Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) contribute to local people’s livelihood in many regions around the world. This article investigates the types of NTFPs collected, processed, and traded in the Arasbaran region of Iran, the roles of these products in household economies, and the potential contribution to rural household economies through the collection, processing, and marketing of NTFPs. Data were collected using household and community surveys as well as through secondary sources on the role of NTFPs within Arasbaran forests in Iran. The main NTFPs harvested by local people were fruits. The fruits from 14 woody species, including trees and shrubs, were harvested by local people. The average share of forest-harvested fruit to household income was 27 percent. The mean annual income derived from the harvest and sale of sumac and reddish blackberry in the sample rural household incomes was USD 1822 and USD 142, respectively. In regard to processing efficiency, plum, cornelian cherry, and sumac exhibited the highest processing efficiency. Better policy support would be needed along the whole value chain, starting with the forest management plans, to include fruit species. In addition, measures to support processing facilities as well as to promote trade and marketing beyond the local area would be highly important to develop the potential of forest fruits and other NTFPs. Besides technical and financial support, measures should include regulatory revisions as well as information, training, and awareness raising.

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted rural livelihoods in the Global South. Environmental products, such as medicinal plants and fodder harvested in forests and rangelands, are a major source of income in many rural communities. In this paper, we investigate environmental product-related income and economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic using face-to-face interviews with randomly selected household heads (n = 384) in 26 villages in northwestern Iran. We found that the main impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were a decrease in income (reported by 72% of households), an increased health risk (48%), and persistent fear of infection by COVID-19 (45%). Household economies were found to be particularly reliant on animal husbandry (26% of total annual household income) and farming (26%). Environmental products contributed an average of 18% of total household income. Almost half of the households (45%) experienced lower livestock prices, a lack of buyers (49%), and a lockdown of animal markets (38%). Fodder (collected by 45% of households), medicinal plants (42%), and wild fruits (29%) were the most important environmental products harvested during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found a negative but not significant effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on total rural household income and that the COVID-19 pandemic led to a slight non-significant decrease in relative forest income. The negative impact on relative forest income resonates well with existing scholarship on livelihoods and negative shocks. It is noteworthy, however, that there is substantial scope for increasing environmental incomes and, thus, the potential of environmental products as a response option in the face of covariant shocks such as COVID-19.