During September 1999, indigenous Tagbanua representatives from Palawan, Philippines visited East Kalimantan, Indonesia, to learn more about the kebun rotan or rattan garden system. This is an indigenous palm-rice fallow management system practiced by the Dayak Benuaq people of Kutai district. Rattan is a disappearing forest resource in the Philippines, and there is interest in regenerating this important non-timber forest product for the indigenous peoples of Palawan.

The trip was made possible by the Non-Timber Forest Product-Exchange Programme (NTFP-EP), and it was assisted by partner groups in East Kalimantan such as PLASMA, the Institute for Environment and People Empowerment, and SHK Kaltim (Community Forest Management-East Kalimantan), with Cornell playing a facilitative role.

The visitors discovered that rattan planted in rice fallows performed very well, especially the species Calamus caesius, or sega as it is better known in Indonesian. This encouraged Palawan participants to share the rattan-planting technique with several groups in southern Palawan when they returned. After an orientation session in October, these groups tested the system by planting rattan in their agricultural fields.

NATRIPAL (the United Tribes of Palawan), which represents many indigenous communities in the province, organized a national conference on non-timber forest product development in December 1999. This was another venue where the Kalimantan system was shared and where great interest was expressed by indigenous Mangyan (Mindoro), Agta (Cagayan Valley) and Dumagat (Quezon) participants along with Palawan delegates.

From these initial exchanges blossomed the idea of a longer-term and more far-reaching initiative. Given the decline of rattan resources in the Philippines and the threat of depleted rattan areas outside of East Kalimantan, the traditional rattan planting system presents a model for smallholders in both countries.

The development of a manual for farmers promoting extension of the rattan garden system started in mid-2000 and be completed in August 2001. It was undertaken by NTFP-EP and SHK. Having initiated this exchange with CIIFAD support while I was doing graduate studies at Cornell, I am pleased to be able to manage this effort now as regional support coordinator for NTFP-EP. We are producing:

1. An instructional booklet on rattan regeneration techniques and fallow management for Indonesian and Filipino farmers in local languages; and

2. An informational manual on rattan regeneration for field workers in the Philippines and other countries where English is also widely spoken.

The booklet and manual are being designed and produced by Studio Driya Media, an Indonesian working group specializing in development communication, based in Bandung and a long-time CIIFAD partner. The work is being done in cooperation with Dayak Benuaq staff of SHK and with an editorial board comprised of members of PLASMA and Puti Jaji, prominent NGOs working on natural resource and indigenous people’s issues.

The booklets for farmers in Indonesian and Tagalog languages are being funded by CIIFAD while the larger English manual is being funded by the NTFP-EP. The manual and booklet should be field tested in Indonesia and the Philippines by November 2000 and ready for printing by next March.

This manual was initiated through the Cornell Tropical Fallow Management Initiative (CTFMI) and the graduate course it sponsors on tropical fallow management. It is also a major part of the NTFP-EP program for working with grassroots organizations to help develop NTFPs that improve the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. The manual should help support awareness and action for the regeneration of important rattan species as well as for the development of non-timber forest products in general.