Economic return from Rattan supports sustainable forest and poverty reduction

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Phnom Penh, 24 November 2011 – With exhibitions of new product designs, photos and other visual information materials, representatives from the Cambodian government, local communities, WWF, rattan entrepreneurs and other NGOs meet today to share stories of success and lessons-learnt of the sustainable rattan production project, which has been implemented from 2009 to 2011. The project, co-funded by EU and IKEA, has demonstrated that by using sustainable natural resource management-based approaches, rattan can be a commercially competitive asset that can boost economic incentives for local communities and businesses and contribute to the growth of national revenue.

Because Rattan is one of the most economically valuable Non Timer Forest Products harvested in the country and has a high potential to compete in international markets, the project’s model of a sustainable rattan production system engaged different actors along the supply chain from village producer groups to traders and processors and finally to buyers.

“Sustainable practices for management of rattan resources, product design and cleaner production have become a reality today and benefit forest, local community, private sector and government,” said Mr Ou Ratanak, Rattan Project Manager with WWF.

The global rattan trade is estimated to be worth USD 4 billion per year with over 700 million people involved in the trade from harvest to processing. The average turnover of the rattan industry in Cambodia is approximately USD 1.5 million per year, and has also been estimated to contribute up to 86 USD per household per month.

“With the current sustainable practices, Cambodia’s Rattan industry can generate a significant amount of foreign exchange, and can significantly improve rural economies contributing to poverty reduction,” Mr Ou Ratanak said.

Today, 4900 families in the provinces of Kampot, Preah Sihanouk, Koh Kong, Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear involved in the sustainable rattan production initiative are fully committed to effective protection of natural resources and are managing the sustainable use of approximately 16,000 hectares of forests.

“Demand for rattan products provide job opportunities for local communities who, with improved processing techniques and production and design skills, earn better income from sales of semi-finished and finished products,” said Ms Michelle Owen, Conservation Programme Manager with WWF.

However, there remain challenges facing the development of rattan trade in Cambodia including infrastructure, the need for micro-financial support, consistent rattan supply and improving production skills and quality to meet the standards of environmental sustainability and international market requirements. Export policies also need to encourage international product trade and steps have been made by the Government to improve market competiveness.

“The project will continue to promote sustainable and clean rattan production and to work with relevant stakeholders to address these aspects, while continuing to support the promotion and competitiveness of rattan product from Cambodia and from other countries in the South East Asia region to reach global markets,” said Mr Thibault Ledecq, Regional Rattan Project Manager with WWF.

Additional notes:

* The workshop will discuss plans and actions, as well as suggest recommendations for implementation during the project’s next phase.

* The rattan project phase II supported by the EU and IKEA has the aim to improve rattan production at all levels of the supply chain by increasing village livelihoods through better organization of supply, enhancing trader efficiency through better processing, empowering internal cooperation among processors, and establishing links with worldwide markets.

* WWF Sustainable Rattan Production Initiative covers countries of Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam. The project receives 80 percent of the programme’s total budget of € 2.4 million from the EU SWITCH-Asia Programme of the Europe Aid Development and Cooperation. SWITCH-Asia aims at scaling-up environmentally friendly production and consumption practices. The Sustainable Rattan Initiative is successfully serving this purpose by reaching-out to all actors along the rattan value chain and encouraging certification. IKEA and DEG co-finance the programme. (WWF)