Helping communities, businesses and the environment in the Greater Mekong
The economies of the Greater Mekong are booming, but much development has come at the expense of the region’s forests – threatening unique biodiversity and essential ecosystem services. The forests are under increasing threats from agricultural expansion, unsustainable logging, infrastructure and hydroelectric projects.
WWF’s Living Forests report predicts that by 2050 we’ll be using nearly three times as much wood globally as we are now. In a world where competition for land and water is intensifying, incomes are rising and populations are growing, we need to find ways to increase the supply of forest products without destroying or degrading the forests on which we all depend.
WWF’s Sustainable Rattan Program is working to expand forest certification in the Greater Mekong through the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Forest certification creates a unique connection between local forest management practices and global purchasing decisions, transforming international forest trade and to helping conserve forest ecosystems around the world.
Partnerships are key for acheiving sustainability in timber supply chains. Forest stewardship driven by commercial interest in sustaining wood supplies is especially important, and collaboration with companies like IKEA – which uses around 1 per cent of all commercial timber globally – plays a crucial role in WWF’s work to transform the entire timber market. Our sustainable rattan project was funded in part by IKEA, the European Union, and DEG.
Our sustainable rattan business partners
The Guardian: Vietnamese Smallholders Help End Deforestation - photo essay
3,500 Rattan Baskets to be Exported to European Markets
Message from the heart of a Forest Conservationist
Field Trip with SDC to Lao Rattan and Bamboo Project Sites
Further certification success for Vietnam's Quang Tri smallholders
Rattan Revival and the Recipe for a Sustainable Timber Market – Partnership, Certification and Smallholders in the Greater Mekong
Sustainable Rattan Management in Laos Goes from Strength to Strength with New FSC Certifications and Export Order
Sustainable Rattan Boosts Local Income
Sustainable Rattan Production in Greater Mekong Region Brings Hope to Forests and People
Securing the Future: Managing Risk and Building Resilience Within Locally Controlled Forest Businesses
Sustainable Cottage Industries and the Rattan Association of Cambodia
Systematics, Ecology and Management of Rattans in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam: The Biological Bases of Sustainable Use
Plantations for People, Planet and Prosperity: 10 years of the New Generation Plantations platform 2007-2017
Video: Rattan Enrichment in Vietnam
Video: Rattan Harvesting with the Huong Phong Cooperative
FSC Certification for Rattan in Laos
FSC Certification for TT Hue Smallholders – Acacia in Vietnam
FSC Certification for Tien Phong Company – Acacia in Vietnam
FSC Certification for Trieu Hai Forest Company - Acacia in Vietnam
FSC Certification for Duong 9 Forest Company - Acacia in Vietnam
FSC Certification for Quang Tri Smallholder - Acacia in Vietnam
Guidelines for Establishing Community Forest Enterprises in the Greater Mekong Region