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TRP EC AGARWOOD PROJECT
Objectives
 The main objectives of the project are to establish economic and environmentally
sustainable Agarwood production, to prevent extinction of forest trees, and to
support socio-economic development by improving rural people’s income; to build
a socio-economic and agro-forestry development model that can be applied
worldwide.
In particular the objectives of this project in Viet Nam are to plant Aquilaria
crassna trees and provide protection for this endangered species, find the best
method to optimize resin production in plantation-grown trees, and assist the
population and authorities to accomplish future independent and profitable
Agarwood production. The successful implementation of this project will yield
not only directly benefit project participants and the Agarwood market, but also
will be a showcase for other projects. Nature conservation can only be truly
successful when local’s inhabitant is closely involved in the planning and
implementation of such projects. This can alone be done when conservation
efforts are combined with socio-economic development. One of the most important
objectives of this project is to present a model and a methodology for similar
efforts.
Results: a successful method including of resin formation in young
plantation grown trees has been developed and the process is continually being
refined and optimized with ongoing research with TRP cooperator and wood
microbiologist Robert Blanchette, University of Minnesota.
Development: An over-exploited forest resource will be turned into a
long-term sustainable product that can be easily developed by poor farmers in
hard-to-reach areas. Small Agarwood home-gardens and larger size plantations by
farmers and provincial forestry enterprises will be cultivated. Processing
capacity and end-product manufacturing skills will benefit product development
and ultimately commercialization. Income generation as well as foreign currency
earnings will support farmers and state. Through the project plantation-based
Agarwood products will become available on the world market. An example of true
co-management of an endangered natural resource resulting in sustainable
production will be the end result of the project.
Research: New project research will determine the single best method for
resin inducement, test-marketing of Agarwood products will provide commercial
strategies and controlled production of seedlings will optimize tree
development. Research, technology transfer and training will go hand-in-hand.
Consequently, a research, quality control and knowledge base will be built, and
a manual for sustainable Agarwood production will be made available.
Conservation: Destructive and unsustainable harvesting has lead to endangering
Aquilaria throughout its range, resulting in calls for strict trade controls and
outright bans. In consultation with IUCN and TRAFFIC, the project supports
Aquilaria conservation. By offering the first real alternative to forest-based
exploitation of Agarwood, legislation, active protection and actual conservation
can be realized. Future legislation will increase demand for the
plantation-based Agarwood. Several areas holding natural stands of Aquilaria in
Viet Nam will receive better protection.
 Model: The creation of Agarwood supplies in Viet Nam will serve as a model for
applied science stimulating socio-economic development through tropical
agro-forestry. Close collaboration of top-level scientists and their research
with hands-on local level economic development, supported by technology transfer
and training will be demonstrated. An endangered species will be preserved by
cultivation at plantations, innovative marketing and commercialization. Creating
Agarwood supplies in Viet Nam will present a model of natural forest resource
co-management, and as such will be globally relevant. Specifically, this model
can serve as an example for the entire Southeast Asian Agarwood industry. It
will make international restrictions on harvesting and trade regarding
forest-based Agarwood feasible, as the project results offer a real alternative,
which so far has not been available.
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