The field research for this book was conducted in 2001-2003. A few years earlier the Lao government stopped issuing export permits for wood resin, although wood resin from Cambodia was still being exported to Thailand via Laos. The argument of the Lao government at the time was that wood resin harvesting was damaging the forests, and that the destructive practice should be discontinued. Unfortunately, however, once there was no longer a market for wood resin, many villagers decided to cut their resin trees down to sell the wood. So, the export ban did not have the effect of protecting the trees, as was seemingly expected. Moreover, logging companies also took advantage of the situation to convince villagers to allow them to cut down their resin trees.
In any case, through reviewing the literature, it became clear that some researchers believed that wood resin tree tapping was destructive, while others thought it was sustainable. It seemed appropriate to investigate wood resin tapping in detail. What I found was that in my field site wood resin trees were not dying as a result of being tapped. I also found that without exception, all the researchers who investigated wood resin tapping superficially–whether in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia or elsewhere–came to the conclusion that it was destructive to the trees. This appears to be based mainly on the visual effect of seeing big black burnt holes in the trunks of resin trees. It’s a bit like the negative impression many people have when they first see a burnt swidden fields. However, the reality associated with swidden agriculture are frequently much more complicated. I also found that all the researchers who investigated wood resin tapping in detail, regardless of which country, came to the conclusion that while it certainly is possible to kill a tree through resin tapping, the reality is that this rarely happens, and that despite the ugly black holes in the side of the tree trunks, the trees are very hardy and almost never succumb to tapping damage.
Unfortunately, the 2009 book is a bit expensive. It is, however, available through Amazon.com The publisher can also be contacted here.
The following photos (from the book) show the tapping process as performed by one of the Brao tappers I worked with during my research. The fires are necessary to stimulate resin production, but tappers lose production if they over-burn. Therefore, they tend to only allow fires to burn about 30 seconds before putting them out. Then they wait between a few days and a week for the resin to seep into the wedge shaped holes in the trunks. The resin is then taken from the tap holes and the holes are burnt again. The full details can be found in the book.
What a remarkable piece of research that could only have been carried out by someone with Ian’s depth of knowledge of Brao language and culture. I have not read the book yet, but look forward to doing so. That so many researchers found the practice of resin tapping destructive, providing de facto support for government policy and logging is perhaps not surprising. The comparison with swidden agriculture in this vein is entirely apt.
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One other interesting finding from my research related to burn damage to resin trees. While very few trees were in danger of dying due to fire damage, I did find that some trees had been overburnt, resulting in less resin production and shorter useful periods of use for particular tap holes. Considering that all the tappers were well aware that overburning is not useful for them, I was initially surprised at this result. Why would they jeopardise important resin production by overburning? When I went to the forest with tappers, they always emphasised the need to not overburn tap holes. Eventually I learnt that most of the overburning damage had been caused by the children of those who owned the resin trees. Essentially, the Brao often sent their young children out to do the tapping. Some of these children were quite young (less than 10 years old), and overburning sometimes occurred under their watch because they were either too young to fully appreciate the implications of overburning (maybe they were playing around or just neglective), or they were simply physically too small to be able to effectively put out the fires in a timely manner. I heard of cases when the fires simply got out of control, with small children trying ineffectively to put them out.
The lesson, I think, is that we need to be careful not to just consider the practices of the principle users of natural resources, the adults, but also others, such as children, who frequently end up doing much of the work in reality, but may not initially be presented by the principle users as being involved.
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Indeed a remarkable piece of research. I saw resin tapping of Dipterocarpus also during a trip to Mondulkiri Province, where the Phnong are the tappers. Do the Brao trade the resin through a network of jungle routes connecting Rattanakiri with Attapeu in Laos? In that way they traded traditional gongs, tools, seeds, tobacco etc. in the past. In Kontum Province of Vietnam there are still a few hundred Brao left, slowly losing their traditions due to their small numbers and assimilation.
I would love to read more in detail, but with USD 105 the book is a bit expensive. Is the book available in stores in Vietnam and/or Cambodia? One more question: What are the uses of Dipterocarpus resin nowadays?
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Actually, the Brao in Ratanakiri do not trade their resin to Attapeu, but rather west to Stung Treng, and then either south to Phnom Penh or north to Laos (Champasak Province). Nowadays resin is used for sealing boats, making torches, and it is also used for industrial purposes, including as bases for perfumes. I don’t think the book is available in Cambodia and Vietnam at the moment. If you want more information, email me at ianbaird at shaw.ca
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Hi Ian,
I came across your post while researching resin trees in Cambodia as a possible alternative income generator for local families in Siem Reap, with the potential for its wider use as a waterproofing agent to replace creosote. Do you know how prevalent these resin trees are in the Siem Reap, and how much it costs when traded/sold? Thank you!
Emily
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