Within Europe new interests in the role and importance of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) are developing. This article analyses emerging perspectives on NWFP development in Europe and relates these to four main issues effecting NWFP developments in tropical countries: diversity in the contribution of NWFPs to (rural) livelihoods, centrality of culture, the gradient from NWFP extraction to monocultural cultivation, and the importance of local and regional markets. Whereas in tropical countries much attention has been given to the role of NWFPs as a basic livelihood asset, in European countries the focus is increasingly oriented on NWFPs as niche-marketed products or as well-being products embedded in recreation and pedagogic services. Four main development orientations may be distinguished. These are not uniformly distributed over Europe. Depending on socio-economic, cultural and ecological conditions five European regions with different characteristics in respect to NWFP use and development are identified.