The forests worldwide play an important role as biodiversity reservoirs, as an essential component in the management of carbon intake and global change including climate and habitat degradation. The trees themselves are revenue generating products for timber or fire wood production, however within the forests the Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have as well a high potential in terms of ecosystem services. In this poster the authors would like via selected use cases, show the importance of NTFPs in African forests. They especially want to stress that biodiversity conservation and generation of services and revenues useful to the local populations are not incompatible, if well designed with a sustainable long term model and business plan. Examples of activities conducted in West and Central Africa will serve as illustration and arguments. This would include showcases from Benin, Burundi and DR Congo in different forest ecosystems for NTFPs like edible insects or fungi. The potential outcomes and societal impacts will be addressed in the concluding remarks.