Posted on January, 20 2011

The first delivery of certified rattan with an FSC-label from Laos is expected in early summer this year. Significant progress has been made towards more sustainable rattan management and harvesting. Villagers can now contribute to protecting the forest while still harvesting rattan shoots and seedlings to provide them with extra income and boost the local economy.

During a field visit on 5-6 January WWF Directors from the Mekong region, representatives from WWF Sweden and IKEA, were able to see for themselves improvements made in villages in the Bolikhamxay province in central Laos.

To combat overharvesting, villagers from Phontong have planted 5000 seedlings in the forest to ensure the growth of commercially viable rattan. An inventory carried out by the project and the communities has also identified a large number of different species in the wild. A forest management plan covering more than 400 hectares has been set up with the communities, by the Agriculture and Forestry District Office in cooperation with WWF and Forest Research Center (FRC). The quality and benefits of this management plan has been recognized by the Lao government, and the global certification organization for sustainable forestry, Forest Stewardship Council. The first certified rattan harvest meeting the standard for NTFP (Non Timber Forest Products) will be harvested and marketed this year under FSC logo.

Last year communities earned 1000 US-dollar from the first sale of rattan resources under the sustainable rattan management plan.

“In 2009 we expanded our work to more villagers and intensified our cooperation with retailers and authorities with the aim of producing and exporting certified rattan products to Europe and other global markets from 2011, says WWF rattan project manager Bouaphet Bounsourath.

The Head of Agriculture and Forestry Office in Bolikhamxay province near the Vietnamese border, Maychome Vannasankham, told the visitors that the WWF project had contributed to a better control of rattan resources for the future – and an increased awareness and capacity building.

“Communities can make their own decisions regarding their forest resources. With the management plan in place Phonthong villagers were able to stop 200 hectares of planned charcoal extraction”, he added.

WWF has participated in conservation work for sustainable rattan in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia since 2006, however during the last two years work has intensified and now involves around 100 villages.

The success of the rattan project was apparent when the WWF-team visited the village of Sopphouan with 400 inhabitants. Apart from better management of the forest, plantations of rattan seedlings and rattan shoots have become popular among villagers whose livelihood to a large part depends on rice cultivation.

“My family earns around 155 USD a year from selling rattan shoots, said villager Mai Liey. For the whole village it adds up to about 1000 US dollars a year. It´s easy and you can harvest new crops several times a month. We also let the seed grow in the nursery and in two years they can be harvested.

The project called “A switch to sustainable rattan harvest and production” has been carried out since 2006 together with forest researchers and government institutions. A new phase of the project was launched in 2009, mainly with funding from the European Union and the furnishing company IKEA. The project is on its way to engaging more than a hundred communities in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam in sustainable rattan production.

By 2011 – 15 percent of processing industries will provide environmentally friendly products to European and worldwide markets.

By 2015 – 50 percent of the rattan processing industry will be environmentally cleaner and more competitive and generating better economic returns.