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Laos aims for further sustainable rattan certification
Laos plans to increase the land area certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for sustainable rattan production to boost the income of local families.
Laos is first country in the world to have received FSC forest management certification on rattan products as part of the ‘Establishing a Sustainable Production System for Rattan Products Project'.
The project carried out in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia aims to establish a sustainable rattan industry by introducing cleaner production and a credible chain-of-custody certification for raw rattan, as well as the establishment of a link to the European market.
Speaking at the final rattan dissemination workshop in Vientiane yesterday, project manager Mr Bouaphet Bounsoulath said the first phase of the project ran from 2006-2009 and the second phase from 2009-2011 in Vientiane, Borikhamxay and Xekong provinces, with support from IKEA and the European Union through the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Laos.
Phase three of the project will run from 2012-2014 and will be supported by furniture maker IKEA and the retailer Coop, Mr Bouaphet told Vientiane Times .
The project has been carried out in 40 villages in seven districts of the three provinces on 5,395 hectares of farmers' land and 128,217 hectares of protection areas. However, only 1,142 hectares in four villages have received FSC certification.
“Next year, we plan to expand FSC-certified land to more than 4,000 hectares in six villages, up to 11,142 hectares in 14 villages in 2013 and 20,000 hectares in 28 villages the following year,” he said.
About 70 percent of the project's proceeds go to the involved communities, 8 percent to the government and the remainder to the business sector.
The project focuses on forest management, sustainable rattan harvesting, market establishment and farmer-to-farmer learning, Mr Bouaphet said.
WWF is cooperating with various sectors, including the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI), National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) and local authorities to improve the sustainability of the project and its commercial viability.
Local people are upgrading their own capacity to manage forest resources and have adopted techniques for sustainable wild rattan harvesting. However, more needs to be done to boost capacity among community members to improve the quality of production, so as to obtain higher returns.
As part of the project, WWF has joined with internationally-certified rattan handicraft companies to promote their products in world markets.
The workshop was attended by WWF in Laos a.i. Country Director Somphone Bouasavan, representatives from the LNCCI and NAFRI, project partners, local authorities from target provinces, and donors.
vientiane times
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