Firewood and mushrooms, two forest products in the perspective of rural development: the example of two French rural areas
Abstract
Within the MULTIFOR project, we determine the practices and opinions of landowners and public with respect to the role of forest for rural and multifonctionnal development. A qualitative survey has been conducted into three groups of actors, the representatives of local forest or environmental administrations, forest and farmland owners, and local community members. In this article, we will explore particularly how two non-timber forest products can contribute to the rural development, both in an economic, social and even cultural point of view according to this three groups. These products are: firewood in the Monts d'Arrée which is a recent afforestation area with a forest cover rate about 15 %; mushrooms in the Plateau de Millevaches which is a traditionnal forest region with a forest cover rate around 65 %.