The Bamboo and Rattan Sectors in Asia: an Analysis of ... - INBAR

Currently, rattan produced in Laos is harvested from the wild, without any
management input. The main commercial species is known locally as Wai Theun. It
is a single-stem species of medium to large diameter, and belonging to the genus
Calamus. There are also some small-diameter species.
There are no estimates of the quantity of rattan available, as a comprehensive
inventory has not been done. However, rattan harvesters report that it is not
evenly distributed and found sporadically in the forest. Rattan traders report
that it grows in patches and there are only a limited number of villages that have
access to commercial quantities of rattan. Unofficial reports by villagers and some
factory owners indicate that there is plenty of rattan in the forest, though access
is difficult (the road network in the country is very limited). Some traders and
Provincial Forestry Officers feel that the resources is already being overexploited
and that it will not be available in adequate quantities in five to seven years.
Continued commercial exploitation may depend on improved access to the forest.
However, it does appear that the rate of exploitation from accessible areas is
unsustainably high.
The raw material prices have been rising by about 100 kip/cane/year in the last
two or three years (US$1 = 920 kip). One factory reported paying around 26 kip/cane
in 1981, compared with their current cost of 800-1 000 kip/cane.
The PCS
The main market participants are:
● Rattan collectors
● Rattan traders
● Manufacturers of furniture and handicrafts
● Factory workers
Rattan collectors are mostly people from villages near the forest. They are
poor, with very limited access to education or health care facilities. Although
most of them are shifting cultivators, they depend also on rattan collecting, damar
resin tapping, hunting and gathering. Some work as migrant labor to meet their
livelihood needs. Collectors estimate that rattan collecting provides for their
subsistence for about two months in a year. Shifting cultivation produces enough
rice for the family for three months, and the rest is made up from other
activities.
Rattan collectors have no legal right to the rattan they collect. It is owned by the
state. The Provincial Forest Office assigns a quota to one of the rattan companies. The
company, in turn, engages an agent (trader) to organize the cutting. Normally the
trader visits the village and places an order for a specified quantity of rattan (as
determined by the quota allocated by the Provincial Forest Department). The village
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