By Claire Fram, ForInfo Project Associate
ForInfo’s team is back in the field in Bokeo Province, Lao PDR. During our first day in Huay Xai, we were reminded of how important it is to use sustainable and appropriate technology at a project site: we went searching for basic items like light bulbs and screws, but came up empty handed.
In Laos, where many of the goods traded in local markets are imported from China or Thailand, you cannot take anything for granted. Standard equipment for harvesting timber is tightly regulated, and the rare chainsaw that you can find is typically poorly made. After a rare chainsaw sighting, ForInfo’s technical adviser Fabian Noeske explained that our work to support three villages in improving land usage may depend on the equipment available to them and, as our senior expert Bernhard Mohns remarked, “The devil is in the details.”
RECOFTC's Blog for People and Forests 
Money Can Grow on Trees: Teak assets in Northern Laos
Claire Fram, ForInfo Project Associate, writes on teak trees as piggy-banks or insurance policies in Bokeo, Lao PDR, where the ForInfo project is helping increase the monetary value of these assets.
Villagers use teak trees, like these in Bokeo, Laos, as fungible assets in times of financial stress. (Photo credit: Claire Fram)
Huaythongtai village, Paktha district, Bokeo Province, Lao PDR: A villager in Huaythongtai can sell one teak tree of a 50+ cm DBH (diameter at breast height, a standard method of expressing the diameter of a standing tree), to a trader in the provincial capital, Huay Xai, for about US $150. When villagers are in need of quick cash, their teak trees are their most reliable liquid assets.
We visited Mr. Bounton, the village chief, to learn how teak is used by the community. We heard story after story of villagers who needed emergency medical treatment and sold a teak tree to cover the cost.
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Posted by RECOFTC on March 12, 2012
https://recoftc.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/money-can-grow-on-trees-teak-assets-in-northern-laos/