Forty interest groups have been established in the central provinces of Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam to preserve rattan as part of the five-year World Wildlife Fund (WWF) “Sustainable Rattan Project”.
After three years of operation, a 400sq.m rattan nursery garden, consisting of more than 100,000 seedlings, has been successfully developed.
The WWF launched its project in 2009 in the country’s main rattan material supplying region.
Co-sponsored by the European Union (EU), the multi-national corporation, IKEA and the German Development Finance Institution (DEG), the project focused on sustainable and environmentally friendly production and processing methods related to rattan alongside effective international promotion campaigns.
“The project has supported companies and local communities who rely on the rattan industry for their livelihoods while helping to sustain natural resources,” said Nguyen Viet Hoach, deputy director of the Thua Thien – Hue Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
It has been estimated that around 54 species of rattan can be found in the Greater Mekong region. Village communities in Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam rely heavily on the rattan trade, with sales accounting for half of some rural incomes.
More than 90 per cent of rattan processed in the Greater Mekong originates from natural forests currently depleted at unsustainable rates. This overexploitation threatens an important source of income for local people, which decreases incentives to protect forests from conversion and other unsustainable land uses.
In both provinces the project surveyed rattan density over 7,000ha of natural forest, 2,000ha of which is currently under sustainable management, 40ha of water rattan (Daemonorops poilanei) having been planted in order to protect and restore the precious resource.
Nguyen Van Ruoc, RIG group leader, said that locals had received seedling supplies and knowledge about rattan care and plantation.
“The project also encourages us to establish contracts with trading companies to ensure maximum legal benefits for local people, so that they could grow accustomed to professional trade practices,” he said.
Rattan production and processing companies from the two provinces participating in the project were provided with expertise on environmentally friendly production and sustainable designs.
The local Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, alongside the People’s Committee of A Luoi District, has made efforts to integrate rattan and bamboo into the provincial forestry programme during 2011-15.
With the project entering its second phase (2012-14) this year, local communities in Thua Thien – Hue and Quang Nam provinces, especially members of ethnic minorities who create products such as baskets and carps, will continue to receive support towards generating stable incomes.
