Economic importance of selected non-wood forest products in Poland

The paper analyzes the results of survey conducted in 2013 on a random group of 1000 Polish individuals with regard to bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) and selected species of mushrooms harvest. The research also evaluated the annual harvest value of selected non-timber forest products in Polish forests. The survey included questions on berry and mushroom harvest and also on harvested quantities of those non-timber forest products. The value of harvested non-timber forest products was estimated based on popular published sources of information related to prices in 2013. The harvest of bilberries was indicated in the survey by 180 respondents (18.0% of all respondents), who harvested 844 kg (on average 4.69 kg/respondent). The harvest of bilberries from the whole territory of Poland was estimated to 26.2 thousand tones and about 340.6 million PLN. Harvest of mushrooms was declared by 541 respondents (54.1% of total surveyed). They estimated their harvest to 2306 kg, which equals to 4.26 kg/person. In relation to the whole population of adults in Poland, the volume of mushrooms harvested in 2013 is estimated to about 71.4 thousand tones. The value of wild mushrooms harvested in Poland was evaluated to 763 million PLN. The value of non-timber forest products estimated per forest area was about 121 PLN/ha, which is about 13% of the mean harvested timber value in 2013. The research indicates large differences between published statistical data on purchased volumes of non-timber forest products and amounts estimated from public surveys. The lack of knowledge about the scale of non-timber forest products use hinders estimation of their real significance for people and economy. However, obtained research results show that this significance is high.