list of figures - Terry Sunderland

3.2 RATTAN INVENTORY
3.2.1 Introduction
In the main, forest inventory techniques have been designed for the exploitation of the
timber resource and, as such, have concentrated on the enumeration of tree species
(Philip, 1994). However, it is possible to include a wider range of life forms into the
inventory process and enumeration techniques are being developed to focus on the
wider “resource base” of an area (Peters, 1996; Peters, 1999). These techniques are
being used to provide information on a range of commercially important forest
products, including timber; information that will hopefully lead to more holistic
models for sustainable exploitation and management of forest resources (van Dijk,
1995; Wong, 1997; van Dijk, 1999; Sunderland and Tchouto, 1999).
Rattan inventory has proved to be a somewhat imperfect science. Initial attempts to
determine stocking and yield have often been thwarted by a poor taxonomic base; it is
essential to know which species are being enumerated, and which are of commercial
value. Furthermore, the lack of sampling within the correct parameters has hindered
the potential application of such surveys.
The majority of inventories and resource estimates relating to rattan have been
undertaken in SE Asia (Stockdale and Wright, 1994; Siebert, 1993; Peters, 1996;
Bøgh, 1996). Until recently, very little was known about the stocking and potential
yield of the commercially valuable species of rattan in the forests of West and Central
Africa. Recent work, notably by the Cross River Forestry Project in Nigeria (CRFP,
1994), the Tropenbos and ECOFAC programme’s in Cameroon (van Dijk, 1995;
Nzooh, in press) and the Forestry Department in Ghana (Wong, 1997) have attempted
to address this shortfall.
3.2.2. Inventory parameters
3.2.2.1 Introduction
Quantification and enumeration of non-timber forests is not as straightforward as
measuring the diameter, and then calculating the basal area of tree species (Philip,
1994). With non-timber products, in order to develop sustainable harvesting regimes,
it is essential that the correct parameters are determined prior to the commencement of
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