BOGOR, Indonesia – Experts from across Southeast Asia came together to develop ASEAN guidelines for sustainable harvest and resource management protocols for rattan and bamboo last 15-16 January at Royal Hotel Bogor.

The protocols workshop aimed to consolidate region-wide experiences from rattan and bamboo experts towards the development of initial guidelines on NTFP sustainable resource management protocols with a focus on harvesting. The guidelines will be provided for the use, development and endorsement by ASEAN.

The outputs of the workshop will be consolidated with the outputs from a previous workshop on harvest protocols for fruits, resins and honey in Vietnam last September 2019. The final output from these expert consultations will be guidelines that shall serve as the first reference for NTFP management protocols in the region.

The development of these guidelines on important NTFPs is seen to contribute to the regional and global competitiveness of ASEAN in the next ten years.

Ridzky Sigit, NTFP-EP Indonesia Board Chairperson, graced the event and welcomed the delegates to Bogor. He stressed the importance of sustainable ecological practices especially in the age of climate change and rapid environmental degradation.

Alfi Syakila from the ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF) Secretariat provided context as to the importance of developing regional guidelines in light of ASEAN’s thrust in harmonization of product standards, including forestry products such as NTFPs.

In attendance were experts from Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam from the following institutions:

• Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, Vietnam (Dr. Nguyen Quoc Dung)
• Forest Products Research Development Centre, Indonesia (Dr. Jamaludin Malik & Ms. Ibu Jasni)
• Forest Research Institute, Malaysia (Dr. Mhd Khairun Anwar Uyup)
• Forest Science Research Center, National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), Laos (Mr. Bansa Thammavong)
• LIPI, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Dr. Himmah Rustiami)
• Non Timber Forest Product Research Centre, Vietnam (Mr. Luong The Dung)
• NTFP-EP Asia (Ms. Crissy Guerrero, Ms. Diana San Jose)
• NTFP-EP Indonesia (Ms. Natasya Muliandari)
• Office of the Preah Vihear Temple National Authority, Cambodia (Mr. Eang Hourt Khou)
• Universitas Mulawarman Dayak, Kalimantan, Indonesia (Dr. Paulus Matius)
• University of the Philippines Los Banos (Dr. Rosalie Mendoza)

Retired bamboo expert Dr. Elizabeth Widjaja from Indonesia also participated in the event.

Ms. Crissy Guerrero, Senior Adviser for Strategic Programmer from NTFP-EP Asia facilitated the workshop with support from NTFP-EP Indonesia’s Conservation Officer, Natasya Muliandari.

Article by Diana San Jose, NTFP-EP Asia.