FAO would like to note with appreciation the work of Khongsak Pinyopusarerk, Project Team Leader and silviculture expert; Manfred Fischer, Associate Professional Officer of the project; John Coppen, marketing and processing consultant; Prachoen Sroithongkham, benzoin tapping consultant; and Masakazu Kashio, FAO Forest Resources Officer; as the authors of the original documents used in this publication.
FAO would also like to acknowledge the valuable contributions of the Lao counterparts in the Department of Forestry (DoF), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MoAF), especially Sianouvong Savathvong, Chief, Luang Prabang Provincial Forestry Section. Kamphone Mounlamai, National Project Coordinator, Sommay Souligna, Field Manager, and many other DoF foresters who were assigned to the project, played key roles in the project implementation. The continuous support of Onechanh Boonnaphol, Chief of Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office, Luang Prabang, MoAF, is much appreciated. Latsamy Vongsack (Mrs.), Director of the Food and Drug Quality Control Centre, and her staff were always cooperative in chemical analysis of benzoin.
A note of appreciation is due to other individuals who directly or indirectly supported this project. Boon Thong, former village headman, Sichanh, present village headman, and other villagers in Ban Kachet have been always very cooperative. In FAO, the strong support of Peer Hijmans, FAO Representative, Roger Eijkens, Forestry Officer in the FAO Office in Vientiane, and Masahiko Hori, FAO Project Operations Officer in Bangkok, is highly appreciated. Wanida Subansenee (Mrs.) and Yanyong Kangkarn of the Thai Royal Forest Department served as FAO consultants in benzoin tapping and processing. Renaud Costaz, a consultant for the European market, contributed to the project. Special thanks are given to Diederik Koning, Co-Director of the EU Micro Projects Luang Prabang Phase II, for his kind commitment to follow up the field trial work after the termination of the project.
