Non-timber forest product

Environmental service payments and non-timber forest products are being used in Phillipines, Costa Rica and to some degree in Indonesia to prevent deforestation.

They are considered particularly essential in Indonesia, where only a few villages are refusing to sell forests, while most, like Pelenchao (sic?), have sold large areas of old-growth forest. While YaYa Lang, their village chief, claims the villagers have suffered worse water quality due to erosion, and seeks to protect tracts of sago, rattan, aloe wood for harvesting on a sustainable basis, there is no long term plan in place, and the cash payments distributed to villagers by logging companies are very popular. Without assistance for non-timber product market development, under such programs as Ten Thousand Villages and other fair trade groups, it seems unlikely that any substantial forest areas can be saved.