Stabilising forest margins by growing non-timber forest products: a novel example from Hainan Island, China

This paper discusses the use of rattan plantations in the margins of the remaining natural forest in Hainan as a way to reverse deforestation. It is argued that the early success of this project is due to a number of features: the local indigenous knowledge of working with rattan; the still existing resources of rattan and the strong demand for rattan cane from basket and furniture industry. A unique feature of this project is, however, the way it has tackled the land tenure issue by granting government-issued licences to manage and utilise the rattan resources from a finite patch of secondary forest to individual farming families.