Thesis (PhD (Forest and Wood Science))—University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / It is evident that existing, nominal, functional, national and international policies and legislation continue to be ineffective in combating the disastrous environmental and socioeconomic consequences of unsustainable forest management. Several underlying causes to this failure were identified as: i) the lack of involvement or omission of the full range of stakeholders, in particular resource users, in the various steps and procedures of policy and legislation formulation and implementation; ii) these stakeholders are excluded in the review and updating of obsolete policies and legislation; iii) little emphasis is placed on sustainable forest management through the scientific understanding of natural forests and woodlands, including the dynamics of their ecology and socio-economics. This study identified the key/critical aspects of the development process of policy and strategy for the sustainable management of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). This research study reviewed existing policies and legislation and the current status of the NTFP sector, conducted a series of community consultation meetings on resource use and management, user surveys and economic valuation, resource surveys and economic valuation, and made policy recommendations for the development of a concept and strategy for the sustainable management of NTFPs. The main focus was on the edible and medicinal NTFPs in the four ecological zones of Swaziland...