Step 11: Help Group Buy Sawmill and Develop a Forestry Management Plan

Action: When the Group has sufficient cash in the bank to pay a deposit and they decide that they are ready to make the commitment, our Business Development Officer assists them in putting together a loan proposal to a bank. We then help the Group to purchase their own saw and other equipment and take back our equipment which we can then give to another Group. At the same time, we also work with the landowners to make up their own land use map for the area, on which they mark out the part that will be used for sawmilling.

Based on the forest survey data, we determine the number of trees that can be cut and the minimum size of these trees (preferably greater than 70 cm dbh) and give other guidelines to secure future harvests and safeguard species composition. Our foresters also work with the group to provide training in skills like marking trees and tending regenerating seedlings.

Rationale: At this point, the Group is ready to operate on their own. We will continue to be available to them for advice, but expect them to be able to function on their own. The land use and forest management plans are introduced only now as opposed to at the start of the project because we do not want to introduce too many concepts at one time. First we give the Group time to get used to the idea of sawmilling and running a business. Once they have been doing this for a while, they then have more ideas on forest management and the need to have sustainable use of their resources.

Example: As of January 1997, two of our projects have completed the process and have now bought their own equipment. The challenge will be to see if they can continue to maintain their enterprises on an economically and ecologically sustainable basis. There is some evidence that this may happen. For instance, one Group took the initiative to start replanting trees in gaps and garden areas where the Group members felt there was not enough regeneration of valuable tree species. Although it is too early to tell for sure, actions like these are the first steps on the road to developing sustainable forest enterprises.

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