If Vietnam wants its timber producers to benefit from the growing eco-conscious and more lucrative international furniture market, national forest institutions should look for ways to get smallholder plantation forests certified, said Louis Putzel, a senior scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Source: CIFOR
Eco-certification may become more important as countries start putting in place
import restrictions, with the European Union ruling it will ban illegally harvested
wood from entering its market as of March 2013.
However, despite huge national investments in smallholder timber production in the
Southeast Asia nation – which has a thriving wooden-furniture industry – the area of
certified forests in the country is vanishingly.
This could make it harder to sell wood to furniture makers, said Putzel, who together with colleagues recently published a study on constraints faced by smallholder timber producers in Vietnam.
“Increasing demand for eco-certified furniture means that Vietnamese factories have to import certified timbers from other countries,” he explained, adding some are now looking as far off as South America for supplies.
“This represents a lost opportunity for local timber planters.”
Once heavily subsidized and dominated by state-owned companies, it has benefited recently from steps toward economic liberalisation, transforming the industry into a multi-actor global force. But it risks being left behind as consumers increasingly go “green.”
But while this could help local plantation owners in Vietnam earn more money, proving they meet international standards can be expensive, said Ahmad Dermawan, CIFOR scientist and a contributor to the study.
Many small-scale and independent farmers struggle to get by, and may be unable to
pay additional funds for audits and documentation.
“Without outside assistance or short-term incentives, farmers with small woodlots
probably don’t have the means to apply for and maintain certification,” said Dermawan.
In part because of these obstacles, only five forests in Vietnam today have
international certification.
