ITTO strengthens cooperation with INBAR on sustainable management of bamboo and rattan

ITTO and the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) agreed to increase their collaboration on the sustainable management, use and trade of tropical bamboo and rattan resources and enabling South–South cooperation. Gerhard Dieterle, ITTO Executive Director and Hans Friederich, Director General of INBAR signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 25 June 2018, during the first day of the Global Bamboo and Rattan Congress 2018, underway in Beijing, China.
 
The newly signed MoU will provide a framework for implementation of joint activities and projects aimed at the conservation, sustainable management use and trade of tropical bamboo and rattan within countries member to both organizations, through:

• development of appropriate policy frameworks for tropical forests, bamboo and rattan;
• promotion of forest law enforcement;
• documentation and dissemination of best practices and guidelines for the sustainable management of tropical forests, bamboo and rattan;
• promotion of green supply chains and markets for tropical forests products, including bamboo and rattan;
• provision of capacity building,  focusing on strengthening community forest enterprises;
• development of learning networks and training programmes;
• exchange experiences and information, and promote research and development to advance the implementation of sustainable management of tropical forest, bamboo and rattan;
• collection, analysis and dissemination of data on the trade of bamboo and rattan and
• strengthening outreach efforts to make the case for sustainably produced bamboo and rattan products.

The MoU was signed on the opening day of the Global Bamboo Congress 2018, underway in Beijing, where ITTO will co-organize, lead and participate in the following sessions, in addition to staffing a booth:

• High dialogue on bamboo and rattan for climate change and green growth,
• Session on sustainable tropical forest management and
• Session on policy facilitation for bamboo and rattan commodities.