During the past 20 years, the commercialization of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) has been widely promoted as a contribution to the sustainable development of tropical forest resources. This interest is based on earlier perceptions that forest exploitation for NTFPs can be more benign than for timber (Myers 1988), together with a growing recognition of the subsistence and income generation contribution made by many NTFPSs to rural livelihoods (Ruiz Perez et al. 2004). Within the context of new international commitments to address rural poverty, such As the Millennium Development Goals, NTFP commercialization is recognized as having the potential to achieve dual conservation and development goals by increasing the value of forest resources to local communities (Wollenberg and Ingles 1998; Neumann and Hirsch 2000; Angelsen and Wunder 2003).

This publication presents the findings of the CEPFOR (Commercialization of non-timber forest products in Mexico and Bolivia: factors influencing success), a multidisciplinary research initiative involving partners drawn from the UK, Mexico and Bolivia. The research team critically examined the factors influencing successful NTFP commercialization and tested and further developed theory relating to the commercialization of NTFPs and rural development. Socio-economic and market research examined the impact of different NTFP commercialization networks (value chains) on poverty reduction, women's livelihoods, natural resources and rights and access of the poor, in eight communities in Bolivia and 10 in Mexico. The structure and function of 16 NTFP value chains were analysed, enabling identification of the attributes that make a chain successful.