Due to its rapid growth and ability to adapt to a wide variety of ecological conditions, rattan provides a valuable crop that can be grown and harvested in a sustainable manner. Its use in furniture production also means that effective rattan cultivation serves as a reliable alternative to timber exploitation. Clearly laid out and illustrated throughout, this technical guide gives a general overview of the cultivation, harvesting, treatments, transformation and commercialisation of rattan.

This volume contains a glossary on terms and terminologies used in the rattan sector. The glossary is structured according to the following major sections: rattan resources (biology, management, plantations, harvesting); rattan as a raw material (transport, storage, grading and post-harvest handling, rattan trade); rattan processing (for local artisanal uses; for industrial level furniture manufacturing); and rattan trade in raw, furniture and other products. In order to give special emphasis to the emerging rattan sector in Africa, a separate compilation of terms specifically focusing on those used in Africa is added.