Forest Products in the Rain Forest of West Kalimantan, Indonesia

by Yayasan Dian Tama

Partners:

Yayasan Dian Tama (YDT) P.D. Dian Niaga Appropriate Technology International (ATI) Social Forestry Development Project (SFDP-GTZ)

1997 Update

While last year's activities focused on developing people's skills, 1997 is the year of production and marketing. Although we still need to increase overall production, capacity at the village level is making good headway, thanks to strong leadership. Also, the manufacturers have become remarkably skilled at producing stylish high quality rattan handbags, brief cases, and business accessories. We attended some exhibitions in Indonesia and abroad to gain a better understanding of the market's need and found that our products were enthusiastically received. This year's new designs are in demand by high end retail outlets and customs boutiques. The problem is, our production capacity limits our ability to meet orders on a consistent and reliable basis, which is critical to establishing a stable business relationship. It's exciting to know that people are interested in our product, but frustrating to know that we still cannot reliably fulfill large orders.

This year, three more villages were trained in weaving rattan baskets. The peoples' weaving skills already existed, but we increased their knowledge about selecting the raw materials and using molds to make uniformly sized baskets. We also taught simple management skills and environmental awareness related to sustainable harvesting. The villages are enthusiastic about increasing the quality of the products and as well as protecting the environment.

Out of the 11 villages that have now been trained, we selected six for socio-economic monitoring. The most difficult part was explaining the program to the villagers who are not directly involved in the project. In the past they had had bad experiences where information that they gave out in interviews, was used against them. So at first they viewed our questions with suspicion because they were afraid that the data they gave us would be used to levy taxes on them. But after we explained why the data is needed and how it would benefit them, they became very cooperative about providing the information.

In August, the inventory of natural resources was completed. Villagers that were trained last year to do the inventory are now doing a good job. The data analysis will be ready in October. We are currently preparing the growth and yield study for bamboo, rattan and damar based on the inventory data.

After waiting from August 1996 until September 1997, we were finally granted the collecting permit for damar. This is a great relief. It means this is not the end, but rather the starting point for our future enterprise.

Successes and Challenges

"OK...So What?"

WHY BIODIVERSITY   FIELD STORIES   PARTICIPATE   RESULTS   MARKETSPACE ABOUT THE NETWORK   WHAT'S NEW   LEARNING MATERIALS   SEARCH   LINKS   SITE MAP   HOME