Small Mushrooms for Big Business? Gaps in the Sustainable Management of Non-Timber Forest Products in Southwest China

This paper analyzes empirical gaps in the policy and the market in mountainous areas in the context of promoting sustainable use of commercial non-timber forest products (NTFPs) .It examines the market structure and explores the government’s failure to promote commercial NTFPs. Empirically, it is clear that both market and government failure can lead to unsustainable management in commercial NTFP use. Using cases from Southwest China, this paper evaluates the current development of NTFP commercialization in the mountainous region of Southwest China. It focuses particularly on three pieces of research on mushroom collection and marketing.