Wendy Cocksedge – “Non-timber Forest Resources”

Pine mushrooms are unquestionably the single most important non-timber forest resource in BC
– Wikipedia Commons

Chanterelle
– Wikipedia Commons

Salal
– Wikipedia Commons

Wendy Cocksedge is a club member and is also affiliated with the Centre for Non-timber Forest Products, located at Royal Roads University in Victoria.

Wendy spoke about non-timber forest products (NTFP), which in layman terms are items and services that can be commercially harvested from forests and other habitats for culinary, nutritional or therapeutic purposes. In BC this primarily means mushrooms!

The wild mushroom harvest contributes millions of dollars to the provincial economy.  The pine mushroom (Tricholoma magnivelare) is by far the most valuable commercially harvested mushroom.  Other valuable mushrooms include chanterelles, morels, lobsters, boletes, cauliflowers and hedgehogs.

Wendy also mentioned other commercially important species such as salal (Gaultheria shallon), which is widely used in the floral industry.