Update of the Luang Prabang Teak Program
 
The Forest Trust, press release
 
The Luang Prabang Teak Program has made significant progress in 2009,
paving the way for on time FSC certification by the end of 2010.
 
Teak sales have commenced, farmer groups formulated, intensive
training continues to be rolled out, market awareness is improving and
buyers have been connected with the farmer group resulting in increase
in royalties to the growers.
 
Luang Prabang
 
Since end 2007, with field implementation commencing mid 2008, the
Luang Prabang Forestry Section and the Lao Forest and Trade Platform
as Program implementers with the support of the Department of
Forestry, Japanese International Cooperation Agency and Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency have been supporting the
pilot community near Luang Prabang with improved plantation management
techniques towards the end goal of FSC certification.
 
We have previously communicated our Platform in Laos however for those
that may not be familiar the Lao Forest and Trade Platform is a
partnership of The Forest Trust (TFT) and WWF's Global Forest and
Trade Network (GFTN). This partnership has developed the Lao Forest
and Trade Platform (LFTP) to assist the Government of Lao to achieve
their goals to develop an efficient and competitive forest industry.
Built on a foundation of sustainable forest management of natural and
plantation forests, the platform is contributing to the goal of
poverty eradication by developing community based resource management
approaches, processing sector developments and market links to the
existing global demand for certified wood products.
 
To help the teak farmers get higher returns for their produce and
demonstrate the benefits of working in a group, the Forestry Section
and LFTP made it a priority to identify buyers for their teak. In
September 2009, buyers representing a company, supported by the LFTP,
met with the farmer group to review the existing resource and openly
discuss the teak sales process. Buyers and growers expressed serious
interest in purchasing and selling teak through the farmer group and
the individual farmers had an invaluable experience of gaining first
hand information surrounding the end use of their teak and methods to
improve teak value.
 
The initial interest, through a facilitated process, translated to
direct purchase between the processor and the farmer group. The
initial sales have benefited the growers through improved sell price,
improved capacity to undertake negotiations with buyers, improved
understanding of log grading, improved ability to work as a group to
leverage the advantage of increased volumes to market and the removal
of a percentage of poorer formed stems to leave the remaining stock
grow on to achieve premiums in the market place.
 
For villagers to get the maximum value for their teak, the group has
increased market transparency through field trips and facilitating the
negotiations of the group to sell directly into the current teak
market. The implementing partners have responded to both the buyers
and growers needs by initiating a local markets survey and offering to
assist in the measurement, harvesting and documentation that is
required for a sale from the group directly to the processors.
 
Proposed activities for 2010
 
The Program has entered into the initial stages of its expansion into
selected surrounding communities by commencing work on farmer group
formulation, landuse planning and teak lot registration. Transforming
the Program from a pilot to a project with the capacity to
significantly change the livelihoods of rural communities whilst
implementing and expanding sustainable forest management practices in
the Lao PDR is critical to the programs long term success.
 
Preparations for the FSC pre assessment are underway with an internal
GAP assessment completed in January 2010 and work plan developed to
address the issues prior to the pre assessment. In parallel,
additional training has also being organised in both the pilot village
and to the adjoining villages. Target areas include silviculture,
registration (assessing legality of land ownership, using GPS, making
certificates, etc), forestry inventory, introductory computer classes,
teak market awareness and a range of other plantation management
related activities.
 
Following the pre-assessment the team will focus on addressing the
shortcomings identified with a view to having the final external FSC
audit completed by the last quarter of 2010 and FSC certificate issued
thereafter.
 
http://www.tft-forests.org/news-detail.php?newsid=268