A presentation given at the Global Bamboo and Rattan Congress (BARC 2018), 25-27 June 2018.

1. COMMUNITY BASED RATTAN MANAGEMENT AND
MARKETING IN NEPAL
C.L.Chowdhary
Nepal

2. DISTRIBUTION AND STATUS OF RATTAN
• Distribution of rattan = in > 35 districts
• Managed in community forests = No 50
(22 natural+28 plantation)
• Protected = 3 National Parks and 1 in
Herbal Farm Area
• Threatened of rattan = 14 districts
• Disappeared / fully degraded= 6 districts

3. RATTAN RESOURCES IN NEPAL
•Nine species of two genera of rattan are recorded
in Nepal
(Calamus tenuis, C.inermis, C.acanthospathus, C. latifolius, C.leptospadix, C.
erectus, C. gracilis, C. khasianus, Plectocomia himalayana)
• Among them, Calamus tenuis, Calamus acanthospathus and Calamus
inermis are protected mostly in Community Forest
•The need of management of rattan in the natural
forests was recognized since 1994, when research
works on rattan was pioneered.
•Calamus tenuis is the mostly distributed in the natural
forests, community forests and some private lands.
Rattan Forest in Nepal

4. MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

5. EVOLUTION OF PARTICIPATORY MANAGMENT OF
RATTAN
• Concept of participatory resource management was evolved as community forestry in1990s
in Nepal. It aims to empower the community forest user groups
• According to this policy, any part of the state forest can be handed over to the local
communities as per access and local use
• The community has full authority to make decisions on forest conservation, management
and utilization
• The community gets all revenues from the forest and can make decision for its expenditure

6. PARTCIPATORY RATTAN MANAGEMENT
- Key steps
• Rattan is categorized as an NTFP and included in the Forest Act and Regulation
• Survey of rattan resources and growing stock
• Documented indigenous management practices
• Prescription of sustainable harvesting plan involving local people
• Incorporation in Forest Operational Plan and approval by DFO
• Rattan linked with community people as an income generation resources

7. INDIGENOUS MGT VS. ADAPTIVE MGT

8. INDIGENOUS MGT VS. ADAPTIVE MGT.. CONTD

9. PRODUCTION AND VALUE OF DOMESTIC RATTAN (FROM 2005-
2016)

10. MARKETING

11. RATTAN PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
• There are 55 rattan processing industries
• No. of processing industries increased
before 2015
• Earthquake and IEE and EIA hit the growth
of processing industries
• More than 15 processing center already
closed
• 30-40% processing industries opening and
closing frequently due to scarcity of raw
material
Trend of new rattan processing industries

12. ACTORS INVOLVED
• Input suppliers / facilitators- Government organizations, NGOs, Civil
societies, Academic Institutions
• Collectors/ harvesters- Community people
• Community Forest User Groups- Producers, conservation
• Village (Local) traders/ entrepreneurs- Trading, processing
• District /national / Urban traders- Suppliers
• Indian contractors- Retailing, purchase

13. MARKETING CHANNEL

14. SUPPLY AND DEMAND
• Total consumption of rattan-8750 MT
• Indian rattan (3000 MT)
• Malaysian,Thai, Indonesian and Burma (150 MT)
• Rattan splits (50 MT)
• Domestic production-4375 MT (43-50%)
• Small diameter bamboo (1750 MT)
• Deficit per annum- 4375 MT

15. CONTRIBUTION OF RATTAN INCOME (Case of Bardiya and
Kailali)
Forest Development (at least
30% of the income)
Protection
Nursery
Plantation
Fireline
Scholarship
School teacher
Teaching material
Ambulance
Family planning
Health posts
Senior citizen
Riverbank protection
Biodiversity maintenance
Biogas plant installation
School building
Drinking water
Telephone
Rural Banking
Enterprise development
Capacity building
Energy supply
Education (US $ 243)
Social Health Development
Biodiversity cons. and climate adaptation (US $13009)
Social and institutional Development (US $ 7196)
Pro-poor support (US $ 8765)

16. CHALLENGES FACED
Challenges in management and marketing
• Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
• Irregular supply of raw material to processing centers
• Still traditional processing technologies in community and processing centers
• Shortage of labour in rattan processing centers
• Lack of government commitment to strengthen the sub-sector of bamboo and rattan, and
processing centers

17. CHANGES OBSERVED
The major changes observed after the intervention rattan management.
• Interest of researchers, NGOs and community people for the conservation of rattan
increased.
• Some forestry projects, forestry staffs and civil societies for rattan development in their areas
pioneered.
• Policy in favor of NTFP development, income generation, hand over of ownership in local
people developed.

18. CONCLUSION
• Diversification of rattan species to develop enterprise and value addition works are challenges
ahead for CFUGs.
• It has been learned that degraded rattan forest could be restored through participatory
management and use community fund for forest and social development works.
• Purely rattan based industries are more susceptible to supply of raw material, where combination
of bamboo is supplementary to cope it.
• Most of the rattan processing industries are leaded by artisans for production, marketing and
management. They are good processors but less in entrepreneurship development.
• Community forestry model is the most successful for the rattan management.

19. NEEDS FOR FURHTER DEVELOPMENT
• Certification of participatory rattan management method
• Community forest user groups are required to link with entrepreneurship development training to their
group members
• Technical and linkage development can enhance the capacity of such CFUGs to diversify the rattan
species with in the community forest.
• Improve post harvest technologies to enhance the quality of stems and fetch higher prices.
• For the time being till Calamus tenuis is major source of production, CFUGs capacity to process
furniture, handicraft and other marketable goods are required.
• Diversification of species – small to large diameter to fulfill the demand of rattan