Abstract: | Due to the fact that Romania has many relief forms, an temperate climate and an varied hydrological regime,it hosts a whole series of forest habitats that have a great tendency to expand and that include a rich flora distributed on various altitudinal plant belt, as well as a complex fauna. The updated Forestry Code (Law 46/2008 calls into question certain features and definitions of wood products, but also of non-wood forest products, both sources being renewable and of great economic interest. The present article highlights the importance of non-wood forest products from Satu Mare County, Romania, and their actual contribution in the socio-economic segment of the market.By using the analytic hierarcy process (AHP) designed by Thomas Saaty, it was established a hierarcy of each non-wood forest products, using a scale of eight absolute numbers from 1 to 8 which showed the intensity of the importance, divided on 19 criteria. The intensity is established by the number of alternatives attributed to the product, based on judgements made by 3 experts. For this study, it was analyzed 4 categories of NWFPs distributed in the Satu Mare county, such as: mushrooms, tree products, understorey plants and animal origin.
Statistical data was analyzed by using the Expert Choice Desktop software, which brings the sensivity of each species described and their actual importance for each criterion. The main categories of non-wood forest products analysed were: mushrooms, tree products, understorey plants and animal origin. Most of the good alternatives with strong or extreme importance were attributed for the criteria containing the activities such as harvesting, distribution range, market demand and the portofolio of derived products. As weak points, it can be mentioned that some of the products are exposed to the harmful factors or perishability manifested in the time of collecting or transport.NWFPs have an important contribution in human wellbeing and healthy. According to FAO, several million households from worldwide are depending on NWFPs. The AHP brings good results in the decision making process and could help the managers/stakeholders, to find the best way for producing the income and benefits for the new companies. Based on the pairwise comparison made by the experts, the managers can focus on the strong points and also to put them into balance with weak points. |
