On December 2, 2005, the Global Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP) Partnership was officially launched in Marrakech.
Despite their vital importance for the livelihoods of many millions of rural dwellers, non timber forest products have not received the kind of institutional and financial investments that food and timber resources have had through forestry institutions and the CGIAR system. The many projects in NTFPs have not dented the situation because these have been scattered and largely short term; INBAR being the only exception for bamboo and rattan. The purpose of the NFTP Partnership will be to develop socially and environmentally sustainable economic solutions in partnership with rural communities, governments and private partners by establishing a global institutional system.

The Marrakech Declaration was signed by the participants launching the Partnership, including the governments of Ecuador, India and Mozambique, ICIMOD, ICUC, IUFRO, BAIF, Zernike GmbH and of course INBAR. IFAD was also present at the meeting and inaugurated the workshop. The Chair of APAARI also attended. Several other partners including ICRAF, COL and Dabur are supporting the initiative and are expected to sign the declaration later.

Following the launch of the NFTP Partnership, Dr. Ramanuja Rao, INBAR Director of Programmes, made a presentation to the GFAR Programme Committee on the proposal for the NTFP Partnership to come under the GFAR umbrella as Global Partnership Programme (GPP). The Programme Committee commended the consultation process employed for the development of this initiative. Its final approval as a GPP will be subject to its meeting the criteria established for GPP which are in the process of being reviewed by an external team currently evaluating the process and performance of the GPP mechanism.