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This chapter focuses on rattan management in forest communities in Southeast Asia. Cultures that have lived near or farmed and collected in forests for centuries have the richest rattan knowledge and traditions, as well as the most extensive uses. Households residing in or near forests typically collect and utilize a large number of rattans and other nontimber forest products (NTFPs). They also often possess extremely rich, detailed, and precise taxonomies of flora, fauna, and even soils. In the case of rattan species, however, vernacular names cannot be relied upon for correct identification. This chapter considers community-based management of rattan and other NTFP resources compared with intensive timber harvesting and the conversion of forests to agricultural plantations. It cites examples of community-based forest management practices among many cultural groups in Southeast Asia, including the Ifugao of the Philippines, the Karen of Thailand, Hmong of Laos, and Hani of southwestern China.

This chapter discusses the issue of sustainable rattan harvesting from a local perspective. Defining and implementing sustainable use of tropical forests and its products have been the subject of considerable debate for decades. Academics and conservationists have argued over the meaning, potential paths, obstacles to, and the viability of sustainable resource use. Drawing on conversations with a number of rattan gatherers, this chapter asks whether rattan harvesting can be sustained and what ecological effects are associated with cane harvesting. It also examines what institutional arrangements and governing capabilities are required at national and local levels to manage harvesting; the role of market demand, financial returns, government policies, and resource tenure in sustainable harvesting of rattan and other nontimber forest products (NTFPs); and how community forestry, and community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) more generally, can help promote the sustainable management of natural resources.

This chapter discusses the historical and current uses of rattan. Rattan is one of the world's most important and widely used nontimber forest products (NTFPs). It has probably been utilized for as long as humans have lived in the tropical forests of Asia and Africa. Rattan's unsurpassed social and economic value is evident in the age-old trade of dragon's blood (dyes and medicines extracted from various species of Daemonorops) and in the multibillion-dollar international cane-furniture industry. Some of the more common uses of rattan include binding, basketry, food, bridge construction, resins, dyes, leaflets for cigarette papers, leaves chewed to expel intestinal worms, roots used to treat syphilis, and rachises as fishing poles. The strength, flexibility, resilience, and durability of rattan cane, for example, make it a highly valued material for binding. Changes in domestic and international tastes, market demands, and supplies are affecting the ways rattan products are used and traded.