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The resin from the wood of ''S. javanica'' , "damar mata kucing" or "cat's eye damar", is used in paints and varnishes, in the linoleum industry, in pharmaceuticals, cosmetic products and as a food additive. Traditionally, the resin has been used for torches, caulking boats and baskets and colouring batik.

Between 1975-1995 the price of "damar mata kucing" was stable. Currently, this type of damar (resin from ''Dipterocarpaceae'' ) is the most important in the Indonesian domestic market and the international market. The estimated total production from the Krui area in Lampung Province was 8000 t in 1984 and 10 000 t in 1994. Total damar exports ("damar", "mata kucing" and "batu") from Indonesia were 14 750 t and 9900 t in 1994 and 1995; mata kucing exports were 3400 t and 2900 t. In 1995 there were about 50 000 ha of damar gardens over 15 years old in this area. In the period 1928-1938 the annual export of damar mata kucing from Indonesia was 4300-7400 t. 

*A large tree up to 40-50 m tall, bole with a diameter of up to 150 cm, buttresses prominent, up to 1.5 m high; bark surface with irregular fissures, outer bark usually thick, chocolate brown, inner bark laminated with bands of orange-yellow and whitish tissue, exuding a clear, whitish to yellowish resin; mature crown hemispherical or dome-shaped, sympodial; twigs, leaf buds, stipule outside, panicles, calyx, parts of petals exposed in bud, ovary and nut persistently evenly tawny brown pubescent; twigs terete, 2-3 mm in diameter apically. *Leaves alternate, simple; petiole 16-22 mm long; blade elliptical-oblong to ovate, (6.5-)10-15 cm × (3.5-)4-8 cm, base obtuse to shallowly caudate, margin entire, top with acumen, up to 7 mm long, thinly leathery, with 19-25 pairs of parallel secondary veins, lower surface evenly tomentose on the veins. *Inflorescence terminal or axillary, paniculate, up to 14 cm long, branchlets to 4 cm long, bearing up to 3 flowers facing the same direction; flowers .*Flowers bisexual, 5-merous, about 1 cm long in bud, actinomorphic, scented; calyx lobes free, narrowly ovoid, acuminate, somewhat unequal, much enlarged and persistent in fruit; petals white, broadly elliptical or ovate-lanceolate, loosely connate at base; stamens 15, the anthers with 4 pollen sacs, narrowly oblong to linear, with prominent scabrous or glabrous appendages; ovary superior or semi-inferior, (2-)3-locular, stylopodium narrow. *Fruit samara-like, consisting of an ovoid, apiculate nut, 14 mm × 10 mm, surrounded by the enlarged calyx with lobes like wings, base obtuse; the 3 outer calyx lobes much longer than the 2 inner ones, thinly spatulate, up to 18 cm × 1.5 cm.

Over the years many other ''Dipterocarpaceae'' have been exploited for their resin ("damar"). Only ''Hopea dryobalanoides'' Miq. has ever been planted, but generally the resin has been harvested from natural forest. Other species yielding damar mata kucing are: ''Shorea lamellata'' Foxw., ''S. retinodes'' Slooten, ''Hopea dryobalanoides'' , and ''H. celebica'' Burck.

When people started planting ''S. javanica'' in southern Sumatra in the middle to the end of the 19th Century, they obtained planting stock either from wild and cultivated seedlings or from young forest trees by successive air layering. In the latter case, the bark of these "damar trees" with a diameter of 10-20 cm was notched all around the stem and packed with soil and leaves. When the first roots appeared, the tree was cut down 1 m above and 25 cm below the notch. The rooted stem segment was planted in the field or in the village and the coppice sprouts from these segments were air layered again when about 30 cm long. These rooted layers were used for planting. The next step in cultivation was the use of the seeds from the planted trees. ''S. javanica'' , however, flowers and bears fruit only once every 3-5 years, so seed is available very irregularly. Moreover, seeds are recalcitrant and cannot be stored under dry conditions or at low temperatures. When available, the fruits are even sold in local markets. Instead of storing seeds farmers in southern Sumatra store seedlings. Fruits are collected in old damar plantations, the wings are cut off and the fruit is soaked in water for 2-3 days. The germination percentage is close to 100%. Germinated seeds are put in small bamboo pots or planted very densely in the soil of prepared nursery beds. All small-scale private nurseries, either close to the house or, more usually, in old damar plantations, are shaded. Seedlings grow to 20-30 cm and then growth seems to stop. Seedlings can survive for 3-4 years, and there seems to be only a low rate of mortality. A good nursery must supply seedlings from one fruiting season to the next. The stock is renewed at each fruiting season. Seedlings are planted out in the damar gardens with earth from the nursery, in spots where light intensity is intermediate, so neither under closed canopy nor in large, open areas. Mortality is low. When establishing new damar gardens, seedlings are planted after coffee, that was planted in the second upland rice crop after land clearing. The seedlings benefit from the shade provided by the rice or the coffee. This coffee stage is itself a mixture of various species: ''Erythrina'' is almost always planted as a shade tree, but also as living poles for pepper which is very often associated with coffee. Fruit trees (e.g. durian, duku, jackfruit, mangosteen, rambutan and mango) are also planted along with the damar trees, so that the latter never develop in an open environment. Damar tree density at planting is very variable, depending on the farmer's short and long term objectives. However, damar tree planting density for a damar agroforest objective is 100-150 trees/ha. The damar trees are 4-5 m tall when the coffee becomes unproductive about 10 years after planting. Initially, these gardens are even-aged, but they will gradually become more complex, involving more species and more differences in age. Direct seeding is not practised, as seed predation is severe.

'''== Management''' == In southern Sumatra, the exploitation of ''S. javanica'' for resin production has gradually shifted from exploitation of natural forest to a highly diversified agroforestry system where species composition and regeneration of the ''S. javanica'' trees are completely controlled by man. In the Krui region on the west coast of Lampung Province, damar gardens, also called damar agroforests, are dominated by ''S. javanica'' (about 65% of the trees) and some 20% of the trees are fruit trees such as "durian" ( ''Durio zibethinus'' Murray) and "duku" ( ''Lansium domesticum'' Correa). Naturally established trees left for the production of timber comprise another 10-15% of the trees. On average, 245 trees/ha of 39 different species were recorded in an inventory of trees with at least 20 cm diameter. There is a close structural similarity between a mature damar garden and natural forest. The silvicultural rotation of individual damar trees is about 50-70 years, which is when they are physiologically old because of reduced photosynthetic and metabolic capacity after 30-50 years of resin tapping. Old trees are not cut down, they fall spontaneously creating a gap in the canopy. In small gaps weeds are controlled to favour young damar trees. In larger gaps heliophilous plants like banana and ''Sauropus androgynus'' (L.) Merr. are planted to provide shade. Damar seedlings are planted near the fallen trunk for protection and nutrients. A fairly recent development, however, is the introduction of chainsaws, which has facilitated the felling of old and unproductive trees. This highly selective felling involves on average 1 tree/ha per year, corresponding to about 0.25% of the standing volume. The increased use of the timber from the damar gardens is the next step in the management intensification of the damar gardens.

''Bacterium tumefaciens'' is a gall disease observed in West Java on planted ''S. javanica'' seedlings in the second year. Although the disease is not fatal, the affected seedlings continually form new shoots but do not grow any more in height. Damar farmers have reported two unidentified insects ( ''Homopterae'' ) as having a deleterious impact on damar production: "tetuer", a leaf hopper ( ''Cicadellidae'' ) and "tenangao", a brightly coloured red and green bug ( ''Heteropterae'' ). Both insects feed on the sap of the plant.

The damar agroforests in southern Sumatra, mainly of ''S. javanica'' , have been maintained for well over a century now and will continue to be of prime economic importance to the local population as long as damar mata kucing remains an important export commodity. The high quality, the specific characteristics and the homogeneity of damar mata kucing resin are being increasingly recognized, and the traditional demand from the paint and varnish industry is not declining. Moreover, new applications have been developed in the last 10 years by the food industry, where it is increasingly used as food additive in soft drinks. Last but not least, damar mata kucing resin is produced from environmentally sustainable and socially equitable plantations. This production mode ensures a continuous and "safe" source of supply for downstream industries, as well as the possibility of green labelling for industrial products. This greatly improves its prospects.