‘Dumps’ have become ‘transfer stations’ or ‘recycling centres’ and the people who run them are called ‘waste engineers’.

Such euphemisms are not required in developing countries because there is less need to dispose of waste. Much of what would be tossed in the bin in rich countries retains considerable value for people whose incomes are tiny fractions of those of the more fortunate.

But when it comes to forests, poor countries are often on a par with rich ones in terms of wastefulness. Vast logging concessions, many of them controlled by multinational firms, have left massive swaths of devastation in their voracious appetite for timber.

Fortunately, a few organisations are addressing this problem. CIFOR is among the world’s leaders in seeking ways to make use of forest products that might otherwise be discarded as waste. A seminal training exercise took place earlier this year at the CIFOR Seturan Research Station, Malinau, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The session, Training on wood waste utilization for local community – alternatives for wood carving and charcoal production, was timely.

Recent CIFOR research undertaken in Malinau in collaboration with various Indonesian organisations clearly indicates enormous wastage of wood from logging activities. It is estimated, for example, that clearing just 25 km of new logging roads can produce about 20,000 cubic metres of wastage. Even more startling, an eyebrow-raising total of more than 316,000 cubic metres of wastage resulted from clearing 5,000 hectares of forests for shifting cultivation – enough to fill 68 football fields with rubble. Clearly, something had to be done.

The training exercise was supported by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). Fourteen participants from local communities attended the training, as well as official observers from four Government of Malinau district agencies (Trade and Cooperatives Services, Forestry and Plantation Services, Tourism and Culture Services and Community Empowerment Services).

Training materials were presented by instructors from CIFOR, Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry Research and Development Agency (FORDA) and the Yogyakarta-based Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI Yogyakarta). The instructors explained the background of the problem and reported the results of studies on wood waste from logging and land clearing. In an effort to provide solutions as to how to turn forest waste into useful products, instructors from ISI Yogyakarta’s Faculty of Fine Arts presented the art of woodcarving for handicrafts and furniture.

But the proof of the pie, of course, is in the eating. So, participants were told about success stories from other forest cultures where wood carving has made a difference. For example, in India, a country with serious problems of forest degradation, a US$ 65 million industry employing 50,000 people has developed from wood carving in a single district. Similar successes have occurred in Africa. In Kenya, wood carving provides livelihoods for 60,000 people. In South Africa, about 80 percent of household incomes for wood carvers’ families is provided by waste wood. And bringing the good news closer to home, the villagers were told about the situation on the neighbouring island of Bali, where exports worth $100 million are produced annually.

Another group of FORDA instructors explained how to produce wood charcoal (and its side product, wood vinegar) through promoting the system of slash-and-char. Switching to slash-and-char from the traditional slash-and-burn system, they suggested, would increase the intensity and productivity of ladang, the practice of shifting cultivation of rice and maize by local communities. At the very least, switching to slash-and-char would reduce the danger of forest fire – not a bad bonus in a country that has been devastated by such catastrophes in recent years.

As a result of this training, participants increased their knowledge of how to utilize new techniques to improve the lives of their families and their communities. Building on the success of the Malinau training activity, CIFOR plans additional training sessions in other forest areas of Indonesia, involving other partners such as Tropenbos International (Indonesia) and WWF Indonesia. CIFOR and FORDA are also planning to undertake a more detailed study on the impact of slash-and-char on ladang productivity and the prevention of deforestation, and the affect on the incomes of farmers.

For more information, contact Haris Iskandar at h.iskandar@cgiar.org, Kresno Dwi Santosa at k.santoso@cgiar.org or Petrus Gunarso at p.gunarso@cgiar.org