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Rattan is a forest product with a high value for local economy of South East Asia. The rattan trade represents S 5 billions, 90 % of which being concentrated in Indonesia and Malaysia. In spite of this, the knowledge about rattan biology, silviculture and the geographic partitioning of genetic diversity is still very limited. In 1994, a number of public and private organisations working in the region decided to join their research efforts on these topics within the present project, supported by the "Science and Technologies for Development" programme of the EEC. The list of the organisations involved is the following: 1) CIRAD-Forêt, HQ in France, Regional Office in Sabah, Malaysia 2) Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Malaysia (FRIM) 3) Forestry Department Sabah, Sabah, Malaysia (FD) 4) Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd, Sabah, Malaysia (ICSB) 5) Royal Botanical Garden, United Kingdom (RBG) The Official Commencement Date of the EEC project was the first of October 1994. The associated contracts between CIRAD-Forêt and the other participants were signed from December 1994 to April 1995. This six-months progress report refers therefore to a period from January 1995 and June 1995.According to the decisions taken during the First Workshop among Participants to the EEC Project on Rattans (Tawau, 23-27 January 1995, related in a previous document), the major activities during the first six-months period were subdivided among research, documentation, purchase of new equipments, recruitment of researchers, participation in international congress, and seed collections. These activities are briefly resumed in the following paragraphs and detailed in the participants' papers.

Rattan is a forest product with a high value for local economy of South East Asia. The rattan trade represents S 5 billions, 90 % of which being concentrated in Indonesia and Malaysia. In spite of this, the knowledge about rattan biology, silviculture and the geographic partitioning of genetic diversity is still very limited. In 1994, a number of public and private organisations working in the region decided to join their research efforts on these topics within the present project, supported by the "Science and Technologies for Development" programme of the EEC. The list of the organisations involved is the following: 1) CIRAD-Forêt, HQ in France, Regional Office in Sabah, Malaysia 2) Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Malaysia (FRIM) 3) Forestry Department Sabah, Sabah, Malaysia (FD) 4) Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd, Sabah, Malaysia (ICSB) 5) Royal Botanical Garden, United Kingdom (RBG) The Official Commencement Date of the EEC project was the first of October 1994. The associated contracts between CIRAD-Forêt and the other participants were signed from December 1994 to April 1995. This six-months progress report refers therefore to a period from January 1995 and June 1995.According to the decisions taken during the First Workshop among Participants to the EEC Project on Rattans (Tawau, 23-27 January 1995, related in a previous document), the major activities during the first six-months period were subdivided among research, documentation, purchase of new equipments, recruitment of researchers, participation in international congress, and seed collections. These activities are briefly resumed in the following paragraphs and detailed in the participants' papers.