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Commonwealth
Forests | | |
 BOX 3.1 Rattan
An important non-wood forest product in international trade is rattan, used mainly for
furniture but with a wide range of other uses from carpet beaters, walking sticks, umbrella
handles, sporting goods, ropes, bird-cages, matting and baskets. The market for rattan
furniture in Europe, North America, Japan and other industrialized nations has grown
steadily, but the trade in rattan furniture probably represents less than 4 percent of world
trade of all furniture
Rattan is a spiny climbing or trailing plant with around 600 species, found in tropical Asia
and the Pacific where ten of the 13 known genera are found, and equatorial Africa. The main
genus for commercial production is Calamus, but Daemonorops, Korthalsia and
Plectocomia are also important. The largest producer country is Indonesia, but Malaysia,
one of the centres of greatest species diversity, is another important producer that has
made great strides in developing the industry in recent years.
Almost all rattan is collected from natural forests but in recent years uncontrolled harvesting
and deforestation have seriously depleted the natural stocks in many countries. More than
3l 000 ha have been planted in Malaysia with the large-diameter Calamus manan of which
7 000 ha are in rubber plantations. In addition, large plantations of mainly Calamus caesius
and Calamus trachycoleus have been established on a total of 10 000 ha. Malaysia banned
the export of unprocessed rattan in the 1990s and has since seen an increase of almost
200% in the export value of rattan products. A Small-Scale Entrepreneurs Development Unit
(SSEDV) has been created, with financial support from the World Bank and the government,
to provide technical and training support to the industry. An Agroforestry Unit established at
FRIM has provided training and planting material for rattan planting in rubber plantations by
smallholders. The results of all these efforts are increased foreign exchange earnings and
employment opportunities in both the rural and urban sectors
Source: Kumar and Sastry, 1999
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