NTFPs on Nakai Plate.. - TABI

wildlife: Unfortunately, wildlife is an important part of daily diet of villagers and has
increasingly become a trade product too. The harvesting is very unsustainable: many species
are being wiped out through uncontrolled hunting. Prices for bushmeat are not higher, often
even lower than those of livestock: around 2,000 kip/kg is the usual price for bushmeat. This
means there is little scope for wildlife farming. Some species more expensive, e.g. pangolins
sell for 20,000 kip per animal as there scales are valuable. There is a big need to raise
awareness among villagers of the need to protect the most vulnerable species. Outsiders (e.g.
Foreigners, Lao government and army personnel) should be banned from hunting in this area.
rattan shoots: harvesting of “san” small palms is very sustainable as this plant regrows
quick and abundantly near streams. Harvesting of “boun”, big diameter rattans is destructive
and not sustainable, as it takes 5-10 year for such climbers to regrow. The present price of
400 kip/kg is quite high and might indicate a potential for selling to Thakek city centre.
rattan canes “vai thoun”: The harvesting of rattan canes usually kills the plant and seems to
be very unsustainable. In most villages visited, harvesting has stopped, because this product
is depleted already. There are indications that the harvesting is now mainly taking place
inside the NBCA. These big rattans are rather difficult to grow, takes 5-10 years to reach
maturity. The price: 400 kip per stem is very low compared to the high price of the final
product, rattan furniture. There may be a potential for developing rattan furniture industry,
but this would need good design and good connections to overseas markets, which are
difficult to establish for small farmers.
eaglewood: Unsustainable harvesting. This product is rare to find and very much looked after
by Vietnamese traders. In spite of the high price of 7,000-16,000 kip/kg, there seems to be
little scope for increasing production. It is not difficult to grow the tree but it takes 20-30
years to grow to desired size. Above that it is very tricky to induce the formation of the
valuable part, which is the black wood which occasionally develops after incision combined
with insect attack.
kheua hem: The medicine “berberine”, produced from the stems of this climber, is very
popular as an effective drug for stomach ailments both in Vietnam and Laos. As long as the
vines are cut one meter above the ground, plants can regrow. It is probably possible to plant
this climber in a forest setting. It takes about 7-9 years for a vine to regrow. The price of raw
stems is very low: 10 kip/kg, but the half product, berberine powder, sells in Champasak
province for 12,400 kip/kg and in Attapeu for 20,000 kip/kg. One tonne (1,000 kg) of vines
can produce 7 kg of powder.
In Champasak Province, processing of this product is done by the CBF pharmaceutical
company at KM4, using only Vietnamese personnel. In 1996, they exported 5 tonnes of
berberine powder to Vietnam. A smaller operation is based in Attapeu province, run by the
pharmaceutical company NO 2 from Vientiane. The process involved in producing the
powder is rather low-tech. It requires shredding machines to shred the vines into pieces, salt,
flowing water and some basic equipment such as plastic sheets for making reservoirs. There
may be a potential for developing such an industry in the Nakai area.
galangal “no kha”: the harvested part is the stem shoot, which is the main natural
propagation mechanism of this plant. Overharvesting is thus not impossible, but natural
densities are low and so is the price: 400 kip/kg. This means people are less keen to go to
great length to harvest this product. Demand is probably limited as this plant is it used in the