Lao PDR is endowed with biodiversity and rattan and bamboo species that have played an important role in generating income for the rural communities. It was estimated that rattan and bamboo can contribute about 22,000,000 US dollars or more per year to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with about 150,000 households, within 1,700 villages, have access to and use rattan-bamboo resources.
Many stakeholders agreed that the rattan-bamboo sectors still have a high potential for sustainable development based on the experiences and lessons learned from many projects that have been implemented in the past, such as the Bamboo and Rattan Project (GRET) and the Sustainable Rattan and Bamboo Harvesting Project (WWF). In Lao PDR, the sector’s development is still very scattered without a specific action plan to support it. This has resulted in the limited effectiveness of resource management for rattan and bamboo. The development of rattan and bamboo value chains and their contribution to income generation and poverty reduction can be improved.
Agrobiodiversity Conservation Policies and Initiatives
Types:
Policy brief, practice brief
published in 2021, Lao language
