Sale of wild edible fungi—Key influence on the relationship between household livelihood and non-timber forest products utilisation: A case study in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Abstract The utilisation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is an important way to realize sustainable forest utilisation. Wild edible fungi (WEF) are frequently collected, sold, and consumed by households because of their high nutritional and economic value. Rational utilisation of WEF is imperative in balancing ecological protection and household livelihood development. Most existing studies concerning NTFPs or WEF utilisation combine collecting, selling, and reselling behaviours, but few studies focus on single behaviours, such as selling, that provide direct household income. Based on questionnaire survey data obtained from 193 households that collect WEF in nearby forests in the Wanzhou district of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, this study employed a logistic regression model to analyse the factors determining whether households sold the WEF they had collected. Results indicated that the decision to sell WEF was influenced by the amount of WEF collected, mastery of market information, distance from residence to main roadside selling points, and household income. Education, number of women in the household, and distance from collection points to residence were not influential. Based on the findings, this study suggests that implementing changes to the WEF market and local forest management system could improve household livelihood and reduce area poverty by enabling efficient use of WEF to generate greater sales revenue.