WWF Starts US$3Mln Project to Use Environmentally-Friendly Technologies in Vietnam

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on March 5 launched the EUR2.4 million (US$3 million) project to encourage rattan-ware makers to use environmentally-friendly technologies in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi.

 

The European Union, the world’s largest home furniture and furnishings store (IKEA), and Germany's development financing organization (DEG) will co-finance for the project titled “Establishing a Sustainable Production Method for Rattan Products” in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

 

The two-year project aims to train 300 businesses in the three countries.

 

T.Ledecq, director of WWF’s Mekong River-based rattan program said that the rattan forests are confronting with dropping due to overexploitation. The project will help ensure living conditions for locals and better protect the forests.

 

Indochina countries are overexploiting 50 species of rattan for production. And Vietnam exports almost 60 per cent of all finished rattan products to the EU. (Local sources)