ForestHarvest - A closer look at some wild harvests businesses

ForestHarvest: non-timber forest products in Scotland

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ForestHarvest businesses - a closer look

The Trading section as a whole looks at the business opportunities that wild-harvested products offer for freelance gatherers, forest owners and managers, traders, restauranteurs, brewers and other manufacturers.

This page looks at a few examples in a little more detail:

	Scottish brewers are selling ales and wine made with spruce needles, birch sap, brambles and elderberries.
	Collectors are gathering moss from Scottish forests under arrangement with the owners, for use e.g. in hanging baskets.
	Forest Enterprise is selling wild Scottish venison under the FSC 'sustainably managed forests' certification scheme.
	Wildflower bulbs are harvested every year in Scottish woodlands and sold to nurseries and garden centres.
	Pheasants are reared in woodlands on several Scottish estates, and shot for sport and for food.
	Wild food dealers are selling wild mushrooms by the tonne to supermarkets, and exporting wild garlic leaves to the USA.
	Foliage collectors are gathering rhododendron, ivy, noble fir and other conifers for use in wreaths and displays.
	Seed collectors are gathering native tree and wildflower material for nurseries specialising in the propagation of native species.

Case studies

Moniack Castle Wines

Borders Bulbs

If you would like to include your business as a case study on this site, please contact us.

Limiting factors

One of the principal factors limiting the extent of NTFP production in Scotland is their economic viability. It is very hard to compete with countries where the same plants occur but labour costs are lower. With the expansion of the European Union, and potential immigration from Eastern Europe (where there is a strong tradition of NTFP collection), this situation may change. This could lead to increasing concerns over sustainability.