key to this was a substantial budget allocation to settlement and job creation in farming areas thereby reducing dependence on forests as well as policies supporting broader economic growth and urbanization nevertheless there were some challenges in the early years such as the wishes of private forest owners being ignored at times and low initial survival rates of seedlings forests are now valued largely for their contribution to local and global public goods a systematic assessment estimated their public good value in at usd billion by contrast the direct economic benefits from forest products including timber nuts fruits and wild vegetables are usd billion per year