Sustainable Rattan and Bamboo

WWF’s sustainable rattan project operates in Bolikhamxay, Xekong and Saravan provinces. The objective of the project in Laos – which also runs in Cambodia and Vietnam – is to secure credible forest certification, establish a more sustainable rattan production supply chain, and develop sustainable financing for small and medium sized enterprises to invest in it.

Rattan is a naturally renewable palm that has multiple uses, such as for furniture, handicrafts and building material. However, the way rattan is harvested and processed needs to improve in order to secure the supply in the long term.

As part of this project, communities and companies are working with WWF to implement a viable and sustainable forest management model. This means that villages can earn income from the harvesting, splitting and weaving of rattan for sale on international markets.

Specifically, WWF is developing forest management plans with communities, training pre-processors and traders on clean production, building business links, and promoting Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Fair Trade certification of forests and products.

This rattan management project is also hoped to become a model for the development of other sustainable supply chains in Laos, such as bamboo and tea.

Some huge successes have already emerged from the project. Since 2008, over 5,500 ha of forest are now FSC certified and 28 villages in the three provinces have directly benefitted from the sale of rattan products.

Women weave rattan baskets in Thaveng Village, Bolikhamxay Province, Laos. Thirty-one families in this village are involved in weaving rattan products that are sold in Laos and also exported. Since 2012, when they got involved in rattan weaving, the families’ collective income has more than tripled. 

When Mr. Linhthong La-Intong moved to Sobphouan Village from his native Xiangkhouang Province some 13 years ago, things were very different.

“But one thing stayed the same,” La-Intong tells us. “It’s our forest.”

The village’s nearby forest is more diverse these days, he tells us. He mentions seeing more wild pigs and deer, and that the villagers see to it personally that poachers don’t get their way in their protected forest.

“When illegal hunters are caught by our patrol, we take them to the village chief.  The first time they get a stern warning. Second time offenders get fined 500,000 Kip and the third time it’s 1.5 million [Kip].  The fourth time, they go to jail.”  

(Click on his photo to read the full story) 

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and other senior government officials on 20 June 2017 visited Vientiane province as the government aims to encourage more effective livestock breeding and organic vegetable projects in the province.

During his trip, a short visit was made to a rattan furniture factory called Danlao in Viengkham district, and handicraft groups in Nayang village, Phonhong district, Vientiane province which aim to promote local businesses and encourage improvements to household incomes.

(Click on the photo to see the full article published in Vientiane Times on the PM visitation to this province)  
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About Danlao Rattan Factory

Danlao, a family owned enterprise, employs some 30 people, many of whom have been with the company for more than ten years.

Danlao sources rattan and finished products from villages that are part of WWF’s sustainable rattan project

“WWF came to us at the right time, when we were facing a lack of raw supply,” says Danlao owner Saykham Phetmany. “In the past, our company and also the provinces where we harvested rattan didn't do surveys and we didn’t have actual production figures so the government did not approve the quota to harvest. When the project came, we identified and conducted surveys, which helped us to increase the quota and to support our workers to have work.” 

FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council, a global not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of responsible forest management worldwide. By Laos’ rattan forest being FSC accredited, it means its management is at the highest standard, ensuring benefits for both nature and the communities dependent on it.

Unsustainable rattan harvesting leads to forest degradation and affects tropical forest ecosystems as well as rural people’s source of income. Achieving a more sustainable rattan production will ensure future rattan supply and prevent negative impacts on nature, communities, and companies.
 
In the long term, the objective of the WWF Sustainable Rattan Project in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam is credible forest certification as well as establishing a more sustainable rattan production supply chain. 
As part of this project, communities and companies in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam are working with WWF to implement a viable and sustainable forest management model. 

In 2005, the Government of Laos has introduced forest certification scheme to implement in the State Production Forest in two provinces- Khammouane and Savannakhet provinces. In the initial stage, a forest certification scheme was organized for single scope, by which Khammouane province held one certificate and Savannakhet province held one separately. 

As part of the 2007 annual audit, SmartWood/Rain Forest Alliance (RA) combined, through the request of DoF, two certified groups into one, which is called “group certification” in order to save costs. The unified group was formed at the Department of Forestry (DOF) as a group entity, which has been providing institutional and technical guidance to the members throughout the certification process. While the Department of Forestry (DoF) is supporting FSC group certification of sustainable forest management in Laos, the rattan management is an initiative project targeting FSC certification under a Group Certification structure. 

Sustainable Rattan Project supports 7 villages at Khamkheut district of Bolikhamxay province and of which 4 villages were selected as the site for certification and now it extends to other villages in Bolikhan district, Bolikhamxay province. Group certification is a process by which multiple landowners or forest managers are certified under one FSC certificate, allows a group entity to be the certificate holder for a group, applies the group entity’s certified forest management system to the group’s individual forestlands, requires the group entity to meet all FSC policy and procedural requirements and all members to meet the FSC P&C. However, group certification is designed to reduce costs and increase opportunities for forestland owners/forest managers to participate in FSC certification by distributing the costs of certification among a large number of forest landowners.

The group certification can have many members to include in the scope, but if one fails to meet the standard of FSC, the certificate will be withdrawn although other members perform well. Although the group entity may be certified, being a member of the group does not automatically confer membership in the certified pool. A forest owner or manager may choose not to join, or may be removed from the certified pool, but may remain a member of the organization or a client of a certified forest manager. 

Read more about FSC Rattan Certification in Laos HERE

• Development bamboo and rattan policy frame-work in Lao PDR to enable a growing FSC-certified bamboo and rattan business that benefits local livelihoods.
• Empowerment communities to sustainably manage forests rich in bamboo and rattan in target villages.
• Capacity building for rattan and bamboo producers, processors and traders to match international standards and promote FSC products internationally, regionally and locally.