NTFPs on Nakai Plate.. - TABI

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GPS, measuring densities of NTFP’s in the forest and discussing these maps with groups of villagers to assess their estimates of yield from each block. Table 13: Comparison of estimates of total village harvests of 3 key NTFP’s in 5 villages on the Nakai plateau, using family survey data and villagers forest block ranking estimates. Khone Ken survey96 survey97 men's blocks women's blocks kisi 4,213 3,950 cardamom 711 3,500 bong 11,202 10,800 Kaoy kisi 17,086 8,300 14,500 cardamom 167 280 586 bong 1,139 2,000 1,700 Nakai kisi 11,878 12,206 4,100 47,000 cardamom 0 0 600 75 bong 15,414 16,488 4,400 2,650 Sop Phene kisi 0 60,699 61,000 57,000 cardamom 0 227 1,400 55 bong 19,030 210 17,000 2,000 Thalang kisi 3,667 7,398 29,000 49,500 cardamom 0 35 400 101 bong 2,360 5,625 18,000 12,700 TOTAL kisi 36,844 80,303 106,350 168,000 5 villages cardamom 879 261 6,180 817 bong 49,145 22,323 52,200 19,050 These villager defined forest blocks could become a powerful tool in setting up a truly participatory system for land use planning and community forest management. We recommend strongly that this entry is explored further by the National Resettlement Committee and any other agencies which may become involved in the resettlement work. Part of the NTFP’s are collected from the future inundation zone. An extended mapping exercise as advocated above, would allow to make a more accurate estimate of how much production potential would be lost due to inundation. In the case of one village, Ban Khon Kene, villagers estimated some 70 % of their present production of NTFP’s would be lost to flooding. Of course this will be different in each village. It would be useful to incorporate such data in any economic modelling for resettlement options. In any case, it is likely that the collection pressure on the adjacent NBCA protected area will be increased after filling the reservoir.
6 Potential use of NTFP’s in the proposed resettlement area In this chapter we try to asses the relative sustainability of present harvesting of NTFP’s by looking at three main characteristics of the main species. Firstly, we gauge the effect of harvesting on the regeneration/survival of the species (ecological sustainability). Secondly we look at the trends in prices and quantities collected (economical or market sustainability). Thirdly, we look at the potential for domesticating the species, especially on the sandy soils of the proposed resettlement area. kisi: the damar resin exudes naturally from the tree, falls off the tree and is collected from the forest floor. This type of harvesting does not harm the producing tree and is very sustainable, provided trees are not cut down. The main threat to kisi production is logging of trees of mai si, which has a good quality wood. Many trees are taken out of the reservoir area right now. Logging of these trees above the future water level should be avoided. The current price of kisi is 150 kip/kg, which is rather low. The demand for kisi resin seems stable, the price has not changed much over the past three years. An average full grown tree (height over 40 m.) produces 3-5 kg per year. It is not difficult to plant “si” trees, but villagers will not likely be motivated to do so as it take 50-100 years for a tree to mature and the trees do not have individual ownership. bong bark: Production has gone down sharply over the last year, because villagers have cut all the harvestable trees already. Normally trees regrow from coppice after harvesting, but high harvesting pressure may have killed quite a lot of stumps. This tree is easy to plant and can be harvested after 3-4 years. So we can say that although present harvesting is not sustainable, the prospects for sustainable harvesting are good. The prices are rather low: 60- 100 kip/kg. An average tree produces 0.5 to 1 kg of bark. The bong bark is exported as raw material for making incense, mainly joss sticks. There is a good potential for introducing joss stick manufacturing to the villages, combined with a plantation effort. cardamom: Cardamom is harvested by picking the fruits from the plants. If the fruits are cut carefully with a knife instead of pulling most of the plant from the soil, harvesting is sustainable. The main problem now is the low densities in natural stands. This plant is easy to grow under the right conditions: good deep soils, under trees, abundant rainfall. The price for raw cardamom on the Nakai plateau is now 3,000 kip/kg. The price of cardamom has risen very spectacularly over the last three years in Laos. In Champasak Province, cardamom went up from 1,200 in 1994 to 8,000 kip in 1997. It is now the second most important export product there, after coffee. In Champasak and Salavane Province, many farmers have planted cardamom in forest gardens, which produce about 300 kg/ha/year. In one village where we did a survey in October last year, on average each of the 200 households had an income from cardamom of more than 1,000,000 kip. On the Nakai plateau, many of the present stands of cardamom are found at low elevations in or near the future inundation zone, and may disappear after flooding. However the potential for cultivation should be studied as the market prospects are so good. The main problem to be overcome will be to find sufficient water to provide the crop with an all year moist soil. This may prove to be difficult on the traditionally dry, sandy soils of the proposed resettlement area.
Page 1 and 2: THE USE OF NON TIMBER FOREST PRODUC
Page 3 and 4: 5- According to a survey over 100 o
Page 5 and 6: PART 2: MAIN REPORT 1 BACKGROUND Th
Page 7 and 8: 2.2 Semi-structured interviews with
Page 9 and 10: 2.10 Village selection Out of the t
Page 11 and 12: Bamboos “mai” and rattan “vai
Page 13 and 14: 4 Importance of NTFP’s in the fam
Page 15 and 16: 4.2 Household interviews 4.2.1 The
Page 17 and 18: Table 8: Estimated income from NTFP
Page 19: 5 Traditional use areas and boundar
Page 23 and 24: same way as its close relative, the
Page 25 and 26: not only used for home consumption
Page 27 and 28: PART 3: ANNEXES ANNEX 1: List of al
Page 29 and 30: and walked back again, total six ho
Page 31: ANNEX 7: Pictures 1: Ranking exerci

NTFPs on Nakai Plate.. - TABI

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