Firewood, building poles, medicinal plants, and edible fruits are all critical to the livelihood of the rural poor. Over 80% of rural households use fuelwood as their primary source of energy. Nearly all of this, some 13 million annually, is taken from savannas, indigenous forests and plantation off-cuts. This fuelwood-use has a gross national value of approximately R3 billion annually or, for those using fuelwood, just under R2 000 per household per year.

Primary health care for the poor is also heavily dependent on forest resources. The 28 million people and 300 000 traditional healers who use traditional plant medicine in South Africa depend on forests for their continuing supply. Approximately one-third of medicinal plant material is tree bark.

Forests also make an important contribution to the nutritional well-being of many poor people, with edible fruit and other forest foods (including bushmeat) being important sources of nutrition at various times of the year.

 

The saving of scarce cash resources, which may then be used for other household needs, is an important role played by these same forest resources. Being able to collect such resources to meet daily needs for energy, shelter, medicine and food, allows scarce cash resources to be used to secure other household needs as well as helping to accumulate the necessary asset base for a more secure livelihood. It is estimated that such cash saving amounts to several thousand Rands per household per year.

 

The safety-net function of forest goods refers to the role they play in assisting households cope in times of adversity. Events such as death, disability or the retrenchment of a member of the household, as well as natural disasters, the need to pay annual school fees, or unanticipated and large increases in the cost of staple foods and goods, can stretch families beyond their normal capacity to cope. During such times many rural households turn to forest resources for subsistence or as a means to generate income. 

The commercial forest sector offers significant business opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurs, particularly for small growers, contractors and sawmillers. This includes more than 30 000 small growers, 240 small saw millers and 300 independent contractors, of which half are black emerging contractors. In addition to this the pulp and paper industry has created more than 10 000 income opportunities for waste paper vendors.

Income from the trade in forest goods constitutes a significant business opportunity for many small-scale entrepreneurs. There is widespread trade in forest goods both within rural communities and in external markets.

Forestry and water yield is a significant issue in South Africa where water is a scarce resource. Generally, well-managed forest plantations can have positive effects on water quality by reducing surface run-off, evaporation and loss of topsoil.

Conserving the biodiversity within the country’s forests is linked to the livelihoods of many people. The store of biodiversity in indigenous forests is far greater than would be expected from their 0,5 percent coverage of the country, with over 1 300 plants species, 37 mammals and 313 species of birds. Nearly all the canopy trees within the indigenous forests have some traditional or commercial use. Therefore, the loss of these forests will have significant impact on large numbers of poor people. Similarly, woodlands have thousands of species (5 900 plants, 175 mammals, 540 birds), of which the majority are used for one purpose or another.