NEWS

ITTO-BMEL PROJECT (PP-A/54-331A)

"PROMOTING QUALITY TIMBER PRODUCTION
IN SMALLHOLDERS AND COMMUNITY-BASED TEAK AND
OTHER VALUABLE SPECIES PLANTATIONS
IN THE TROPICS"

Explore the latest news, insights, and knowledge from the project here.

IUFRO World Congress 2024 in Stockholm, Sweden from 23 June to 29 June 2024

H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf opened the IUFRO World Congress 2024 in Stockholm, Sweden from 23 June to 29 June 2024. The congress brought together 4271 participants from 102 countries.

The IUFRO Side Event on “Strengthening Teak Forest Management for Sustainable Teakwood Supply Chains and Trade (T2:29) ” was organized by IUFRO Teakwood Working Party on 28^th June 2024, co-sponsored by ITTO along with TEAKNET and FAO. The Teak Session was moderated by Dr. PK Thulasidas, Deputy Coordinator of IUFRO Teakwood Working Party (TEAKNET).

Dr. Michael Klene, IUFRO Deputy Executive Director, gave Opening remarks in the teak session.

TEAKNET Coordinator, Dr. Sandeep S. presented the Global Teak Resources and Assessment 2022 results. The major highlights of the study revealed that teak is now growing in over 80 countries worldwide and the area of natural teak and planted teak has expanded, the harvest of teak roundwood has increased and teak’s share of the global market is growing. India remains the dominant trading partner and imports 97% of the total trade volume.

ITTO Projects Manager, Dr. Tetra Yanuariadi, gave the audience an overview of recent trends in international trade and market access for tropical timber and timber products. He emphasized the case for sustainable forest management (SFM) and trade in legally and sustainably produced tropical timber and wood products.

Dr. Hwan-Ok Ma, a resource person for the ITTO Project, presented and also touched upon the market access issues in his topic “Promoting legal and sustainable supply chains for sustainable global teak markets”. Certification requirements for teak and other tropical timber products imposed high transaction costs for developing countries and small producers.

Dr. Dong Lam Tran, Deputy Director-General from Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences, elaborated that there exists high potential for the development of smallholder teak plantations in Vietnam that requires much support for boosting teak growth by 1) improvement of germplasm quality and seedling production; 2) technical capacity building to teak growers and stakeholders; 3) development of diverse silviculture options for diversifying income regime;
4) improvement of the value chain and marketing by building partnerships among the chain actors; and 5) provision of micro-finance mechanism for long-term investment.

Dr.Simone Vongkhamho, Forest Research Centre, NAFRI, Lao PDR presented “The Effect of Topographic Conditions on Teak Heartwood Quality in a Mountainous Area” in the northern part. The main highlights of the study suggest that the heartwood content of the basal area increases with age and tree size, however, slightly affected by topographic conditions. Lower shrinkage with higher Basic Density indicates better wood properties.

Dr. Andrew Callister, from the United States of America, presented the “Genomic Selection of Superior Quality Teak Clone for Productivity Enhancement and Value”. The study revealed that genomic selection tools have improved tree improvement outcomes across species. Teak improvement programs could benefit enormously from pedigree reconstruction and genomic prediction for teak clone selection.

Prof. Yongyut Trisurat, from Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University in Thailand, presented paper on “Strengthening Smallholder Community-based Teak Plantations in Thailand” touched upon the challenges and prospects of smallholder teak plantations in the country with emphasis on the outcome of the completed ITTO Teak project, Phase I (2019-2022) and the newly initiated ITTO-BMEL Teak project, Phase II (2023-2026). It is anticipated that the legal supply chains of smallholder plantations will improve with the production of high-quality timber making use of quality germplasm materials and adopting the right silvicultural practices and micro-finance (land- and tree collateral schemes) available to smallholders. Thereby, the livelihood enhancement and social and environmental concerns are well addressed.

Prof. Mario Tomasiello Filho, from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, introduced a comparative study on the wood quality of 22-year-old fast-grown teak plantations in three different locations in Brazil. His research showed that 1) the heartwood production is proportional to the diameter growth; 2) The growth ring width is constant from the 10th ring onwards; 3) The average density ranged from 550 to 650 kg/m³ ; and 4) Wood density is higher at the base and apex, and low near the pith, increasing radially towards the bark. However, growth is not directly associated with wood density.

Mr. Outhai Soukkhy from Lao PDR presented the results of a Nelder wheel experiment in an agroforestry system by farmers in northern Lao PDR after 15 growing seasons. The results demonstrate that teak can be grown under shorter rotations and intercropped with cash crops. In addition, woodlots can be commercially thinned (from below) at 12-15 years of age, or potentially clear-cut at 15 years, and the coppice managed to regenerate the woodlot, providing long-term, sustainable timber production, with limited management requirements.