ForestHarvest: non-timber forest products in Scotland

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What is a "wild harvests" business?

When the ForestHarvest website was first launched, it focused strictly on "non-timber forest products" (NTFPs) - the many foods, craft materials and useful products which Scotland's woodlands yield, outwith the conventional timber crop.

The unintended nature of these products is part of what makes them "wild". There's usually a sense of discovery in gathering them, and even in the case of a managed coppice crop there's a strong sense of connection with a natural habitat.

When we went out to talk to people running businesses using NTFPs, it became obvious that for them there was no distinction between wild products gathered within and outwith forests. Following the thinking of the 2006 report, "Wild Harvests from Scottish woodlands", we decided it made sense to start talking about "wild harvests" businesses, rather than "NTFP" businesses.

Wild harvests businesses get their materials from:

• Wild harvesting
• Managed woodland habitats - forestry, agroforestry, coppice, willow plantations
• Cultivated native species (e.g. to provide saplings and wildflowers for habitat enhancement, or to ensure a reliable and sustainable supply of a product)

They sell:

• Raw products - e.g. foliage, wild mushrooms, wild salads
• Value-added products - e.g. country wines, preserves, craft products
• Services - e.g. courses, demonstrations, holidays - experiences rather than physical products

There are only a few cases where people can earn a living simply from gathered produce - it is very hard to compete with imports from countries where the same plants occur but labour costs are lower. That is why value-added products, and, increasingly, wild-harvests based services, are emerging.

Most wild harvests businesses are small - some support less than one full time salary - but they still they have an important role in supporting diverse rural livelihoods. Some larger businesses use wild-harvested materials in just some of their products, but often those products are ones which they are particularly proud to promote, and which say something important about their ethos and their whole approach to what they do.

For example:

• 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.
• People are finding new uses for forestry byproducts and low grade timber – as substrate for growing exotic mushrooms, raw materials for carving and woodturning, as a source of essential oils and extracts
• Scottish-grown willow is now available for basketry, and basketmakers have started to grow their own willow, as well as weaving with a range of wild hedgerow and wild gathered plants
• Greenwoodworkers and charcoal makers are providing craft products and courses
• Beekeepers move their hives into woodland, to take advantage of both shelter and nectar sources, such as the rosebay willowherb that flourishes after felling
• People are using woodlands as venues for bushcraft courses and Forest Schools, using the environment and the materials it provides

Next in this section: the business directory

The directory of Scottish wild harvests businesses contains examples of actual wild harvests businesses currently running in Scotland.