nuts, berries, mushrooms, maple syrup), plant materials (foliage, bark, cones), and other goods like resins and medicinal plants.

Simple example products

If you are choosing which product is a nontimber forest product, typical correct answers include:

  • Wild berries or wild fruit.
  • Mushrooms gathered from the forest floor.
  • Maple syrup tapped from trees.
  • Nuts such as chestnuts or hazelnuts from forest trees.
  • Medicinal plants like ginseng or other forest herbs.

By contrast, sawn wood, lumber, or logs are timber products, not nontimber forest products.

TL;DR: If the product comes from a forest but doesn’t involve cutting the tree down for wood (like berries, mushrooms, or maple syrup), it is a nontimber forest product.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.