IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

IUCN Lao supported officials from Lao PDR to learn about Rubber development

26 January 2009 | Event

In October 2008, IUCN Lao PDR supported several researchers and officials from Lao PDR and the People’s Republic of China to participate in a study tour to Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province.

The study tour, which also involved researchers from the Lao National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute and the Lao Environmental Research Institute, was aimed at building links between Lao and Chinese researchers and providing an opportunity for Lao researchers and officials to see how both industrial and small-scale rubber plantations have developed in Xishuangbanna.

As well as visiting smallholder rubber growers and rubber processing plants around Jinghong, capital city of Xishuangbanna Prefecture, the study tour group also held a workshop with government, Yunnan University, private sector and trade association representatives to discuss rubber plantation, processing and environmental protection policies, trade and investment, and technical cultivation issues.

The study tour was organized as part of the Sumernet-supported “Rubber in the GMS” research project. This project, involving parallel research conducted by IUCN Lao PDR, NAFRI and ERI, aims to enhance the understanding of current trade and investment trends, as well as of the social, economic and environmental impacts of rubber development in Lao PDR.

For more information on the study tour and the “Rubber in the GMS” project, please contact Ms Charlotte Hicks, IUCN Lao PDR, at charlotte@iucnlao.org or +856-21-216401.