1. The Expert Consultation on Rattan Development was jointly organized by FAO and INBAR, and co-funded by Sida. The meeting was held at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, from 5 to 7 December 2000. The Agenda of the meeting is given in Annex 1.
2. The list of participants is shown in Annex 2. The 23 experts from 16 countries, invited by the Director-General of FAO, were selected on the basis of their specialized knowledge and their role in the management and development of rattan resources in their respective countries. They served in their personal capacities and not as representatives of their governments. In addition, the meeting was attended by representatives of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO); the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI); the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR); INBAR; Sida; Kew Gardens; the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ); Tropenbos; the private sector; and universities. A number of colleagues from different units of the Forestry, Agriculture and Technical Cooperation Departments attended the opening ceremony and some other sessions of the meeting.
3. The focus of the meeting was on the sustainable development of the rattan sector world-wide, but with particular emphasis on Asia and Africa. Some attention was given to Latin America in view of its potential for rattan introduction.
4. The objectives of the expert consultation were to review and analyse: (i) essential baseline information on the rattan sector in producing countries, the critical global supply situation and key requirements to guarantee a sustainable future supply of rattan; (ii) the needs and methods for better cooperation and coordination among key agencies and stakeholders in relation to their ongoing activities on rattan development; and (iii) the desirability of developing an international programme aimed at promoting and undertaking rattan development activities with partner institutions in the various regions and strengthening global networking in rattan research and development.
5. Mr L. Ljungman, Director of the Forestry Policy and Planning Division of FAO, opened the meeting on behalf of the Assistant Director-General of the Forestry Department, and welcomed the participants on behalf of the Director-General of FAO, Mr Jacques Diouf. He expressed his appreciation in seeing such a good turnout of experts and representatives from various key agencies, non-governmental organizations and from the private sector.
6. In his opening statement, Mr Ljungman stressed the great importance being given by FAO to the need of sustainable forest management and sustainable utilization of forest products, such as rattan, in order to improve the livelihoods of forest-dependent people and as a means of ensuring their food security.
7. Mr Ljungman stated that this meeting was timely planned, as it underscored the importance the international community attached to the sustainable utilization of rattan in the region. He also emphasized that this meeting was designed to facilitate an open dialogue among experts, and that the ensuing technical discussions on the development and utilization of rattan would be a direct contributing factor to moving towards sustainable forest management.
8. Mr Ljungman wished the participants luck in their deliberations and assured them that FAO would do its utmost to convey the conclusions and recommendations of the meeting to any relevant forums in order to foster the sustainable development of the rattan sector for the benefit of the people who depend on it.
9. As co-organizer of this meeting, the Director-General of INBAR, Mr Hunter, expressed pleasure in having joined FAO as host of this meeting. He thanked the participants and was pleased to note that so many key experts and agencies were attending. Mr Hunter informed that INBAR had been recently recognized as the responsible International Commodity Body for Bamboo and Rattan by the Common Fund for Commodities and that INBAR was in a process of transformation from a research network into a significant force for development. He further informed the participants that this meeting formed a key part of INBAR's new strategy.
10. Mr Hunter recalled that rattan was one of the rare commodities that could be harvested by local people; be handled with low-capital equipment; be fabricated in craft industries; and yet could sell in the developed world. Rattan was, therefore, a very good vehicle for poverty alleviation in rural areas. In addition, rattan furniture had established a distinct market niche in many countries, but that niche was threatened by competing materials.
11. Mr Hunter highlighted that the rattan sector was currently facing structural shifts and critical changes due to declining resource supplies and market constraints, such as rattan furniture design which still had a low value-to-bulk ratio, high quality requirements and strong price competition of substitute materials. He added that, unlike bamboo, which had moved out of the craft industry phase and was gradually providing raw material for industrialized products, rattan was still mainly processed at a small-scale and low-technology level. He hoped that this meeting could come up with a prioritized list of key needs and a strategy for a sustainable development of the rattan sector.
12. In his opening statement, Mr Killmann, Director of FAO Forest Products Division, welcomed the participants and underlined the importance given by FAO to this meeting. He further expressed his appreciation for INBAR's and Sida's continuing and constructive collaboration with FAO in the furtherance of the sustainable development of rattan. He also noted the presence of representatives from many other international development agencies as an indicator for their interest in the subject, and in particular welcomed the participant representing the private sector from the Philippines.
13.Mr Killmann recalled the objectives of the meeting. He emphasized the important contribution of rattan towards the development of rural areas in the producing countries through income generation and employment. He also drew the attention of the participants to the critical supply situation of rattan. While the demand for rattan products was growing, the supply of raw material was dwindling. He further noted that, while the consumer may shift to other products substituting rattan and might not be severely affected, the shortage of the resource might have major impacts on rural economies and employment in the producer regions.
14.Mr Killmann mentioned further that, although it was impossible to resolve all issues in a three-day meeting, he hoped that this meeting would greatly contribute to initiate a process of strengthened international concerted action among concerned countries and the major agencies. He informed the participants that the deliberations of the meeting would be made available to forthcoming high level inter-governmental meetings, including the fifteenth session of the Committee on Forestry (12-16 March 2001). The representatives of ITTO, IPGRI, CIFOR, IFAD, GTZ, Tropenbos and Sida joined Mr Killmann in welcoming the participants and in wishing them luck in their deliberations.
15. The Provisional Agenda of the meeting was adopted as proposed by the Secretariat (Annex 1).
16. The meeting elected Messrs Razak, Sastry, Tesoro, and Salleh as chairperson of sessions 1 to 4, respectively. Mr Hunter was elected chairperson of the final session in charge of drafting an action plan. Mr Siebert was elected Rapporteur of the meeting. The Secretariat of the meeting was composed of Messrs Killmann and Vantomme, and Ms Marcolongo.
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