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A General Review of China

Wang Yaping

Ministry of Commerce

The basic national conditions of China are as follows: China is a country

with a vast territory, abundant natural resources but a relatively low per

capita possession of resources. It has a long history and an advanced

culture but with a relatively low level of culture and education among

its citizens. It has an advanced socialist system but with relatively

backward productivity and economic development due to a poor

economic foundation. It has some advanced high technologies up to

the world standard but a relatively weak competitiveness in the world.

It has relatively big overall economic aggregates but a relatively low

level of per capita national income. The economy in the east and

south coastal areas is comparatively developed while that in the

southwest and northwest is less developed. Therefore, China is still at

the primary stage of socialism and remains to be the largest

developing country in the world.

I．GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

1、Geography

China is located in the east of Asia and on the western coast of the

Pacific, covering an area of 9.6 million square kilometers. It is the largest

country in Asia and the third largest in the world, after Russia and

Canada.

China faces sea on its east and south, with over 5,000 islands and islets,

among which the biggest is Taiwan Island and the second one Hainan

Island. China has a 20,000km-long land boundary and the coast line is

about 18,000 km.

It is bordered with over 10 neighboring countries including Russia,

Mongolia, Pakistan, India, Laos, Vietnam, South Korea, etc. and faces

such countries as South Korea, Japan, Philippines, and Malaysia across

the sea.

China has lots of mountains and hills, among which there are seven of

the twelve mountains in the world that are more than 8,000 meters high.

For instance, the Himalayas in Tibet of China is the highest mountain in

the world. Besides, there are many famous mountains of tourist

attraction in China.

China has various topographic features. Three major plains in China

are the Northeast China plain, the North China plain and the plain of

the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. And there are four

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major plateaus in China, which are the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, the

Inner Mongolian tableland, the loess plateau and the Yunnan-Guizhou

plateau. Besides, it has four major basins, namely the Tarim Basin,

Junggar Basin, Qaidam Basin and Sichuan Basin.

China has many rivers distributed in many parts of its territory. The

Yangtze River, with a total length of 6,300 kilometers, is the longest river

in China and the third longest in the world. The Yellow River, which is

the second longest in China, is 5, 464 kilometers long. The third longest

river in China is the Heilongjiang River, with a total length of 4,370

kilometers. The Yarlung Zangbo Canyon is the largest canyon in the

world.

China has many long rivers covering a large area of drainage basin. It

is abundant in hydropower resources but also vulnerable to floods and

other natural disasters. However, generally speaking, China lacks in

water resource, especially the northwest part of China which always

suffers from drought. The per capita possession of water resource is

2,048 m3, only one fourth of the world‘s average.

Due to the imbalanced distribution of water, power and gas resources,

the country has launched some big projects including channeling the

water from the south to the north, transmitting the gas from the west to

the east and transmitting the power from the west to the east. The

4,000km-long pipe for gas transmitting has been completed and put

into us. The effort of transmitting power from the west to the east is

furthered, and up to now it has been able to provide over 30 million

kilowatts power. As to the project of channeling water from the south

to the north, the three lines including the east line, middle line and west

line are all processing smoothly. The Three Gorges dam, which attracts

the world‘s attention, was completed on May 20, 2006. The dam is

2,309m long and 185m high, and the quality of the project is of top

standard in the world. Now it‘s playing a comprehensive role against

flooding, in generating power and in facilitating navigation.

China has a large number of lakes. There are 13 lakes of which the

area is more than 1,000 square kilometers, and 130 lakes covering an

area over 100 square km, and more than 2,800 lakes‘ area are over 1

square km. Qinghai Lake in western part is the largest salt lake in China

with an area of 4,583 square kilometers. Poyang Lake in Jiangxi

province is the largest freshwater lake covering an area of 3,583 square

kilometers.

At the end of 2008, China has only 121.7 million hectares of arable land

and 128.63 million hectares of forest; though the figures seem to be big,

the per capita possession is far below the world‘s average level.

2、Climate

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The Chinese territory runs through 50 latitude zones from the south to

the north, spanning five temperature zones. The Tropic of Cancer runs

through the southern part of the country, making 90% of its territory be

in a temperate zone with distinct climatic differences of four seasons. In

2008, the average temperature in China is 9.6 degrees centigrade. In

south china the highest temperature can reach 40 degrees while the

lowest in the north can reach minus 50.

II 、 POPULATION, ETHNIC GROUPS, RELIGION AND DEVELOPMENT

HISTORY

1、Population

According to the census in 2000, China had a population of 1.295

billion, ranking the first in the world. By the end of 2008, the population

of mainland China had reached 1.32802 billion; plus the population of

Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, the total population of China was

over 1.35 billion. In 2008, in mainland China, there were 16.08 million

newborns and 9.35 million death toll, which means a net increase of

6.73 million in population. In mainland China, 45.7% of the people live in

urban area, while the other 54.3% in rural area. In terms of the gender

composition, male accounts for 51.5%, while female takes up 48.5%.

Due to the huge population, China faces great pressure in

employment. We have about 800 million work force, whereas the work

force in all the developed countries in Europe and United States only

amounts to 430 million. By the end of 2008, there had been 774.8 million

work force, including 302.1 million in urban area. Only in 2008, China

had a net increase of over 20 million work force, among which over 5.4

million are undergraduates or postgraduates. The registered urban

unemployment rate was 4.2%. Besides, there is more than 100 million

surplus labor in rural area; most of them are migrant workers in the cities

now.

Confronted with such a huge population, in order to bring about a

coordinated development between population and our economy,

society, resources and environment, the country launched a law of

family control to promote family happiness, national prosperity and

social progress. The government encourages late marriage, late

childbearing and one family, one child. However, in some special

cases regulated by laws and regulations, a couple can give birth to a

second child. In fact, at present, 30%-40% of Chinese have two or more

kids. Therefore, in China, people have their rights to have or not to

have children. Through years of education and encouragement, ―one

family, one child‖ has become a voluntary act of Chinese citizens.

Without the family control policy, China would have 400 million more

people over the past 30 years; therefore, we have made great

achievement in controlling the population. According to the forecast,

China‘s population will rise to 1.36 billion by 2010, and 1.45 billion by

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2020; the peak time will come around 2033 when the population will be

1.5 billion. After that, the population will be kept stable. However,

concerning the population, there are two problems, namely, aging

and imbalance of gender. According to the common practice of

international community, if people above 65 years old account for

more than 7% of the total population, that society is called aging

society. By the end of last year, elder people above 65 years old

accounted for 8.3% of the total population, and this figure might rise to

11.8% by 2020 and 25% by 2050. In recent years, the ratio of new-born

girls to new-born boys is becoming higher and higher; for example, the

ratio in 1981 was 108.47, but in 2008 the ratio became 120.56. That is to

say, when 100 girls are born, there are over 120 boys born at the same

time, which is far beyond the normal range from 103 to 107. By the year

2020, there will be 30 million more males than females between 20 to 45

years‘ old.

2、Ethnic Groups

China is a unified multi-ethnic country with 56 ethnic groups, of which

the Han nationality accounts for 91.59% of the total population in the

mainland. Relatively populous minority groups are Zhuang, Islamic,

Uigur, Yi, Miao, Manchu, Tibetan and Mongolian. Among the 56

nationalities, 53 have their own spoken languages, and the ethnic

groups of Han, Islamic and Manchu use Chinese language, and 23

ethnic groups have their own written languages. Chinese is the

common language in China and one of the languages used by the

international community.

China‘s policies toward ethnic minorities are: adhering to the equality

and unity among all ethnic groups; helping each other and pursuing

common prosperity; implementing self-government in autonomous

regions of ethnic minority groups; training leaders of minority groups;

helping them develop their economy and culture; attaching

importance to the use and development of their spoken and written

languages; respecting their customs and way of living; respecting their

religious beliefs; and adopting a preferential population policy toward

minority groups.

3、Religion

China is a country with many religions. On almost two-thirds of the

territory, there are religious believers with the number of about 100

million. Major religions are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and

Christianity.

China's policies toward religions are: People have freedom in their

religious belief. They‘re free to believe or not believe in any religion and

to change their religious belief. The nature of the policy is to make the

issue of religion an entirely private affair of the citizen. China pursues an

independent policy of religion, under which religious groups conduct

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self-government of their affairs, support themselves on their own and

practice religion independently.

4、Development History

China is one of the countries in the world with an ancient civilization

and has a recorded history for more than 4,000 years.

China is one of the countries with the oldest economy and culture in

the world. China is well-known for its four major inventions -- paper

making technology, type printing, powder and compass. There are

also numerous ancient historical and cultural relics.

Two thousand years ago, China‘s annual GDP occupied one fourth of

the world‘s total. In 1400, China‘s GDP was nearly the same as that of

the whole Europe, and in 1820 China‘s annual GDP constituted one

third of the world‘s total.

However, after the Opium War in 1840, many western countries came

to China, turning it into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, and its

economy suffered a great recession. After longtime arduous and

courageous struggles, Chinese people of all ethnic groups, under the

leadership of the Communist Party of China, ultimately overthrew the

rule of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism, and founded

the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. The People's

Republic of China is a socialist country with people's democratic

dictatorship held by the working class and based on the alliance of

workers and peasants. Since the foundation, the country has carried

out the socialist reform, achieved the transition from neo-democracy

to socialism, established the basic system of socialism and developed

constantly the modern socialist economy, politics and culture.

III、POLITICAL SYSTEM AND ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION

1、Political System

China is a democratic and law-ruling country. The Constitution protects

the fundamental rights of every citizen. The system of the People's

Congress is the fundamental political system of China, and the system

of multi-party cooperation and political consultation is the basic system

of China.

The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest body of state

power and also the highest body of legislative power. The National

People's Congress is composed of deputies elected from the provinces,

autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central

Government and of deputies elected from the armed forces on the

basis of general elections among the people of the whole country. The

functions and responsibilities of the National People's Congress: 1. To

exercise the legislative power, to enact and amend the Constitution,

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and to enact laws. 2. To exercise the power of appointing and

removing from office state leaders and of electing its Standing

Committee; to elect the President and Vice President of the state; to

decide on the choice of the Premier, Vice Premiers and other members

of the State Council; to elect the Chairman of the Central Military

Commission and other commission members; to elect the President of

the Supreme People's Court and the Procurator General of the

Supreme People's Procuratorate. The above members are responsible

to the National People's Congress and report on their work to the

Congress and accept its supervision. The National People's Congress is

empowered to remove the above members from office. 3.To exercise

the power of deciding on major state affairs of the country, including

the powers of: the supervision of the enforcement of the Constitution;

examination and approval of the plan for national economic and

social development and the report on its implementation; examination

and approval of the state budget and the report on its implementation;

alter or annul inappropriate decisions of the Standing Committee of

the National People's Congress; approving the establishment of

provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the

Central Government, approving the establishment of special

administrative regions and making decisions on issues of war and

peace.

The State Council: It is the executive organ of the National People‘s

Congress and the highest organ of state administration. It is responsible

for the enforcement of the laws, regulations, decisions, plans, budgets

and other resolutions enacted and endorsed by the National People‘s

Congress and its Standing Committee. The State Council consists of 29

ministries and commissions. It is also the Central People‘s Government,

which exercises leadership over local people‘s governments at various

levels.

The Supreme People’s Court is the highest judicial organ of the state. It

exercises judicial power independently. The Supreme People's

Procuratorate is the highest state procuratorial organ and the state

organ for legal supervision. Both of them are responsible to the

National People‘s Congress and its Standing Committee.

The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)

conducts political consultations over major policies of the state and

other issues concerning the life of the people, and plays the role of

democratic supervision through suggestions and criticisms. The CPPCC

consists of representatives of the Communist Party of China, all

democratic parties, patriotic persons without party affiliation, people‘s

organizations, all ethnic minority groups, compatriots of Hong Kong,

Macao and Taiwan, overseas Chinese and people from all walks of life.

It is the patriotic united front of the Chinese people and an important

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form of organization of multi-party cooperation and political

consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

2、Political Parties

The Communist Party of China is the organization of the vanguard of

not only the working class but also Chinese people and Chinese nation.

It is the core leader of the socialism with Chinese characteristics,

representing the requirement of the development trend of China‘s

advanced productive forces, representing the orientation of China‘s

advanced culture and representing the fundamental interests of the

overwhelming majority of the Chinese people. Founded on July 1, 1921,

the Communist Party has over 70.8 million members. It is the ruling party

of China.

There are eight democratic parties, which are participating in political

and government affairs in cooperation with the Communist Party of

China.

(1) The Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang

consists of the democratic forces within Kuomintang and other

patriotic democratic personages.

(2) China Democratic League: consists of middle and upper-class

intellectuals who work for the socialist cause.

(3) China Democratic National Construction Association: consists

mainly of people from the economic circle as well as experts and

scholars, which has the nature of a political league and serves

socialism.

(4) China Association for Promoting Democracy: consists of

intellectuals in the fields of education, culture, science and other areas,

working for the socialist construction.

(5) China Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party: consists of

intermediate and senior intellectuals from the medical circle and the

communities of science and technology, culture and education,

working for the socialist construction.

(6) China Zhi Gong Dang: consists of returned overseas Chinese,

the family members of overseas Chinese, prominent figures with

overseas connections, experts and scholars working for the socialist

construction.

(7) Jiu San Society: consists of intermediate and senior intellectuals

from the communities of science and technology, culture, education,

and the medical circle, serving socialism.

(8) Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League: consists of

personages from Taiwan province who are socialist laborers and

patriots upholding socialism. The above-mentioned democratic parties participate in and discuss

political and government affairs mainly by political consultation and other

forms.

3、Administrative Division

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The country is divided into 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and 4

municipalities directly under the Central Government and 2 special

administrative regions. Four municipalities directly under the Central Government are Beijing,

Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing. Beijing, capital of the people‘s republic

of China, is the national center of politics and culture with an area of

16,800 square kilometers, and a population of over 13 million. Shanghai,

with a population of more than 17 million, is the largest industrial and

commercial city in China, is an international metropolis full of potential of

development.

Two special administrative regions are Hong Kong and Macao, which the

Chinese government resumed the exercise of sovereignty on July 1, 1997

and Dec. 20, 1999 respectively.

Taiwan is a province of China and an inalienable part of the Chinese

territory. The Chinese government will endeavor to resolve the Taiwan

issue in accordance with the policy of "peaceful reunification, one

country, two systems." However, if the Taiwan authorities claim its

independence, or foreign forces invade Taiwan, we‘ll have to resort to

military forces to solve this issue.

China‘s local governments are divided into four levels: provinces,

autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central

Government; cities, regions and autonomous prefectures; counties,

autonomous counties and cities at county level; townships, nationality

townships, and towns. There are 2,135 units at county level. A small

county has a population of tens of thousands while a large county,

near a million.

4、Diplomatic Policies

China pursues an independent foreign policy and adheres to the Five

Principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity,

mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs,

equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. China is ready

to develop diplomatic relations and economic and cultural exchanges

with other countries on the basis of the Five Principles. It firmly opposes

hegemony, power politics and terrorism, safeguards world peace and

promotes human progress. China has established diplomatic relations

with more than 160 countries and maintained trade ties and friendship

with more than 200 countries and regions. China will unswervingly

pursue its peaceful development and go on carrying out its opening-

up strategy based on mutual benefit and striving for all-win results.

IV、ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1、Overall Situation

After the People‘s Republic of China was founded in 1949, particularly

since 1978 when China carried out the policy of reform and opening-

up, China has scored remarkable economic achievement. Over the

past 30 years, China has been taking a firm step in promoting its reform

and opening-up. The socialist market economy has been generally

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established, and an open economy has taken shape. The social

productivity and comprehensive national strength are constantly

enhanced, public services have been developed all-roundly, and

people‘s living standards have been improved greatly from having

enough food and clothing to being well-off. From 1978 to 2007, the

annual economic growth rate is 9.8% on average, which is far higher

compared to the 3.3% average growth rate of the world‘s economy.

In 2008, though challenged by the devastating natural disasters and

severe international financial crisis, the national economy still achieved

rather fast development: the GDP reached 30.067 trillion RMB Yuan,

increased by 9% compared to that in 2007. Based on rough estimation,

China‘s economy contributed over 20% to the world‘s overall

economic growth. Currently, China‘s aggregate economic volume

ranks the fourth in the world, following the US, Japan and Germany. In

2008, we had tax revenue of 5421.962 billion Yuan and foreign reserves

over 1.946 trillion USD. The proportion of the three industries in 2008

respectively was: primary industry 11.3%, secondary industry 48.6%, and

the tertiary industry 40.1%. The disposable income of urban citizens was

15,781 Yuan, and the net income of rural residents was 4,761 Yuan;

after adjusting for inflation, the real growth rate was 8.4% and 8%

respectively. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 5.9%. The

consumption structure is updated very quickly, and now housing,

automobile, telecommunication, traveling and education have

become the five new hot spots in consumption. For example, by the

end of last year, the total number of private cars in China reached

19.47 million, up 28% compared to the previous year.

2、Agriculture

China remains to be an agricultural country. China ranks the first three

places in the world in terms of the output volumes of such products as

corn, cotton, meat, peanut, rapeseed, fruit, tea and sugarcane. The

grain output of 2008 totaled 528.5 million tons, increased by 5.4%

compared to that in 2007; besides, the output volume of cotton

amounted to 7.5 million tons, oil–bearing crops 29.5 million tons, sugar

crops 130 million tons, tea 1.24 million tons, and meat 72.69 million tons.

3、Industry

China is also a big industrial country. The output volume of some

industrial products such as steel, coal, cement, chemical fertilizer, TV

set, electricity, cotton cloth and chemical fiber takes the lead in the

world. Now China is the second largest energy producer as well as

consumer in the world. In the year of 2008, the output of coal was 2.793

billion tons, ranking the first in the world and constituting more than one

third of the world‘s total output; electricity generated amounted to

3.4668 trillion kilowatt hours, taking the second place in the world;

crude oil took the fifth place with the output volume of 190 million tons;

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natural gas took the 15th place in the world with the output volume of

76.08 billion m3. Besides, China is the largest steel and iron producer

and consumer for 13 years running. In last year, the output volume of

crude steel was 500.915 million tons, rolled steel 584.881 million tons,

cement 1.4 billion tons, 9.3455 million automobiles, 90.33 million color TV

sets, 559.64 million mobile phones, and 136.666 million microcomputers.

4、Foreign Trade and Domestic Market

In 2008, the foreign trade volume amounted to 2.5616 trillion USD,

increased by 17.8% than that in 2007. Among that, export volume was

1.4285 trillion USD, up by 17.2%, and import volume was 1.1331 trillion,

up by 18.5%. Besides, China leads the world in terms of the export

volume of over 700 commodities such as textiles, clothing, shoes, color

TV, motorcycles, air-conditioning, DVD and containers. China is the

third largest exporter and importer in the world, making over 12%

contribution to world‘s trade growth. Since China‘s entry into WTO in

2001, its import volume is over 630 billion USD annually, having created

more than 10 million job opportunities for relevant countries and

regions. Currently, China is the third largest importer for the most

underdeveloped countries, after the EU and US; and it‘s the largest

importer of copper and rolled steel as well as one of the most

important importers of other primary products.

China has been taking the first place in attracting foreign investment

among all developing countries for 16 consecutive years. Last year, the

actual utilized FDI was 92.4 billion USD, up by 23.6%. 27,514 foreign

enterprises were approved to get registered last year. At present, the

actual utilized FDI totals 859.1 billion USD, and there are altogether

660,000 foreign enterprises registered in China. Besides, China has over

700 foreign-funded R & D centers and more than 30 headquarters of

transnational companies; among the Fortune 500, over 480 have had

investment in China.

Last year, China‘s direct investment in other countries was 40.7 billion

USD, and the total aggregate of China‘s investment in other countries

amounted to 134 billion USD. The turnover of foreign projects

contracting in 2008 reached 56.6 billion USD, up 39.4%; labor

cooperation with other countries realized a turnover of 8.1 billion USD

with an increase of 19.1%; and the total number of labor force working

in other countries was about 600,000.

Besides, China has a huge domestic market. Taking the year 2003 for

example, China consumed 260 million tons steel, exceeding the total

output of US and Japan in that year and making China the biggest

steel consumer in the world. In addition, in that year, China used 820

million tons cement which accounted for 45% of the world‘s total

output; 30% of the world‘s glass was used by China; and it had a

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consumption of 250 million tons of oil, occupying 7% of the world‘s

annual output, taking the second place in terms of oil consumption

after the US. Besides, China consumes one third of coal and 30% of iron

and aluminum of the world‘s total output every year.

With the constant increase of people‘s demand and updating of

consumption structure, China is beginning to lead the world in the

consumption of some traditional electric home appliances such as

color TV, IT products such as mobiles, new service products such as

wideband Internet and means of production such as iron and steel. In

2008, the gross retail sales of consumables reached 10.8488 trillion Yuan,

up by 21.6% compared to that in 2007. Fixed asset investment in 2008

amounted to 17.2291 trillion Yuan, increased by 25.5%. In the

circumstances of the global economic recession and challenged by

the slowdown of foreign trade growth, giving an impetus to the

domestic demand, stimulating the consumption and increasing

investment are the fundamental measures that China takes to deal

with problems caused by the global financial crisis and keep its stable

and rapid economic development.

5、Transportation, telecommunications & tourism

The transportation, telecommunications and tourism are developing

steadily. A three-dimensional transportation network has been formed,

integrating railway transportation, road transportation, inland water

navigation, maritime and air transportation with road and railway

transportation as the backbone. At present, 54,000 km-long expressway

and 78,000 km-long railway have been put into use, and there have

been 148 airports in use. The cargo throughput of ports reached 5.87

billion tons last year, up by 11.5%, and the container throughput

amounted to 128.35 million TEU, up by 12.2%. Shanghai Port, which is

the biggest port in China, has exceeded Rotterdam Port in the

Netherlands in terms of the handling capacity of cargo and now ranks

the first in the world. Its handling capacity of containers is also similar to

Singapore and Hong Kong, which take the first and second place

respectively in the world. Therefore, Shanghai Port has become the

largest port in the world.

By the end of last year, we had 64.67 million private owned

automobiles, 982.04 million phone users including 641.23 million mobile

phone subscribers and 340.81 million fixed-phone users, and 300 million

people using Internet including 270 million using wideband Internet.

Last year, 45.84 million person-times went abroad, and 130.03 million

person-times came to China for travel, bringing 40.8 billion USD foreign

revenues. In terms of domestic travel, 1.71 billion person-times went

traveling with total revenue of 874.9 billion Yuan.

V. EDUCATION & SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Culture, health care and physical education

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China has a rich cultural heritage with far-reaching influence of Confucianism. It boasts many world

famous historical relics, among which the Great Wall and the Terra Cotta Warriors are listed as two of

the eight wonders in the world. Representative literary forms include prose of Han Dynasty, poem of

Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, verse of Yuan Dynasty, and novels of Ming and Qing Dynasties. The

modern and contemporary literatures enjoy a brisk and prosperous situation of "letting a hundred

flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend". Painting, calligraphy and dramas also

have their unique characteristics.

Now, there are 2,575 art-performing groups, 3,171 cultural centers,

2,825 public libraries, 1,798 museums, 257 radio broadcasting stations

and 277 TV stations with 45 educational TV stations. In addition, there

are 163.42 million cable TV users and 45.03 million digital TV users. By the

end of last year, the broadcasting coverage was 96%, and TV

coverage reached 97%. Besides, China publishes 44.5 billion pieces of

newspapers, 3 billion copies of magazines and 6.9 billion copies of

books. There are 3,987 archives where 72.67 million documents are

open to the public.

Progress is also made in medical care service. Up to now there are

about 300,000 health care institutions, including 60,000 hospitals and

clinics with 3.69 million sickbeds and 4.92 million health workers of which

2.05 million are practicing and assistant doctors and 1.62 million

registered nurses.

Remarkable achievements have been scored in sports. In 2008,

Chinese athletes won 120 world champions in 24 contests, and broke

16 world records. China‘s basketball and volleyball teams are rather

strong in Asia, and women‘s volleyball and women‘s football teams are

among the best teams in the world. Besides, China is undoubtedly

strong in table tennis, badminton, weightlifting, shooting, gymnastics

and diving. In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Chinese athletes won

51 gold medals, 21 silver medals and 28 bronze medals, ranking the first

in terms of the number of gold medals and the second in terms of the

total number of medals. In the Beijing Paralympic Games, our athletes

won 89 gold medals, 70 silver medals and 52 bronze medals, taking the

first place in terms of both the number of gold medals and total

number of medals as we did in 2004 Athens Paralympic Games.

2、Education

Chinese government and people have always been attaching great

importance to education and adopting the strategy of rejuvenating

the nation through science and education. There are over 700,000

schools of various kinds in China. The 9-year compulsory education

covers over 95% of the population. The enrollment rate for children is

99.27 %. Young illiterate rate has been reduced to as low as below 5%.

Enrollment rate for high school has reached 60%, and higher education

has been popularized with an enrollment rate of 23%. Education in

China involves a huge number of students; if all the classes start at the

same time, there will be 250 million students in the classroom. (Including

1.283 million postgraduates, 20.21 million university students, 20.563

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million in secondary vocational or technical schools, 24.763 million in

senior high schools, 55.742 million in junior high schools, 103.315 million in

primary schools, 417,000 in special education schools and 24.75 million

in kindergarten).

3. Science and technology

At present, China has over 30 million professional technicians of various

fields. In 2008, the R & D expenditure was 457 billion Yuan, up by 23.2%

compared to that in 2007, accounting for 1.52% of China‘s GDP. We

have our own atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs used for self-

defense and man-made satellites. In addition, more than 10% of the

scientific technology is of world-leading level.

All in all, China has made remarkable achievements in economy,

scientific technology and culture and education. But owing to the

huge population and poor foundation, China is still backward in many

aspects. Though China‘s total economic volume ranks the fourth in the

world, the per capita GDP is only around 2600 US dollars.

The rapid growing economy of China has created a lot of employment

opportunities; however, the registered unemployment rate in urban

area at the end of 2008 reached 4.2% with over 100 million surplus labor

forces in the rural area. Particularly, in the middle and western area,

there are still 40.07 million poor people whose average per capita

annual income is less than 1,196 Yuan. In addition, China‘s economy is

developing fast while it is confronted with the arduous task of resource

and environment protection. Therefore, all in all, China is still a

developing country and remains to be the largest developing country

in the world.

14

The Bamboo Sector as an Effective Stakeholder Network and the Role of INBAR

J. Coosje Hoogendoorn1 and A. Benton2

1. Director General, INBAR, P.O.Box 100102-86, Beijing, China

(choogendoorn@inbar.int)

2. Manager, Networking and Partnerships Unit, INBAR, P.O.Box 100102-

86, Beijing, China (andrew@inbar.int)

INTRODUCTION

Bamboos grow naturally in almost all tropical and sub-tropical countries,

except those in the Persian Gulf, North Africa and the Sahel, and

extend well into the temperate zones of each hemisphere. Many

societies have developed integrally with bamboo, and the ubiquity

and utility with which bamboo is relied upon by people in over half the

nations of the world for varied aspects of their lives is well documented.

Cultures have evolved with bamboo, and it has been a significant

contributor to the development of civilization.

With perhaps a billion of the world‘s population relying on bamboo in

some way or another for some aspect of their lives or livelihoods, the

vast majority of those poor and in developing countries, the

opportunity that bamboo offers to improve their situations by building

on inherent bamboo skills and knowledge is huge. Already, innovation

of products, policies and support structures have led some countries,

particularly China, and to a lesser extent India, Colombia and the

Philippines amongst others, to develop thriving commercial bamboo

sectors that employ millions of people.

Because of the versatility of uses of bamboo wood, the production

chains of bamboo for different products often involve a range of

people at different stages, each stage a different processing step, and

each step involving value addition by the producers, and hence

income generation. As a result the value chain of bamboo products is

very pro-poor. Even with products that are finished in large factories,

much primary processing is required and is usually done by the farmers

that grow and harvest them or in their communities, which not only

benefits the processors, but is usually cheaper for the factory owner as

they can work with semi-processed materials. A production chain can

thus involve many stakeholders, from individual farmers to NGOs

supporting their work, funding agencies such as banks, commercial

companies, government agencies from forestry departments to

15

ministries of commerce, chambers of commerce, fair trade groups, all

of which have varying roles within it.

The environmental benefits of bamboo in relation to coping with

climate change are presently very topical - annual non-destructive

harvesting of bamboo means that the canopy is retained over the soil

and permanently and significantly reduces soil erosion, whilst providing

a predictable supply of wood for income generating activities.

Bamboo‘s very rapid growth rate means it sequesters carbon rapidly,

though the extent to which this happens needs further research (Liese,

in press). Most high-value bamboo products have a long life, and the

carbon can be captured and held for many decades. As an

alternative to timber wood, using bamboo would help reduce the

destruction of forests, particularly tropical forests - activities which in

themselves release large amounts of carbon.

At the Conference on ―Climate Change, Global Risks, Challenges and

Decisions‖ in Copenhagen in March 2009, noted Climate Change

specialist Prof. John Schellnhuber said: ―We are facing the MAD

challenge: Mitigation, Adaptation and Development‖ (see

http://climatecongress.ku.dk/). He argued for holistic approaches, not

marginal changes, that actively involve developing countries – and the

vast majority of these already have bamboo. The inherent ability of

bamboo to combine protection of the environment with income

generation ensures it is a strong candidate for contributing to these

holistic integrated development systems that will be necessary for

dealing with the MAD challenge. At the same time, researching and

implementing holistic development systems can only be successful

through a partnership approach.

INBAR AS A NETWORKING AGENCY

A good partnership brings together organizations and individuals with

similar goals but different and complementary skills, which ensures

more effective and efficient progress towards their common aims, and

enables them to learn together, and from each other. Partnerships are

often formalized by an MoU indicating a general agreement to work

together, or by a contract in order to implement a project or other

activity. In the latter case, careful inclusion of appropriate technical,

national/local support, field implementation, innovation, marketing,

training organizations (amongst others) at appropriate levels –

international, national, local or community – can build strong links that

increase local and national capacities to implement the project, to

continue its development or adapt it for broader uptake after the

project has finished.

16

The different levels of knowledge and awareness of what bamboo can

do across the world is vast. INBAR often finds that when we bring

people from countries with untapped bamboo-based development

potential to China to see the bamboo value chain, or to our Action

Research Sites in Asia, Africa or Latin America, they are amazed at the

possibilities bamboo has to offer. Unless specific action is undertaken,

ideas and innovations tend to remain where they originate and with

the people who originated them. This is to be expected particularly in

the case of new products where many have a financial value. Clearly

sharing of information across boundaries, be they national, cultural,

economic or social, is an essential first step to enabling decision makers

to decide whether and which bamboo-based solutions to trial in their

own regions. Linking appropriate partners to the decision makers and

the implementers to help them achieve their bamboo-based aims is

the second step, and providing guidance and assistance to enable

them to achieve these aims is the third.

Recognizing the essential need for sharing and enhancing existing skills

and experiences from the very diverse backgrounds from which they

come in order to grow the world‘s bamboo sector, INBAR was

established to act as the hub of a network of bamboo expertise,

implementation, adaptation and adoption organizations and

individuals. This confers certain advantages, responsibilities and ways of

working on INBAR. Firstly, networks, and the partnerships that develop

from them, enable learning and innovation amongst their members –

sharing of information and skills increases the abilities of members, and

builds stronger partnerships between them. This leads to increased

mutual trust and support that strengthens the network, including

sharing information that would not otherwise be shared. Finally,

networks and partnerships lead to an increased capacity to manage

change by the members and empower them to deal with the broader,

more complex issues that affect their common interests (Svendsen and

Laberge, 2007).

Over the years INBAR has formally partnered (ie by MoU, contract or

similar agreement) well over 200 organizations, companies and

individuals for its work, and worked informally with many more. Our

mailing list includes over 5500 institutions and individuals throughout the

world. As a hub, INBAR aims to collate and provide up-to-date

information on all aspects of bamboo-based development to the

world community, and we are continually working to improve our

information services. INBAR coordinates a range of training and

awareness- raising activities, focusing on its abilities as a global

networking organization to share skills across national and continental

boundaries. INBAR also needs to lead the development of innovative

bamboo-based solutions to poverty and environmental amelioration,

and runs Action Research Projects to do this. Not only do they trial the

17

production of bamboo products in different locations, with different

bamboo species, under different environmental, social and market

conditions and different levels of policy support and investment, but

they also trial different partnerships and show how they can work for

sustainable development. INBAR shares the experience gained to

guide and help other members of the network achieve similar success.

INBAR’S PARTNERS

The world‘s bamboo sector is very diverse. Within the sector, different

sets of stakeholders have different demands, and so INBAR works to

develop sub-networks where appropriate, sometimes thematic,

sometimes geographical, that bring like-minded stakeholders together.

In general our main groups of stakeholders can be categorized as:

The approximately one billion rural poor people who depend in

some way or another on bamboo for some or all of their lives and

livelihoods

The governments of INBAR‘s member countries and, by default, all

their citizens (ie. over 3 billion people)

The consumers of bamboo products throughout the world

Actual or potential investors in the bamboo sector

Bamboo innovators and implementers

The world‘s development community

INBAR has developed formal structures for some of its partnerships:

MEMBERSHIP

Membership of INBAR is open only to sovereign states registered with

the United Nations. Nine states signed INBAR‘s establishment treaty in

1997, and presently 34 states have acceded – 10 in Asia, 13 in Africa, 9

in Latin America, one in North America and one in Oceania.

Membership of INBAR confers certain advantages on these states, but

also requires their commitment to helping INBAR develop for the good

of their own citizens. Representatives of the Member Countries meet

once every two years as the INBAR Council to review INBAR‘s progress

and take decisions about its future.

AFFILIATES

INBAR‘s affiliates scheme, with about 170 members, is regarded as a

second tier of membership, and is open to individuals and

organizations alike for a small fee. It offers a range of benefits to

members. The scheme in Latin America is particularly successful, and

acts as a network of geographically and culturally-similar partners,

sharing a common language.

PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMMES

18

INBAR runs three thematic programmes and also three special

partnership programmes – the NTFP Global Partnership Programme

(NTFP-GPP), the Global Bamboo Housing Programme (GBHP) and the

Global Rattan Programme (GRP). These are multi-level partnerships

that work with stakeholders ranging from governments (eg. for policy,

investment) to NGOs (eg. for community training or access to

common-use processing facilities). They work by either encouraging

formal membership of organizations in the partnership, and/or by being

open to individuals and institutions via memberships of online discussion

groups.

The NTFP-GPP was established under the aegis of the Global Forum on

Agricultural Research in 2005 and currently has 22 members, including

the governments of India, Mozambique and Ecuador, SNV - the

Netherlands Development Organization, the Asian and Arab Networks

for Sustainable Agricultural Development, and a range of NGOs and

companies. Its goals are ensconsed in the Marrakech Declaration, and

it aims to promote collaborative efforts, synergies and economies of

scale to address strategic NTFP research and development issues of

global relevance in order to contribute to achieving the Millennium

Development Goals. Projects to date have included evaluations of

NTFP potential in Mozambique and reviews and policy work of

charcoal production and use in Africa. The NTFP-GPP helps the INBAR

network to learn from other NTFPs, and the NTFPs represented by the

GPP members learn from INBAR‘s network to improve their

effectiveness.

The Global Bamboo Housing Programme aims to promote and

develop appropriate sustainable housing solutions using bamboo. With

a global need for 4000 new houses every day, pressure on timber and

the rising costs of mineral-based raw materials, the programme and its

partners have demonstrated bamboo as an effective alternative

resource for construction in a number of countries in Asia, Africa and

Latin America. The programme has trained hundreds of house

constructors, fostered innovation of new housing construction systems

using engineered bamboo, and developed support systems such as

standards for building with round-pole bamboo that can be used to

develop national legislation that provides a legal framework for

builders of bamboo houses. With its partners it has innovated a

prototype refugee shelter from bamboo in Ghana, and built

emergency shelters in Sichuan after the earthquake in 2008. The

programme has organized two international workshops on housing and

has organized a highly acclaimed design competition (see Xiao et al.

2008; Paudel et al. 2008). The programme presently supports projects to

develop modular bamboo housing production facilities in Nepal and

Ethiopia, to develop pre-formed bamboo components and relevant

policy supports in India, and has started working on bamboo housing

19

more widely in East Africa. Its thriving Google group is a forum for

discussion and exchange amongst individuals and institutions, with well

over 150 members.

The Global Rattan Programme commenced in 2008, and has a specific

aim to foster links between Asia, Africa and Latin America. Currently it

runs its first project in Ghana. It is presently an informal network, and not

directly relevant to bamboo, expect for the fact that in a significant

number of countries the bamboo and rattan sectors are very much

intertwined.

As part of its core activities, INBAR runs to develop innovative and

sustainable solutions to environmental degradation, poverty and fairer

trade with bamboo, in partnership with a wide range of expert

organizations and individuals. Project partners are a.o. multilateral

agencies, funding agencies, government departments, NGOs,

research and development agencies, community-based organizations,

and marketing organizations.

IMPACT OF INBAR’S WORK

INBAR‘s work aims to contribute to the United Nations Millennium

Development Goals, particularly MDG 1 (eradicate extreme poverty

and hunger), MDG 7 (ensure environmental sustainability) and MDG 8

(develop a global partnership for development). To ensure that INBAR

works effectively, INBAR developed four strategic goals in 2006 that it

aims to achieve over the following decade (INBAR, 2006):

1. An expanded, highly effective network of committed stakeholders

(MDG 8)

2. Better ways and means of livelihood development, particularly in

rural areas (MDG 1)

3. Increased and more effective conservation of the environment

and of biodiversity (MDG 7)

4. A better and more innovative market environment, providing fair

global-to-local and local-to-global trading systems for income

generation (MDG 8)

INBAR with its partners is making good progress towards realizing its

goals.

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

20

Directly improving the lives of thousands of people in Asia, Africa and

Latin America in development projects

INBAR and its partners work with a small but representative sample of

the rural poor in our field projects to develop replicable and

adaptable development models with bamboo and rattan that can

be scaled up and applied more widely. We have helped thousands

of men and women in the Action Research Sites earn incomes from

bamboo, and have developed a Global Marketing Initiative to

promote better products that meet international market demand, to

help increase the benefits they accrue from their work (eg. see

Ramanuja Rao et al, in press)..

Helping innovate bamboo technologies and products with market

potential

INBAR and partners have fostered the development of a wide range

of new products, and the systems used to produce them, including

flat-pack bamboo furniture, bamboo crisps, stylish round-pole

furniture, mass produced incense sticks and commoditized bamboo

laths and slats, all of which meet market demand, or open up new

trading avenues.

Training over 6000 people in bamboo production and processing

INBAR run training courses with partners in all developing continents.

Many trainees use their new skills to establish businesses or take jobs in

the sector. Courses targeted towards government decision-makers

have encouraged some of them to develop national bamboo-based

development programmes and projects in their own countries.

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Demonstrating bamboo for rehabilitating degraded lands and

preventing soil erosion

The bamboos that INBAR supported the NGO ―UTTHAN‖ to plant on

land severely degraded by mining for brick making in Allahabad,

India raised the water table by 7m in five years. In only two years

bamboo plantations in China reduced soil erosion by 75% whilst

providing incomes to local people who processed them for sale (see

Kutty and Narayanan, 2003).

Evaluating the state of the World‘s bamboo resources

INBAR and FAO have agreed to include bamboo in FAO‘s pentennial

Forest Resources Assessment, which will give a more accurate picture

of the state of the world‘s bamboo forests. We estimated global

bamboo species diversity and highlighted threatened habitats and

species with UNEP(see Bystriakova et al 2002).

Demonstrating new conservation techniques

21

With local partners in Sichuan, Yunnan and Hunan provinces in China,

INBAR has innovated new conservation techniques for endangered

bamboo stands that improve productivity whist protecting the forest,

and together we are developing a management standard to enable

replication.

MDG 8: Develop a global partnership for development

Facilitating development of national and local institutional support

systems in nine countries

Through our development projects we have fostered the

development of bamboo based NGOs in INBAR member countries,

such as Ecuador, Ghana, India, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Mozambique

and helped facilitate government bamboo initiatives in India, Ghana

and Mozambique that are now leading the development of the

sector in these countries.

Developing standardized customs codes for more accurate reporting

of bamboo and rattan trade, and an online trade statistics database

We worked with the World Customs Organization and other partners

to produce bamboo specific categories and codes that are being

used to track international trade more accurately since 2007. The

INBAR online bamboo and rattan trade database provides easy

access to the data.

Developing building codes for bamboo structures

Bamboo building codes for round pole houses have been adopted

by the International Standards Organization and provide a basis for

developing national legislation for bamboo buildings (see Anon, 2004).

The GBHP is presently working on similar codes for engineered

bamboo buildings.

Promoting commodity-based development

As the International Commodity Body for Bamboo and Rattan of the

Common Fund for Commodities, INBAR facilitates the development

and implementation of many bamboo commodity-based projects

that help our member states develop bamboo and rattan as viable

market-based options.

These achievements would not have been possible without the

networking approach. We like to believe that the work done together

not only has had real impact in the communities and on the

environment, but that it also has grown all the partners involved,

helped partners to learn from each other, and made all better at

doing development with bamboo. Further development of the network

is essential, as more and more organizations are seeing the possibilities

of bamboo. Meetings such as this one are excellent opportunities to re-

22

connect with many partners, to link in with new ones, and we look

forward to working in an even more close partnership with the bamboo

sector, not least so we can respond effectively to the MAD challenge.

References

Anon. 2004. Bamboo - Structural Design. ISO 22156:2004 International

Standards Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

Bystriakova, N.; Kapos, V.; Lysenko, I. 2002. Potential distribution of

woody bamboos in South, South-East and East Asia, Papua New

Guinea and Australia. INBAR, Beijing.

Bystriakova, N.; Kapos, V.; Lysenko, I. 2002. Potential distribution of

woody bamboos in Africa and America. INBAR, Beijing

INBAR, 2006. In Partnership for a Better World – Strategy to the Year 2015.

Beijing, China. 20pp

Kutty, V.; Narayanan, C. 2003. Greening Red Earth - Bamboo's role in

the environmental and socio-economic rehabilitation of villages

devastated by brick mining. INBAR, Beijing

Liese, W. In Press. Bamboo as carbon sink – fact or fiction? Proceedings

of the 8th World Bamboo Congress, Bangkok, Thailand..

Paudel, S.K.; Greenberg, D.; Henrikson, R. 2008. Visionary Bamboo

Designs for Ecological Living. INBAR, Beijing, China. 102pp

Ramanuja Rao, I.V.; Kumar, A.; Reza, S.; Motukuri, B. In press. A Pathway

out of Poverty – Bamboo incense stick production as a livelihood

option for rural women in Tripura, India. INBAR, Beijing.

Svendsen A, Laberge, M. 2007. How to Build a Stakeholder Network.

Notes for Practitioners Series. Corerelations Consulting Inc, USA.

(www.sfu.ca/cscd/cli/network.pdf - accessed 20 July 2009)

Xiao, Y.; Inoue, M.; Paudel, S.K. 2008. Modern Bamboo Structures.

Proceedings of the First International Conference on Modern Bamboo

Structures (ICBS-2007), Changsha, China, 28 – 30 October 2007. CRC

Press, Boca Raton, USA.

23

The General Condition and Related Policies of Bamboo

Industry Development in China

Jiang Sannai

Email: jiangsannai@sina.com

Afforestation Department of SFA, P R China

1. BAMBOO RESOURCE IN CHINA

(1) Bamboo Area: Bamboo forest is an important part of forest resources in

China. There are 16 provinces in Southern China where is suitable to plant

bamboo. According to the result of the 6th national forest resource survey

(released in 2005), there are more than 4.8 million hectares of bamboo

now in China, while there was 4.2 million hectares in the 5th national forest

resource survey result (released in 2000). It means that from 2000 to 2005,

the bamboo area has been increasing by rate of 1300 thousands

hectares annually. In the recent years, promoted by the six key forestry

projects such as converting grain-land to forest-land project (grain to

green), shelterbelt forest projects, high-yield and fast-growth forest project,

and so on, the bamboo planting area is increased by higher rate annually.

(2) Bamboo Species: There are 37 genus and more than 500 species of

bamboo in China, and among them, there are 16 genus and more than

200 species have high economical and ecological value. Mao bamboo

(Phyllostachys heterocycla var. pubescens) is the most widely planted

and utilized specie. According to the using purpose, bamboo forest can

be classified into four types as culm-producing bamboo forest, shoot-

producing bamboo forest, culm and shoot-producing bamboo forest,

and ornamental bamboo forest.

2. BAMBOO PRODUCTS AND ECONOMY

From the Reforming and Opening policy was put into effect, especially in

the recent years, bamboo industry in China has been developing highly

and an integrated industry chain line has been formed, which includes

bamboo cultivation, bamboo products, bamboo export trade and other

service for bamboo industry. Bamboo industry has become the fastest-

developing and most potential industry in forestry industry in China. Up to

date, the total annual bamboo industry producing values in China have

reached up to more than 66 billion RMB.

(1) Bamboo products: In China, the bamboo products include bamboo

plywood, bamboo shaving/particle board, bamboo furniture, bamboo

24

floor board, bamboo mat, bamboo charcoal products, bamboo fibre

products (clothes, socks, et al), bamboo building material, bamboo food

(shoot), and so on. Generally, there are more than 100 series of bamboo

products and thousands species of bamboo products. In last two years,

1.2 to 1.3 billion poles of bamboo, more than 4 million tons of fresh

bamboo shoot, more than 600 thousands tons of dry bamboo shoot, more

than 3.3 million cubic meters of bamboo plywood and bamboo shaving

board, more than 20 million cubic meters of bamboo-wood composite

floor board were produced in China every year.

(2) Bamboo scientific-technical research and development: In the recent

years, we have acquired great progresses in these fields as bamboo forest

management technologies (such as fertilizing, irrigation and other

technical for high-yield bamboo forest management), bamboo products

researching and developing, bamboo product quality and processing

technical standards. By now, we have recommended and practiced

more than 500 practicable technologies of bamboo industry, and have

more than 450 patent bamboo products and bamboo technologies.

3. MAIN SUPPORTING POLICIES

(1) Governmental subsidy policy supported by key forestry projects:

Among the existing key forestry projects, there are three projects have

financial subsidy policy to support bamboo industry development, they

are converting grain-land into forest-land project, Yangtze River and Pearl

River shelterbelt project, high-yield and fast-growth forest project.

The converting grain-land into forest-land project: the central government

provides food subsidy and living fee subsidy to farmers who convert grain

land into forest land (including bamboo forest). The subsidy standard is: in

Yangtze River area and southern China, the central government provides

2250 kg grain (rice or wheat) per hectare per year to farmers who

converted grain land into forest land. And from 2004, the grain subsidy has

been changed into money subsidy (the exchanging ratio is that 1 kg grain

means 1.40 yuan RMB). Since 2009, the subsidy standard is increased up to

3000 yuan per hectare. On the mean time, the central government

provides farmers 300 yuan RMB as living fee subsidy for per hectare of

converted grain-land. The subsidy period is 8 years.

25

High-yield and fast-growth forest project: in this project, the central

government provides financial support to farmers and corporation who

cultivate high-yield and fast-growth forest including bamboo forest. The

governmental financial subsidy is mainly used to forest fire control, forest

pest control and high quality seedling breeding and application. On the

other hand, the central government provides state loans to high-yield and

fast-growth forest project, the repaying period and guarantee condition

for these state loans are loosened than common loan.

Yangtze River and Pearl River shelterbelt forest project: in this project, the

central government subsidizes those farmers 1500 yuan RMB who finished

1 hectare of shelterbelt forest plantation. Since 2009, the subsidy standard

is increased up to 3000 yuan RMB per hectare.

Integrated agricultural development fund for bamboo industry: in order to

promote the process of modern agriculture, the central government

established a special fund called integrated agricultural development

fund. Farmers can apply for this fund to develop bamboo industry, and

use it to carry out these activities as follow: low-quality bamboo forest

regeneration (including fertilizing, irrigation, reclamation, tending and so

on), infra-structure building for bamboo industry (including working-road

building and repairing in forest land, irrigation installation building in forest

land), and popularizing and training the farmers about bamboo

cultivating technologies.

(2) Bamboo cutting policy

In order to accelerate bamboo forest cultivating process, the state and

local government have amended the forest cutting policies several times

in the recent years. According to the actual forest cutting policy, the all-

level forestry administration must simplify the examining and approving

procedure for forest cutting, and should provide technical service and

supervising management to the farmers. Especially, since 2002, the central

government no longer sent down annual plan for bamboo forest cutting,

the bamboo cutting plan has been decided by the farmers themselves

under the supervision of local forestry administration agencies.

(3) Financial supporting policy

26

Recently, in order to cooperating to the being-practiced reform of

collective forest right system, the People‘s Bank of China (PBC, the

financial administration agency of the central government of China) and

other 4 ministries hand in hand draw up a series of financial supporting

policy to promote forestry reform and development. All these policies are

beneficial to bamboo industry development, too.

Firstly, all banks are required to carry out forestry loan businesses actively.

By the time being, State Development Bank, Agricultural Development

Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and Countryside Credit

Cooperation of China carry out loan businesses for farmers guaranteed

by their forest right. According to the requirement of PBC, all kind, all level

of financial organizations should carry out forestry loan businesses for

farmers, these loan businesses include loan businesses guaranteed by

forest right, small-scale credited loan businesses for farmers, loan

businesses guaranteed by farmers leagues and so on. On the mean time,

in those key forestry counties, it is supported to accelerate establishing

countryside banks, countryside mutual funds, loan companies and other

new countryside financial organizations. By these policies, we hope to

establish high effective loan market systems for countryside forestry

development.

Secondly, the forestry loan period are required to elongate. By now,

implemented by various financial organizations, the forestry loan period to

farmers is 1 year, and the forestry loan to forestry corporations is less than 5

years, generally. This period is too short for forestry development.

According to the new policy for forestry reform and development, the

longest loan period has been extended to 10 years.

Thirdly, the loan interest rate is required to let down. According to the new

policy sent by PBC, The interest rate for small-scale loan for forestry farmers

is required to be low than 1.3 times of the standard interest rate prescribed

by PBC. On the other hand, all-level governmental financial agencies are

required to subsidize interest rate for forestry farmers.

Fourthly, loan services are required to improve. In order to make farmers

get loan as soon as possible, PBC requires all financial organizations

(various banks) to expand the loan business right of their local branches,

optimize and simplify their loan examining procedures.

27

Fifthly, establish forest insurance systems. Facing the conditions of long

management period, being apt to be harmful of forest fire, flood, snow,

freeze and other disasters to forestry management, the central and

several province government ( for example, Zhejiang province, Jiangxi

province) have been exploring to establish forest insurance systems. These

systems are being testing and experimental stage.

(4) Reform of collective forest right

Since 2006, this reform started in Jiangxi province and Fujian province.

Then, the reform zone extended gradually. On the base of trial and

experiment, in 2008, the central government let out the comment on how

to promote collective forest right reform all over the country. By now,

there are 5 province have finished key reform, 25 province are improving

this reform, and they are amending related policies to accelerate forestry

development. According to this reform,

Firstly, farmers can truly own forest land right and forest woods right, and

farmers‘ host status to their forest land and forest woods have been

confirmed through contractual management responsibility.

Secondly, the contractual management period for forest land have been

elongated up to 70 years, this is corresponding to forestry management,

and is very good for farmers to manage their forest sustainability.

Compared to forest land, the contractual management period for

agriculture land is only 30 years.

Thirdly, the earnings from contractual forest land belong to farmers. In

order to protect farmer benefits, if government levies forest land

contracted by farmers, the government must pay the farmers full of their

forest land compensating fee, settlement subsidy fee, forest woods

compensating fee and so on. If government brings the forest land

contracted by farmers into national ecological forest, the government

need pay these farmers ecological forest subsidy fee. ( the subsidy

standard is 75 yuan RMB per hectare now, since 2010, it maybe increase

up to 10 yuan RMB, and this standard will be increased gradually ). By now,

there are two subsidy ways, one is from central government financial

subsidy, and other is from provincial government financial subsidy.

28

Fourthly, according to the newly amended administrative system of forest

cultivation funds, the forest cultivation fund levied from farmers must be

low than 10 percent of the selling income value of forestry products, and

in certain district the levying standard for this fund can be 0. Supported by

this policy, farmers can be greatly encouraged to cultivate forest

resources including bamboo forest, and it is beneficial to wood products

and bamboo industry development.

(5) Support for bamboo industry associations and farmer’s specialty

cooperative organizations

Firstly, in 2008, according to the law of farmer‘s specialty cooperative

organizations, Treasury ministry and General Taxation Administration of the

central government made a rule that, for agricultural product, seed,

fertilizer, pesticide, agricultural machines sell by farmer‘s specialty

cooperative organizations to their own members, the value added tax is

duty free.

Secondly, treasury ministry of the central government establishes special

training subsidy fund for farmers. This fund is specially subsidized to the

training organizations which provide scientific and technical training to

farmers. The training organizations must be openly selected by certain

agencies (for example, central ministry and local-level bureaus of human

resource and social guarantee), including a variety of agriculture colleges,

agricultural research institutes, farmer‘s specialty cooperative

organizations, agricultural industry companies and so on.

Thirdly, the central government finance budget especially setup

expenditure for development of farmer‘s specialty cooperative

organizations. This budget expenditure is mainly used in introducing new

technologies and new plant species, employing technical specialists,

providing training and information services to farmers and so on.

4. MAIN PROBLEMS

Firstly, bamboo industry develops non-balanced among different zone. In

east China, for example, Zhejiang province, Fujian province and

Guangdong province, bamboo industry have been developing very fast

and sustainable in the recent years, bamboo industry product value of

these 3 provinces have been more than 60 percent of the total value of

29

bamboo industry of China. In west China, for example, Guangxi

autonomy region, Sichuan province, Yunnan province, Guizhou province,

bamboo industry have been developing very fast recently, too. But, in the

central part of China, for example, Hunan province, Jiangxi province,

Hubei province, Anhui province, although they have abundant bamboo

resources, the bamboo product industry developed slowly in the recent

years.

Secondly, the advantage of bamboo species can not be brought into

play. There are more than 500 species of bamboo in China, but, by now,

there are only 20 or so bamboo species have been developed and

applied widely in the practice. Mao bamboo have been developed and

applied more than thousands years and the management level is high,

but some small-round bamboo and sympodial bamboo species can not

be developed and applied extensively.

Thirdly, the productive ability of bamboo forest land is low. In China, there

is only one quarter of bamboo forest have reached the national standard

of high-yield bamboo forest, the area of intensively managed bamboo

forest is not large, and there are large scale of low-quality, low-

productivity bamboo forest.

Fourthly, local bamboo industry associations can not be effectively

organized and developed. Currently, local bamboo industry association is

being in beginning stage, the number of local associations is lack, the

proportion of farmers in various bamboo industry associations is low, and

these local associations are too depend on government agency, the

ability of self-development, self-management and self-service is weak.

5. MAIN COUNTERMEASURES

(1) Enforce scientific and technical innovation. Try best to let all-level

finance agencies to put more attention to bamboo product processing

technologies, bamboo germ plasma resources protect, improved variety

breeding, bamboo forest management, integrated use of bamboo

resources and so on.

(2) Enforce infrastructure construction of bamboo forest. Try best to let all-

level financial agencies to put more attention to forest land road, fertilizer,

30

irrigation and other infrastructure building, to increase the management

level and productivity of bamboo forest.

(3) Enforce balance development of bamboo industry. Encourage to

develop and research small-round and sympodial bamboo. On one hand,

continue to develop economical bamboo forest as culm-producing

bamboo stand, shoot-producing bamboo stand, culm and shoot-

producing bamboo stand, on the other hand, put more attention to the

development of ornamental bamboo stand, ecological bamboo forest.

(4) Enforce bamboo industry association organizing ability. Encourage to

develop all-level bamboo industry association, actively cultivate bamboo

product broker and manager markets, actively support leaded bamboo

product companies.

(5) Improve the ability of bamboo industry to cope with international

economic risk. According to the new situation after China enter into WTO,

on one hand, we will continue to accelerate domestic bamboo industry

development, on the other hand, we will pay more attention to the

international bamboo industry developing trend, enforce dealing with

international dispute, enforce training and service about international

trade principle, patent right and so on, in order to improve the coping-

with-risk ability of bamboo industry of China.

31

Main Experience of Sustainable Bamboo Development

in China

Zhu Zhaohua

Email: zhzhu@inbar.int

Distinguished Fellow of INBAR for Life

1. BACKGROUND

The cultivation of bamboo in China has a long history. During the reign of

the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC), there were large areas of cultivated

bamboo plantations, with a reach far north that of the present distribution.

In his poem depicting the Qinchuan region of Shaanxi Province, Li Xin, a

poet from the Tang Dynasty, wrote: ―The sound of the autumn bamboo in

tens of thousands of households, the colour of the cold pine on the

imperial tomb.‖ Now, however, bamboo stands can no longer be found in

that region.

The history of bamboo utilization and processing in China can be traced

back 5,000 to 6,000 years. The 200 sets of various kinds of woven bamboo

products excavated from Banpo Village (3,600-6,800 years ago) in Xi‘an

and from Qianshan in Zhejiang province show that Neolithic man (3,200-

3,000 BC) had already mastered bamboo weaving techniques. There

were bamboo palaces in the Han Dynasty period (206 BC-220 CE) and, in

the Jin Dynasty period (265-316 CE), DaiKai,an expert in

bamboo,published a special monograph on bamboo called Zhu Pu,

which introduced techniques of bamboo cultivation and utilization and

dried bamboo shoot making. It also states that bamboo is a special type

of plant---nonherb and nonwood, which belongs neither to an

herbaceous plant nor to a woody plant.

Before paper was invented, bamboo tablets were one of the earliest

carriers of Chinese characters. In the Yin and Shang period (1,600-1,100

BC), there were books made from bamboo tabletss. The process of

bamboo pulping and high-grade paper making from year-old tender

bamboo has been around since the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE). The

calligraphy brush, with its animal hair tip and bamboo culm handle, has

been in existence before the Shang Dynasty, more than 4,000 years ago.

In ancient China, bamboo was also used to issue orders and commands–

a piece of wood as a symbol of power that military commanders used to

issue orders and deploy forces. In ancient days, the Chinese also used

bamboo to make various kinds of musical instruments: these instruments

have important place in traditional Chinese music. It should especially be

32

pointed out that the Chinese have always viewed bamboo as a spiritual

symbol. Celebrities and writers through the ages have written numerous

articles and poems praising bamboo. One of them is a poem wriiten by

the famous poet SuShi in Song Dynasty, which shows the high place of

bamboo in people‘s mind and life. It says that:‖ without meat people can

survive but without bamboo they can‘t. Without meat people grow thin,

but without bamboo they become vulgar. People can grow fat if they are

thin, but have no way to become gentle if they are vulgar.‖ Thus,

bamboo has contributed greatly to the material and spiritual culture of

China.

2. THE RAPID GROWTH OF CHINA’S BAMBOO INDUSTRY

The industralization of China‘s bamboo making begins very late. Before

1980, China‘s bamboo industry was mainly based on traditional manul

processing, besides using it as raw material for papermaking. Bamboo

farmers sold raw bamboo as their main mode of operation which was

mostly used in civil architecture、knitted commodities、handicraft articles

and farm implements. Except for consuming by the famers, most of

bamboo shoots were directly sold in the local market when they were

fresh. Some of them were made into dried bamboo shoot and briny

bamboo shoot by traditional process techniqh. In the early 1980s, after

the introduction of bamboo processing machine from Taiwan, bamboo

process industry began to mechanize. Bamboo and bamboo shoot

prodcts not only satisfied the needs of the people in our county, but also

exported in the the large quantities. The output value of bamboo industry

increased from 0.6 billion USD in 1990 to 7.5 billion USD in 2006. We can see

the development from the figures below.

2.1 Chinese bamboo resources

China has a rich reserve of bamboo resources. According to the 1993

data from the Chinese Ministry of Forestry, there were 3.79 million hectares

(ha) of bamboo stands (excluding alpine bamboo stands, mixed forests in

which bamboo is not the primary species, and stands of useless bamboo),

among which 3.52 million ha are natural and 0.27 million ha have been

cultivated. State-owned bamboo stands account for only 6.93% of the

total, while much of the remianing bamboo stands are managed by

individuals or collectives. Phyllostachys heterocycla var. pubescens (Mazel)

Ohwi, or Moso, is the predominate species, occupying an area of 2.60

million ha. However, since 2000 manual management has been

introduced in many natural bamboo forests, so most of them have

become man-made bamboo plantations.

33

China is a centre of bamboo diversity with nearly 500 species in 39 genera

present within its borders, among which there are 179 species of

monopodial bamboos (71.6% of the total number of monopodial species

in the world) in 12 genera (92.3% that of the world). In China, there are

four regions and two sub-regions of bamboo distribution – within the

overall geographical limits between 18-35°N and 85-120°E, and within

major distribution over the tropical and subtropical zones south of 40°N.

Since the 1950s, the Chinese government has attached great importance

to the development of bamboo plantations. By 1980, the total area of

bamboo plantations in the country had reached 3.20 million ha and, for

the following 20 years, the national increase in bamboo plantations

averaged 50,000 ha per year (Figure 1). Similarly, the culm production of

Moso bamboo increased from about 75 million in 1975 to 600 million by

2003 (Figure 2). The output of other bamboo based on ton. In terms of

tonnage, annual bamboo raw material production increased from 17

million tonnes in 1975 to 18 million tonnes by 2003 and 20 million tonnes by

2005 (Figure 3)

2.983.2

3.794.2 4.26

4.54.84 4.9

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

1976 1980 1995 1998 2000 2003 2004 2005

Figure 1: Increase of China's bamboo plantation area

(in million ha)

34

2.2 The output of Chinese bamboo industry and the export of bamboo

products

Since 1985, China has begun to introduce bamboo-processing machines

in mainland from Taiwan. The industrial processing first started in Zhejiang

and Fujian, and then reached to Jiangxi、Yunnan、Hunan、Guangdong

provinces and so on. Up to 1990s, with the development of bamboo

processing machines, most of which are made by the companies in

mainland, bamboo industrial processing has been extensively used in all

the provinces where produce bamboo. The annual output of fresh

bamboo shoot is about 5 million ton, of which 40% are treated in industrial

processing. From 1990, mechanization and industrialization of bamboo

shoot processing began. Besides exporting to Japan、Korea、China‘s

Hongkon and Taiwan, since 2000 the bamboo shoot has been exported

to the market in American and Europe.

35

1.7 1.9

10.5

16.318

20

0

5

10

15

20

1975 1979 1996 2000 2003 2005

Figure 3: Increase of China's bamboo production

(in million tons/year, not include Moso bamboo)

0.6 1.11.7

2.3

3.5

5.45

6.3

7.2

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1990 1996 1998 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006

Figure 4: China's bamboo industry production value

(in billion US$)

170

439 500

650 700

800 950

1200

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1990 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2005 2006

Figure 5: China's bamboo product export

(in million US$)

36

The output of the bamboo industry has seen remarkably steady increases

from 1990 (figure 4), with the output value touching US$ 7.2 billion by 2005.

China‘s bamboo exports are mainly to Japan, North American and South

Asia. Bamboo product exports have grown from US$170 million in 1990 to

US $ 1200 million in 2006 (figure 5).

Figures 4 and 5 show that the output of bamboo production and bamboo

product export have both grown rapidly between 1990-2006. During this

time, the output and export values have increased by elevenfold and

sixfold respectively. The main reason for export value‘s comparatively

slower growth is that the export value from some bamboo products is

often accredited to non-bamboo products. For example: the output

value of bamboo furniture is categorized under furniture; bamboo shoot

products are categorized under food. Therefore, the export value of

bamboo production is much higher than the stated in figure 5.

3. Factors Contributing to the Success of China’s Bamboo Industry

Why does China‘s bamboo industry have such rapid growth in twenty

years? What is the secret? Here I will answer it from several perspectives:

the research and development of new technologies and new product;

effective technology dissemination system; government‘s policies and

support system; supply chain for bamboo industry development and multi-

party NGOs.

3.1 New technologies and new products: research and development

China has a long and rich bamboo culture. Bamboo is very important in

people‘s life, so scientists have always attached great importance to the

research on bamboo. Especially after the foundation of the People's

Republic of China, it has been widely and thoroughly studied. There are

about 300 scientists do research on bamboo, meanwhile more scientists

and technicians engage in technology dissemination work. This provides

the good foundation for the rapid development of bamboo industry.

3.1.1 Bamboo taxonomy

Chinese scientists have been researching the taxonomy of bamboo since

the 1930s and as a result, a complete taxonomic system and theory of

identifying different species have been established. The Flora Reipublicae

Popularis Sinicae (FRPS), published in 1988, covers 515 species of bamboo

in 37 genera. Since then some botanists have discovered new species

and genera. The current reckoning is that there are about 500 bamboo

species in 39 genera in China, although divergent views and disputes on

these figures still exist among botanists. For instance, FRPS records that

there are 21 genera of monopodial bamboo. Dr. Li Dezhu believes that

there are 15, while Professor Zhao Qiseng thinks that there are only 13.

37

Following resource research, researchers also carried out studies on ex situ

conservation and the related topic of bamboo biodiversity. Bamboo

arboretums of various scales were set up in some provinces, with the

largest ones located in Anji, Zhejiang province, and Zhangzhou, Fujian

province. The 17 ha Anji Bamboo Arboretum is the largest for monopodial

bamboo and contains almost 300 different species. The 60 ha Anhua

Bamboo Arboretum in Zhangzhou is a subtropical and tropical bamboo

arboretum, which contains a collection of more than 350 species. The

other large-scale bamboo collections are located in the South China

Arboretum in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, the World Horticultural

Exposition in Kunming, Yunan Province, Changning Bamboo Garden in

Sichuan Province and Taipinghu Bamboo and Rattan Training Centre in

Huangshan, Anhui Province.

A national survey of China‘s bamboo plantations has been planned

based on China‘s resource, distribution, and biological and ecology

research of bamboo. A survey of the forestry resources is organized every

four years, which includes bamboo resources.

3.1.2 Disease and pest control

According to a study, there are more than 600 species of insects from 280

genera that attack bamboo plants. The life span, natural predators and

prevention and control methods for 200 of these species have been

studied, and 180 relevant academic theses published on this topic. After

the long-term research, the effective monitoring, forecasting and

controlling system of bamboo disease and insect pest has been

established in the main bamboo production areas. Because prediction,

prevention and control methods have been strictly adopted and

rigorously administered, the bamboo areas like Zhejiang Anji County

haven‘t had the disastrous plant diseases and insect pests for nearly

hundred years.

3.1.3 Bamboo‘s ecology, physiology and anatomy

Since the 1980s, research relating to the ecology and physiology of

bamboo and bamboo cultivation has been carried out. Studies have

focused on subjects such as bamboo‘s growth and flowering mechanisms,

photosynthesis, mineral nutrition, hormones and enzymes, and the

physiological mechanisms of the on-year and off-year harvesting cycles.

Subjects of study related to cultivation include bamboo biomass, carbon

distribution, the movement and decomposition of dead plant material,

and the moisture and nutrition balance of the land. Results from the

38

studies mentioned above provide a theoretical basis for proper

propagation and cultivation techniques. In anatomic research, scientists

have used infrared electronic microscopes and specially prepared

carbonized specimens to observe, analyse, measure, and photograph

the micro and super-micro structure and the ratios of tissues of 71 bamboo

species in 33 genera. They have also extracted, classified and compared

different types of fibre, creating a comprehensive index of bamboo

materials.

3.1.4 High-yield techniques

Propagation techniques – such as raising nursery plants from mother stock,

seeds, rhizomes, culm cuttings or internodes, as well as tissue culture –

have all been systematically developed. In the field of afforestation,

concerns such as plant density, bamboo stand patterns, planting seasons

and methods, tending, fertilization, irrigation, cultivation and natural

regeneration by shoots have been studied.

The direction of research on bamboo cultivation has gone through three

phases since the 1950s: the improvement of low-yield stands, the

management of high-yield stands, and the cultivation of highly efficient

high-yield plantations for specific purposes. Currently, 10% of bamboo

stands are high-yield type and 30% are medium-yield. Even though low-

yield stands have been reduced by 20%, there are still large areas of low-

yielding natural bamboo stands that can be improved and developed.

As an example of the differences in output, high-yielding Phyllostachys

heterocycla Var. pubescens (Mazel) Ohwi stands have a culm output of

22.5-30.0 t/ha every two years while that of the medium-yield stands of the

bamboo has an output of 15.0 t/ha in the same period. High-yielding

stands of the undersized Phyllostachys siebold Chust Chao and

Phyllostachys praecox C.D.Chu et C.S.Chao can yield even more superior

bamboo shoots with an annual production of 30 t/ha.

In order to obtain higher economic efficiency, the research target for the

past decade has been to achieve ―high yield of both shoots and culm‖.

Present field production has reached the following standard levels: on a

1,000 ha scale, high-yield plantations produce 20,000 bamboo culms/ha

and 1,600 shoots/ha every two years. However, there is scope for higher

yields – on a scale of 100 ha, the output of bamboo culm can reach 30

t/ha in two years and shoot output can reach 3 t/ha in two years. The

highest output of bamboo culm at the scale of 1 ha is 47 t/ha in two years

and for shoots 4.8 t/ha in two years. Much attention has also been paid

recently to the study of multi-species planting in order to ensure that fresh

bamboo shoots are available year round. These research achievements

39

have increased the efficiency and benefits of cultivation for bamboo

farmers.

The above-mentioned species are all subtropical bamboos. Tropical

sympodial species may be of higher yield than subtropical species. For

example, the sympodial species, Dendrocalamus latiflorus, can reach

production of 45 t/ha per year while D. giganteus can reach an even

higher annual production rate of 70-80 t/ha.

3.1.5 Genetic improvement

For the past 20 years, bamboo breeding in China has focused on the

hybridization of sympodial species. Based on the biological and anatomic

research on bamboo flowering cycles, pollination and bamboo

chromosomes, high-yield hybrids with superior culms, fibres and shoots

have been developed. Scientists have mastered hybridization

technologies such as parent selection, pollen preparation and timing,

optimal light exposure, pest and disease control, and hybrid propagation.

The scientists have selected 4 superior hybrids from among 7 species in 4

genera, which possess the advantages of fast growth, good stem form,

high long-fibre content, long life span, resistance against disease, and

tasty bamboo shoots with high amino acid content. For example, 100 g of

dried shoots of the hybrid Bambusa pervariablilis X Dedrocalamus latiflorus

No.7 contains 21.57 g of amino acids, of which 7.05 g are essential to the

human body. This amino acid content is higher than that found in the non-

hybrid species D. latiflorus.

Because scientists have successfully resolved the technical problems

surrounding tissue culture, it is now possible to propagate hybrids at a

higher rate. The test-tube strike rate is 90% with an average transplanting

survival rate of more than 70% (the highest survival rate is 93.3%). Hybrid

bamboo cultivation has now exceeded 666 ha in China. Research has

found that there are many seedling varieties, providing opportunities for

further selection. Suitable clones have already been selected from the

seedlings of D. latiforus.

Scientists have observed the flowering of three bamboo species in test-

tubes – D. latiflorus, D. brandisii and Bambusa perariabilis x D. Latiflorus

No.7. They have discovered the genetic, physiological and micro-

environmental factors that cause their flowering, opening the way for

future acceleration of breeding.

3.1.6 Bamboo processing technology

40

Compared with wood timber, bamboo culm has several advantages that

make it ideal for use in construction and decoration: fast growth and

regeneration, high density and production, better material properties,

straight and smooth grain, and superior colour and lustre. However,

properties such as the small culm diameter, thin outer skin, hollow stem,

and high starch and protein contents (making it less resistant to pests and

corrosion) make bamboo less favourable than wood timber.

Chinese scientists have carried our studies on preservation methods that

suit the special properties of bamboo. They have also developed

processing techniques for various kinds of bamboo plywood including

bamboo mat plywood, bamboo curtain plywood, bamboo chipboard

and bamboo laminated board. They have developed a series of boards

of various industrial and commercial uses. The 4000-6000 mm × 15-25 mm

overlay board is used as flooring for motor trucks and railway carriages.

The polished wooden cement mould board in large-scale construction

applications, while the high-grade parquet flooring tiles have made a

mark in overseas market. Bamboo particleboard – which is made from low

quality bamboo and used as common concrete mould board – is

cheaper, has a higher density, and a smaller expansion rate on moisture

absorption than wood timber. After it has been found that bamboo

contains properties that make it suitable as a composite material,

scientists have developed different types of bamboo-reinforced

composite materials. Other notable bamboo-based products include

bamboo fibreboard, bamboo pipe, non-flat-board construction sets,

bamboo core board, laminates and bamboo-wood composites. Bamboo

furniture has been a success, with dining tables and office furniture

entering the market in large quantities.

In the bamboo mat sector, domestic and export markets for several

products – such as bamboo mahjong mats (a mat of small bamboo tiles

stringed together), strip mats, woven mats, various types of window and

decorative curtains, and non-woven bamboo carpet – have been

growing rapidly.

3.1.7 Bamboo shoot processing technology

Many bamboo species in China have edible shoots and, among them,

more than 40 species are major shoot producers. These include:

Phyllostachys heterocycla var. pubescens, Ph. Iridescens, Ph. dulcis, Ph.

nuda, Ph. praecox cv. prevernalis, Dendrocalamopsis oldhami, D.

beecheyana, D. beecheyana var. pubescens, Dendrocalamus latiflorus,

D. brandisii and Fargesia yunnanensis. Research has shown that the

bamboo shoot is an ideal low-fat vegetable that creates no envriomental

problem in its cultivation, has a high protein (2-4%) and edible cellulose

41

contents, and contains many kinds of amino acids and mineral elements.

For those living in areas where availability of selenium is low, the bamboo

shoot of Ph. heterocycla var. pubescens offers a high content (0.058-2.65

µg/g) of this mineral, which is necessary for health. In the past, people

used to eat fresh bamboo shoots directly and the only traditional bamboo

shoot processing technique was drying.

Development of fresh shoot processing techniques, which began in the

1990s, has led to the availability of a wide range of products with diverse

flavours and different packaging. This research has greatly increased the

value and marketability of bamboo shoots. Consequently, many

processing plants have been established and both dried shoots and

canned shoots are now produced. Shoots are now processed and

available round the year because of recent improvements in bamboo

shoot processing technology. The shoot processing industry and the

volume of shoots exported are growing fast.

3.1.8 Bamboo leaf extracts and their utilization

The use of bamboo leaf, sap and the yellow part of the bamboo for

medicine can be traced back to the ancient times, and medical texts of

that time document its uses in detail. The Chinese Hygiene Department

keeps bamboo leaves on its list of natural plants that has both nutritive

and medical properties. Chinese scientists have recently begun to

recognize the useful components of bamboo leaves. They have found

large amounts of flavoids and biologically active compounds (as much as

in Ginkgo biloba leaves) in the leaves of certain of monopodial bamboo

species. It has been shown that bamboo leaf extract is resistant to free

radicals, oxidation and biological degradation, and that it can also help

reduce the content of fat and cholesterol in blood. Bamboo leaf extract

can be used extensively in the food, beverage, medical and cosmetic

industries, making it of great value. The extraction technology used on

bamboo leaves is now being applied in industrial flavoids production for

medicine, food and beverages.

3.1.9 Bamboo charcoal and bamboo coal tar

Since the 1990s, research on bamboo charcoal and its by-product coal

tar has gained importance in China. Consequently, bamboo charcoal

and coal tar production has emerged as an important industry in the

bamboo sector. Bamboo products are now widely used in people‘s daily

lives such as pillow, mattress, automobile cushion, shoe pad, soap,

toothpaste, hand stove and so on. They are also used for environment

protection such as air cleanser used in room, refrigerator and automobile,

42

purification of potable water and soil improvement. They can be used in

medicines for skin diseases, gastric disease, cosmetology as well as in

agriculture (for instance, as a bio-pesticide).

3.1.10 Bamboo fibre

Bamboo fibre studies in China have allowed for the comparatively large-

scale production of bamboo textiles. Bamboo fibre products can be used

to produce items used in everyday life such as clothing, socks, towels and

bedding. They are favoured for their soft, breathing and hygroscopic

qualities. This sector has great potential to grow into an even larger

industry in the future.

3.1.11 Bamboo and pandas

Chinese scientists have made some interesting findings on the relationship

between the bamboo plant and pandas. These reveal that pandas

consume a variety of different bamboos (47 species in 10 genera),

including sympodial and monopodial bamboo from species distributed in

the subtropical, tropical and alpine temperate zones. The scientists have

also studied the panda‘s eating habits including where, when, and how

much they eat and what parts of the plant are preferred. At the same

time, they have adopted measures to reduce the harm brought on by the

cyclical flowering of bamboo and studied the pandas‘ bio-environment.

3.1.12 Bamboo processing machinery

In the 1980s, as the bamboo processing sector grew and China carried

out its reform policies, a large number of processing machines were

imported from Taiwan and other places. Since then, China has

developed its own bamboo-processing machines. Currently, about 100

factories produce more than 1,200 types of bamboo processing machines,

including those that process raw materials, manufacture flooring blocks,

mats, picks and chopsticks, and produce bamboo plywood and bamboo

particleboard.

3.2 Effective technology dissemination systems

A well-organized technology dissemination system is one of the key

aspects of China‘s rapidly growing bamboo industry. Set up at the

national, provincial, county and township levels, technology extension

stations are responsible for introducing new technologies and providing

technical services to farmers. The main experiences accumulated are the

following:

43

Multi-level participation: Local governments, scientists, businesses and

farmers join hands with local government officials, participating in the

establishment and development of technology extension stations.

Technology service contracts: Scientists sign contractual agreements

with businesses and local farmers to provide technical services. The

agreements state the responsibility of scientists to compensate farmers

if household profit is less than the expected amount specified in the

contract. However, the scientists can receive a share of any profit

earned above this amount.

Training workshops for farmers: Several workshops were held to train

the farmers in the application of the new technologies and methods.

Demonstration sites: Exemplary bamboo plantation sites, successful

rural farmer households and enterprises are identified to illustrate

results from use of new technologies and to provide motivation for

others to participate in modern bamboo sector development.

Evaluation policy for scientists and technicians: It is important to assess

actual technology contributions in production practices in order to

encourage scientists to focus not only on academic achievements,

but also to actively participate in technology dissemination and

create a positive impact on rural life and the environment. Scientists

and technicians who contribute on both academic research and

technology dissemination will be given different kind of rewards,

including a promotion in rank or position.

3.3 Policies

The bamboo sector has seen remarkable policy changes since the

economic and land reforms of the 1990s and these are listed below.

Land policies: Government signs land contracts with farmers for 30-50

years, allowing for the transfer of management rights. Bamboo is

especially encouraged to be planted on depleted and degraded

land, as well as on the ―four side lands‖ (riverside, roadside, house-side

and field-side).

Separate ownership and management rights: Local government

permits local individual farmers and/or enterprises the use of collective

or state-owned low-value secondary forest and degraded land for

bamboo plantations. They also manage naturally occurring bamboo

resources at the same time. The output of the plantations belongs to

the local operators/managers/farmers.

Financial support: Local government extends credit with paid interest

to farmers and enterprises in support of bamboo cultivation and

processing in the primary development period, provide subsidies for

the improvement of low-yield and newly established plantations, and

lend financial support for technological research, technical services,

44

demonstration site operation and development of product markets.

Reward system: Successful demonstration households, entrepreneurs,

scientists and technicians are given rewards in the form of cash,

fertilizer, or or tax reduction or exemption.

Development plans: Medium- and long-term bamboo development

plans are chalked out, evaluating the feasibility of goals set and

analysing corresponding government policies and necessary financial

support.

Free of tax: Before 2002, bamboo farmers should pay 8-10% tax on

special agricultural products, when they export bamboo products.

Since 2002, agricultural taxes have been remitted, which include most

of the forest products, such as bamboo. The government will always

remit or reduce the sales tax of the new bamboo processing factories

in impoverished or Minority areas for the first three years.

3.4 Supply chain for bamboo industry development

At the beginning of bamboo‘s mechanized processing in 1980s, raw

materials were mostly directly bought from the bamboo farmers, and then

were processed into finished products in factories. Because the different

parts of the bamboo culm were fit to produce different products, the

utilization rate of raw bamboo materials was very low, about 20-30%. The

massive waste materials were unable to dispose and this became a big

problem in the factories. However, in the late 1980s, a way of cooperation

between companies and farmers has formed, called ―Company +

Farmer‖ model.

In the ―Company + Farmer‖ model, the company enters into contract

with farmers for mutual benefit – the company provides technology,

financial support and equipment to farmers, while farmers cultivate

bamboo and carry out primary processing. On one hand, the company

can obtain the raw material which they want and reduce the staff as well

as the transport expense for raw material. On the other hand, farmers can

raise their added value of raw materials, learn technology, and save the

raw materials. Therefore, the ―Company + Farmer‖ model is a win-win

model.

Due to resource constraints and size allocation of farmer‘s bamboo

plantation, the scale of primary processing for individual farmers was small

and scattered. With the development of the ―Company + Farmer‖ model,

some farmers has begun to set up their private primary processing

factories since 1990s, which aim to provide semi-finished products to

different companies. Thus, this improves efficiency and raises the utilization

rate of raw materials. The things considered as the waste materials in the

past (such as sawdust, chips, base and top of the bamboo culms)

45

become raw materials for different companies now. The utilization rate of

raw materials increases from 20-30% to 85-90%.

In the ―Company + Semi-processing Factories + Farmer Households‖

model, the three parties share benefits, which are higher since the

bamboo utilization rate and product quality are better (a more detailed

account is provided later in the text).

3.5 Multi-party NGOs

Non-government organizations (NGOs) at the national level include the

Bamboo Research Branch of the China National Forestry Research

Academy, the China Bamboo Society and the Society of the ―Ten

Bamboo Homelands‖. A nation-wide academic seminar is held every two

years where the latest research results are presented. A biennial ―Bamboo

Cultural Festival‖ is also held to exhibit the progress of the bamboo

industry and to provide opportunities for domestic and international

exchange of information. The Society of the ―Ten Bamboo Homelands‖

plays an important role in facilitating these exchange experiences.

NGOs at the provincial and county levels include local bamboo

academies and societies, which provide links between the government,

businesses, academics and farmers. They provide advice on policies and

decision making to the government, and technical services and market

information to enterprises and farmers.

Entrepreneurs, farmers, scientists and government officials are participants

in both types of NGOs.

3.6 Development strategy

The governments of provinces, counties, villages and towns where there

are major bamboo production areas attach great importance to the

special details of the development of local bamboo industry. Base on the

analysis of past experience, the understanding of local farmers and

company‘s demand, the government formulates long-term development

programs for local bamboo industry. The programs include the medium

and long-term development objectives, policies and measures of

government as well as the technical measures, income increasing,

trainings and organization for farmers. With the leading role of

government and participation of enterprises, scientists and technicians,

the programs are formulated. This method may avoid great mistakes in

the development of industry. Meanwhile, it may also integrate the

resources and strengths of government, farmers, enterprises with science

and technology.

46

To summarize reasons for the fast sustainable development of Chinese

bamboo industry, several points are worth emphasizing. First, we can see

that government plays important roles in the development of industry.

Government provides a favorable environment. For example,

government carries out the policy encouraging companies, farmers,

scientists and technicians to participate in bamboo industry. It also

provides industry programs and implements scientific research and

technology dissemination. Second, government has a high regard to the

scientific research and technology dissemination. Such a practice can

provide a deep-level comprehensive development for bamboo. The

added value of the products increases steadily and the industrial chain

extends. Therefore, the industry maintains exuberant vitality in such

environment. Third, participation in industry is various from government,

enterprises to scientists, technicians and farmers. They are interdependent

and corporate with each other to promote the industrial development.

The enterprises function as an engine. Only if the enterprises develop

successfully, can farmers increase their income and employment

opportunity, government obtain people's support, and scientists and

technicians‘ scientific research be applied in practice.

4. Impact

4.1 In general

Bamboo sector development contributes to the sustainable development

of rural economies by increasing the income of local farmers leading to

improved conditions in rural areas.

Bamboo sector development increases employment opportunities for

rural farmers, especially poor women. About 4-5 million farmers are

employed in this sector, with 80% involved in bamboo plantation

management and resource development, 15% in bamboo processing

and 5% in transportation and merchandising business.

The increase in rural farmer income is significant. For example, if the farmer

sells bamboo raw materials:

One hectare of Phyllostachys heterocycla var. pubescens (Moso

bamboo) can bring an average annual income of 15,000 RMB (1,875

USD).

One hectare of shoot-producing Phllostachys praecox can bring an

average annual income of 45,000 RMB (5,625 USD).

One hectare of Dendrocalamus latiflorus that produces both culms

and shoots can bring in 18,000 RMB (2,250 USD) each year.

One hectare of Bambusa chungii or Sinacolamus affinis that can

produce 40 tons of bamboo material for pulp making can bring in

10,500 RMB (1,280 USD) each year.

47

One hectare of Dendrocalamus giganteus producing 45 tons of

bamboo material annually is worth 10,800 RMB (1,350 USD) each year.

Bamboo development improves the local ecological environment and

beautifies the landscape.

Water-and-soil-control capability of bamboo plantations is 1.5 times

that of pine plantations and 1.3 times that of Chinese firs.

The beauty of bamboo forests provides opportunities for developing

eco-tourism. Bamboo eco-tourism has currently become an important

component of the local bamboo industry development.

4.2 Cases

4.2.1 Anji County of Zhejiang Province---the most developed industry

county for bamboo processing in China

Anji County facts:

Population: 449,000 people

Forest coverage: 109,875 hectares, which covers 70.1% of the county‘s

total area.

Bamboo area: 66,667 hectares, which is 35.35% of the county‘s total

area.

Output of the Bamboo Sector: 53.6 billion RMB (674 million USD in 2004).

Has 1200 bamboo processing enterprises, not including small-scale

household plants.

Average increase of income per household from bamboo plantations:

734 RMB (885 USD)/year, which is 45.12% of the total income of a

household in 2005 (not including income from bamboo processing

and eco-tourism).

Employment opportunities provided by bamboo industrial processing:

50,000 people, among which more than 75% are women (with

average annual income of 14400 RMB=1800USD)

40% of the rural families own bamboo plantations and participate in

bamboo plantation management.

Income of bamboo ecotourism since 2005: 900 million RMB(112.5

million USD), in which about 20,000 farmer families participate.

4.2.2 Lin‘an County of Zhejiang Province --- the top bamboo shoot

producing county in China

The county has a total population of 500,000 people. Since the 1980s, the

county has developed plantations of the multi-purpose bamboo,

Phyllostachys heterocycla var. pubescens, which is cultivated for both its

culms and shoots. The county has also developed new plantations of the

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shoot-producing Phyllostachys praecox and Phyllostachys nuda species.

From the 1980s to the present, the total bamboo plantation area has

increased from 29,000 to 52,000 hectares. The annual output of the

bamboo sector has increased from 20 million RMB in 1980 to 1.9 billion

RMB in 2005. 50% of farmers in the county participate in bamboo

cultivation.

Plots of Phyllostachys praecox are mostly cultivated in the home gardens

of local farmers. With a total area of 14,000 hectares, the annual

production of fresh Phyllostachys praecox bamboo shoots in Lin‘an

county is 144,500 tons, with total output of fresh bamboo production

exceeding 418.4 million RMB in the year 2005. Usually after three years of

cultivation, Phyllostachys praecox plantations can generate an income of

45,000 RMB (5,625 USD)/ hectare per year. The highest record of shoot

production of Lin‘an County is 46.5 tons/hectare, while the record of

highest income from shoot production is 825,000 RMB (100,000

USD)/hectare per year.

50% of farming households (about 71,400 households) are involved in

bamboo shoot production. The average increase of income per capita

through bamboo shoot production is 1,400 RMB (32.6% of the total

income). In the year 1997, there were 6,500 households whose incomes

exceeded 10,000 RMB (1,250 USD), 70 households with incomes greater

than 50,000 RMB (6,200 USD); and 4 households with incomes exceeding

100,000 RMB (12,500 USD). This rural community has eliminated poverty.

70% of the population have even had their own villa-style houses built.

4.2.3 Muchuan County of the Sichuan Province─ bamboo paper-making

industry makes farmers get rich

Located in a mountainous area, Muchuan County is one of the poorest

counties in western China and has a total population of 180,000. In 2000,

the average annual income of local farmers was 1,900RMB (237 USD) per

capita. Since the 1990s, the county has begun to cultivate

Neosinocalamus affinis plantations for the paper industry. The annual

paper production of 50,000 tons consumes 257,000 tons of bamboo culm.

The total annual income of farmers from this venture was 90 million RMB

(10.1 million USD). The per capita increase of income due to the

introduction of the bamboo industry was 643 RMB (78 USD), which is 33.8%

of the annual income of a local farmer.

Zhou Yinglong, a local farmer, entered a contract to cultivate bamboo on

53 hectares of low-grade land in 1986. Now his plantation produces 2,000

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tons of bamboo culms/year, bringing him an income of 200,000RMB

(25,000 USD) every year. He has since become a millionaire.

4.2.4 Xinyi County of Guangdong Province─bamboo basket can also

develop into large-scale industry

Xinyi County mainly cultivates plantations of Bambusa chungii, which is

well-suited as a weaving material. The county has a total of 20,000

hectares of bamboo plantations..The local government pays attention to

the development not only of public town and village enterprises, but also

that of private enterprises as well.

The major products of the county are woven bamboo handicrafts (mainly

various types of baskets) for daily use in Europe, North America and

Southeast Asia. In 1997, the 23 enterprises in Xinyi County produced 382.6

million sets of woven bamboo products with total output value of 967.3

million RMB (117 million USD), of which 578.9 million RMB (70 million USD) is

from exports. In the year 2000, the total value of woven products from the

county reached 1.5 billion RMB, of which 1.2 billion RMB (146 million USD)

was from exports. In the year 2003, weaven bamboo industry reached a

new high, with output value of 1.67 billion RMB (202million USD). The

bamboo enterprises of the county employ 5,510 people and, if rural

farmers and others who are involved in the cultivation, management and

raw processing of the bamboo are counted, the total number of people

involved in the bamboo sector is no less than 50,000.

50

The Climate Change Challenge and Bamboo

- Mitigation and Adaptation

Lou Yiping, Giles Henley, Li Yanxia

Environmental Sustainability Programme

International Network for Bamboo and Rattan

The challenges brought on by Climate Change have been succinctly

described as a MAD Challenge, one which requires simultaneous action

on Mitigation, Adaptation and Development. Given the diversity of the

world that we live in, the challenge manifests itself in many different ways,

and needs to be met with many different responses.

BAMBOO AND CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION

Given the importance of carbon sequestration by vegetative species

within the mitigation issue and the subsequent design of the mechanisms

which will be implemented to deal with climate change mitigation, it is

important to examine which ecosystems and plants are best at

sequestering carbon. Bamboos, as a category of plants, have long been

touted to have higher-than-average abilities to sequester carbon due to

fast rates of growth, and recent international research has shown that in

some experiments bamboo sequesters large amounts of carbon. However,

quantifying how good a sink bamboo depends upon a large number of

factors, and a straightforward answer is hard to come by. In a recent

research report, INBAR examined recent research findings on the carbon

cycle in bamboo forests and plantations in order to determine whether

bamboo can be considered to be of importance in mitigating climate

change.

The Carbon Cycle in Bamboo

Although bamboo is a grass, and not a tree it has a similar function in

terms of its role in the carbon cycle. Bamboo sequesters atmospheric

carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, storing it in its leaves, branches,

culms and rhizomes (roots) and in the soil. Carbon is removed from the

bamboo system either through human extraction for various purposes, or

through natural decomposition or burning. In order to establish how good

bamboo is at sequestering carbon then, it is important to examine the

rate at which its biomass grows, as well as the rate at which carbon

returns back to the atmosphere, through natural and human-controlled

processes.

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Left to itself, bamboo will not sequester particularly high amounts of

carbon

Bamboos grow both in a wild state in natural forests, but also in managed

stands or plantations. Due to its fast rates of growth and hardiness, some

species can establish themselves as a dominant species over a large area,

and crowd out other plant species. These result in the bamboo forests

found in Southern China and Northern India.

Although these are impressive landscapes, fast growth of bamboo also

results in quicker death of individual culms and deterioration. The net sum

of this is that the bamboo forest will have no a high level of stored carbon

in living and standing bamboo stands, as the carbon accumulated during

the quick growth returns relatively quickly to the atmosphere.

However, when bamboo is harvested on an annual basis, its

accumulating carbon sequestering capacity is much higher, and it can

surpass the rates of other fast growing tree species.

When bamboo is managed under forestry management practices, it can

outperform competing fast growth tree species in total amount of storing

carbon from atmosphere. When older culms are removed so that the

bamboo system does not overgrow, the net amount carbon stored both

in the system and harvested culms for products increases. In order to

determine whether managed bamboo was a better sequester than other

trees, comparisons were made with fast growing species from both

subtropical and tropical domains. Managed bamboo can actually

perform better in sequestering carbon than comparable fast-growing

commercial wood species such as Chinese Fir (a fast-growing subtropical

species) and Eucalyptus (a tropical species).

When harvested, a higher percentage of carbon remains in the bamboo

system and in durable products than in competing tree systems

As the harvesting of bamboo culms does not result in the death of the

system and decomposition of the underground roots, about 1/3 of the

living biomass remains in-tact and will continue living until it is destroyed,

either by natural processes such as pest outbreaks and flowering, or by

humans. In comparison, cutting down a tree will mostly kill off the root

system, resulting in a much higher release of carbon back to the

atmosphere.

When managed intensively, bamboo stores more carbon than when

managed extensively.

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Storage of bamboo in products is a key component to determining

bamboos importance as a carbon sink

As bamboo can sequester carbon at higher rates than other tropical and

sub-tropical fast-growing tree species, using it for manufacturing products

should be preferable on environmental grounds, based on the fact that it

removes atmospheric carbon at a quicker rate.

Bamboo has over 1500 known applications, and new applications are

found all the time. There is some concern that the life span of these

products is not very long and that the carbon stored by the bamboo in

durable products will degrade and enter the atmospheric pool quite

quickly. However, as innovation and ways of preserving bamboo improve,

durable products (such as housing components or furniture) have longer

lifecycles and can store carbon for long periods of time.

In conclusion, within this comparative analysis considering rapid growing

trees from tropical and subtropical regions, bamboo plantations have

comparable advantages regarding the absorption and removal of

carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in newly afforested plantations.

Moreover the benefits appear to extend to the ecosystem, regional and

possibly global level due to bamboos high carbon sequestration capacity

from their re-growth capacity and annual harvesting regimes. Sustainable

management and utilization of bamboo resources can provide carbon

sinks, either as storage within the ecosystem, or as a durable product. The

development and promotion of durable products can also contribute to

the global campaign on low-carbon industry development.

BAMBOO AND CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

The previous section of this report has looked at bamboo‘s potential to

mitigate climate change through sequestration of atmospheric carbon.

This section looks at adaptation.

Generations of people in Asia, Africa and South America have relied on

bamboo to fulfill their daily needs and provide livelihoods. It is probably

one of the most versatile natural resources in terms of the range of

products and uses that can be derived from it, which include nutrition,

utilitarian products, housing and structural uses. Its properties of strength,

flexibility lightweight and hardness, have captured the imagination of

innovators and designers, and lead to its use in a wide range of forms in

the modern world, easily apparent to anyone who performs an internet

search for a noun prefixed with the adjective ‗bamboo‘.

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Some of these applications have an especially high potential to address

the multitude of problems which face the world today and in the near

future, not least of all climate change, and the growing pressure on

natural resources resulting from both a rising demand for modernity and

convenience, and a growing population. These challenges have pushed

‗adaptation‘ higher into the scientific and political lexicon, and

encouraged a closer examination of the degree to which the systems

that we operate within and rely upon are vulnerable to increased

pressure and change.

Appraising the vulnerability of populations, communities and systems is the

starting point to looking at how we might adapt to change. Vulnerability

has been defined in a number of different ways for different disciplines,

with the most common for climate studies being the IPCC‘s breakdown of

vulnerability into ‗Exposure‘, ‗Sensitivity‘ and ‘Adaptive Capacity‘.

‗Exposure‘ covers external factors; the predicted changes in weather

regimes which affect the systems under consideration, while Sensitivity

and Adaptive Capacity are internal to the system, describing respectively

how it will be affected, and how it can adapt. In terms of examining the

effects of climate change on a system and planning adaption then, it is

important to consider each of these set of factors and, when applicable,

incorporate goals of minimizing exposure and sensitivity, and maximizing

adaptive capacity.

This section discusses some of ways in which bamboo can be leveraged

to help systems adapt to some of the predicted climatic changes. Of

course, adaptation must be conceptualized in the local context and

there is no one-size-fits-all plan, given the wide differences between

regions, and predicted changes. That said, given the noted experiences

of how bamboo has, and can be further used to provide human needs

and address site-specific problems, it is worth examining whether these

can be scaled-up, replicated, and promoted to lower communities‘

vulnerability to climate-change related hardships. It is commonly stated

that there is no silver bullet to address climate change but only silver

buckshot: might one of the pieces of buckshot be made of bamboo?

PROVIDING COMMUNITIES WITH NEEDS & RESILIENCE

The many applications that bamboo can provide communities with are

significant and ever–growing, but probably highly under-appreciated.

Despite changes in preferences over the last 50 years for synthetic and

composite materials to build the items that form our surroundings, it is

estimated that up to 1 billion people still rely on bamboo in one form or

another. Throughout Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent and Central

Americas, rural populations live in bamboo houses, build their agricultural

54

infrastructure and tools from bamboo and sleep on bamboo mats. Bridges

and boats which allow rice farmers to tend to their rice paddies are made

of bamboo. Bamboo baskets are used to winnow husks, store grains and

crates are used to transport produce to markets. Bamboo poles are used

to keep houses above flood levels, prop up fruit trees and fence in

animals and crops. This close dependency upon bamboo to provide an

important part of the world‘s population with their basic and material

needs implies that a high amount of attention should be placed upon this

relationship when analyzing their systems for both vulnerability assessment

and development potential.

For millions of people already exposed to violent climatic events, bamboo

has been used to help build their resilience to these events, and is

incorporated into traditional design of structures and systems. In typhoon –

battered parts of the Philippines for instance, traditional bamboo housing

has been designed to include features which make the structure resistant

to high winds and floods, and local builders ‗know‘ how to join

components so that they provide maximal strength. As this knowledge

can disappear rapidly over a generation as preferences for alternative

building materials take hold, it is important to incorporate it into local

adaptation planning through building guidelines and codes. Similarly,

bamboo‘s lightweight and strength naturally predispose it for use in

disaster situations for makeshift shelters, rafts and bridges, as

demonstrated in Figure 1.

Climate Change and growing pressure on natural resources is expected

to change the environment of billions of people at a hitherto unseen

pace, and will affect all of the systems in which operate. For the

populations living in the tropics, conditions are generally expected to get

worse as more pronounced weather events and harsher climates will test

the resilience of the agricultural systems, physical structures, and health of

ecosystems on which communities largely depend. Adaptation to these

conditions requires a number of simultaneous developments and

adjustments including levels of dependence, current practices, warning

and response systems, which will all need to be developed within the

specific local settings and context. Leveraging the natural properties of

local resources like bamboo in order to decrease exposure and sensitivity

of communities and systems to risks, through both traditional and novel

approaches will help to ensure long-term sustainable levels of adaptive

capacity and development.

What the attributes of bamboo which lend itself to higher levels of

resilience and adaptive capacity?

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Forestry and Cultivation

For those who derive their livelihoods from bamboo cultivation, bamboo is

a crop which offers a number of benefits, and has relatively high levels of

growth and income security.

1. Quick growth = short rotation

Bamboos grow at extraordinarily high rates, with records speeds up to 1.07

metres in 24 hours. Individual culms can be harvested after 3-6 years

(depending upon the species) and productive groves established from

scratch in 10 years. The benefits of a short rotation time include lower

levels of exposure to outside risks and flexibility to change practices

relatively quickly when facing changes in the climatic environment.

2. Short rotation = low financial outlay, quick recouping

The quick growth and maturation of bamboo poles means that a

bamboo stand can be selectively harvested- extracting older culms and

leaving younger ones to grow- without decreasing total stand biomass.

Annual sustainable harvesting of bamboo generates an income stream

after the first harvest gives bamboo farmers a quick return on investment

and important safety net, when farmed in a diverse crop system.

3. Plant-it-and-leave-it

The low intensiveness of bamboo-farming means that, for most end-uses,

bamboo does not need much tending once planted. Their continuous

shedding of high-nutrient leaves makes them self-mulching, and they

don‘t require high volumes of fertilizers to grow. Low time-intensiveness

means bamboo farmers can often grow several crops in a diverse system,

which is typically less exposed to climatic events, infestation or price

declines. If not sent to market to provide extra income, it can be used for

farming utilitarian applications (housing, fencing, implements), or left

growing.

4. Plant anywhere

Like other plants, bamboos have optimal growing conditions, where they

grow at highest rates of productivity. However, most bamboo are tolerant

to suboptimal conditions and do grow on degraded lands and steep

slopes. Marginal lands can therefore be utilized for bamboo production,

leaving better lands for more demanding crops.

5. Easy Harvesting

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Although highly labour intensive, bamboo harvesting is relatively easy,

and does not require the use of heavy machinery for felling and

extraction of poles. The lightweight of individual poles and ease with

which they can be split encourages equal gender participation.

6. Multipurpose

The wide number of uses for low and high value bamboo products means

demand for bamboos remains high. Utilitarian uses for bamboo poles are

high in agricultural applications, especially in low income countries, and

where investment in machinery and processing exist a large range of

bamboo products become producible. Of particular use and interest for

tackling climate change related problems, are its ability to replace high

demand wood -based products such as furniture, housing and fuel.

Providing resilience to other systems

As well as its attractiveness as a crop, bamboo offers important ecosystem

services, making it both an important plant for agroforestry and urban

landscaping.

1. Erosion Control- Due to the long reaching rhizome system which

extends horizontally, bamboo is very good at holding soil together to

reduce erosion, particularly in areas prone to high amounts of runoff, like

steep slopes or river banks. In degraded sloped lands which have been

exploited by agriculture, bamboo can be used to hold slopes and

prevent erosion from flooding. As evergreen plants, the thick canopy and

ground cover provided by dead leaves reduces splash erosion and

infiltration, leaving very low levels of runoff from bamboo groves.

2. Windbreaks and Shelterbelts- As bamboos have a high modulus of

elasticity (9000-10100N/mm2) they will bend in high winds, but usually do

not break as long as they are spaced evenly. The practice of using

bamboos for protecting cashcrops is found throughout bamboo-growing

areas, although particularly in the Pacific Islands which are subject to high

and frequent winds.

3. Watershed Management- Especially at higher altitudes on high gradient

lands, bamboo stands play an important function in regulating water and

soil runoff. Due to its evergreen, thick canopy, a bamboo stand‘s stem

flow, canopy interception, water maintaining capacity and soil and water

conservation are higher than in coniferous stands.

4. Rehabilitation of Degraded Lands- As bamboo establishes in a short

amount of time, does not require fertilizers to grow and self-mulches, it can

57

be introduced onto degraded lands, making them suitable for bamboo

and other commercial and food crops. Bamboo agroforestry

introductions can result in faster, successful conversion of degraded lands

into productive and economically viable systems.

5. Bioremediation of contaminated systems- An area of growing research,

bamboos quick growth and absorption rates are predicted to make it a

important plant for remediation of polluted lands which in their current

state cannot be used for other economic activities. Having a high

tolerance threshold to nitrogen, bamboo can be used to filter animal

waste preventing high nitrogen effluents to enter water systems.

Decreasing Sensitivity through supply systems and products

Bamboo provides a local, reliable and resilient source of shelter, energy

and food for millions of people.

1. A light and strong material for construction and infrastructure

Bamboo has been a popular and common housing material for centuries.

Its lightweight, strength and easiness to work with make it an attractive

resource, and bamboo houses are found throughout Asia, Latin America

and parts of Africa. Although bamboo houses are sometimes perceived

as inferior, new design, techniques and innovations coupled with shifts in

perceptions have delivered ‗normal‘ houses which match safety,

durability and aesthetic criteria while remaining affordable. The same is

applicable to other bamboo structures including bridges and structural

components which have been shown to have equal qualities to other

materials in recent years. That bamboo sources and supply chains are

usually local and relatively labor-intensive means livelihood opportunities

are numerous.

Pro-Poor Bamboo Urban Housing in areas vulnerable to Climate

Disasters

Permanent: Through improvements to bamboo housing inhabited

by the lowest-income and most vulnerable segments of

populations in areas at risk from natural disasters, sensitivity to

these events can be drastically reduced. Due to lightweight and

comparatively high resistance to earthquakes, bamboo is a

naturally suitable material for use by disadvantaged groups who

often only have access to the worst land (especially in peri-urban

areas) and low capital. Design improvements can make bamboo

58

houses, stronger and more resistant, while using this traditional

material and style of construction.

Temporary: Bamboo housing can be effectively used in post-

disaster temporary shelters to provide a solid, and easily

constructed house. Following the Sichuan Earthquake of 2008,

bamboo shelters were used to accommodate hundreds of

people, and these could equally be used following climate

disasters.

2. Providing a renewable biomass fuel

Bamboo‘s fast growth can potentially be used to alleviate pressure on

deforestation in parts of the world, through replacing other wood species

as a source of biofuel. Although it can be burned in its harvested form,

through carbonization bamboo can be converted into charcoal which

can produce high amounts of heat for a longer time than through

combustion of its woody form. This fuel source has high potential in

developing countries where a large proportion of the population relies on

biomass for fuel. In Ethiopia, where deforestation has already created

scarcity of biofuel sources, bamboo charcoal is being produced in order

to meet the energy demands of rural and urban populations, and in

Tamelong, India household operated drum-kilns allow for reliable sources

of household energy and rural employment for local communities.

3. A food source

As well as its numerous utilitarian uses, many bamboo species are also

edible and provide rich nutrition. Throughout Asia it is a common

ingredient in many dishes and is a traditional staple during parts of the

year. The leaves are common sources of nutrition for wild animals

including pandas and gorillas, and can similarly be used as fodder for

Some advantages of Bamboo Charcoal for fuel

- Avoided deforestation of slower growth wood species

- Burns more slowly than bamboo firewood

- More easily transportable than bamboo firewood

- Gasifies instead of combusting, resulting in less smoke

( which has considerable health implications) and less

waste

- Bamboo quick growth and ability to grow on

suboptimal land means can be grown closer to home

on low value land.

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livestock and feed for fisheries. Bamboo can thus be an important source

of food security as a supplement for both human and livestock diets.

RESILIENCE OF BAMBOO SYSTEMS TO CLIMATE CHANGE

The effects that climate change will have on different bamboo species‘

growth, disturbance and distribution is not yet well researched, and few

scientific studies have been done on the effects of different climatic

variables such as heat tolerance and variability on bamboos.

Changes in climatic factors including rainfall, temperatures and wind are

expected to affect the growth patterns and distribution of all vegetative

species, and the resulting changes will depend partly upon the ‗adaptive

capacity‘ of different species. However, projecting the sum-total of

climate change is also complicated by other factors, including the

changes in disturbance regimes, socioeconomic factors and increased

levels of CO2 in the atmosphere amongst others. A further factor of

particular importance with bamboo species is gregarious flowering, which

results in large-scale die off. The reasons for flowering are still not

completely understood, although there is some evidence that

environmental stress may be a trigger to bamboo flowering. The long

term responses to changes in local climate are thus difficult to project,

and will differ from species to species.

Where bamboo does perform well however, is in its quick re-growth

following short-term disasters and disturbance. Although wind and snow

storms can cause severe damage to bamboo forests, their quick rates of

re-establishment mean that they can become economically productive

in much shorter time periods than comparable species. Similarly, when

bamboo forests are burnt, the underground rhizome system does not

usually die, and the stand can be reestablished in a short period of time.

Conclusion

Bamboo has a very high potential in addressing the problems and

hardships that many people will experience as a result of climate change.

The important role that bamboo plays in the lives of millions of people

living in areas which are considered vulnerable to climate change

necessitates a greater examination on the implications of climate change

for the vulnerability of bamboo forests as well as the people who depend

upon it for their livelihoods. Although bamboo is, and can further be used

to provide people with higher amounts of resilience to more frequent and

intensive climatic events, considerable research is still needed to look at

60

the ways in which climate change will affect the growth and productivity

of different bamboo species.

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Lou Yiping, Program Director, Environmental Sustainability, INBAR. Email:

Yplou@inbar.int

Mr. Giles Henley, Program Officer, Environmental Sustainability, INBAR.

Email: ghenley@inbar.int

Ms. Li Yanxia, Program Officer, Environmental Sustainability, INBAR. Email:

yxli@inbar.int

Special thanks to Dr. Walter Liese (German), Dr. Peggy Stern (USA), Dr.

Zhou Guomo (China), Dr. Coosje Hoogendoorn (the Netherland), Mr.

Andrew Benton (UK), Ms. Kathleen Buckingham (UK) and other colleagues

for their valuable inputs and comments to improve this paper.

61

Bamboo in Latin America and the Caribbean:

Opportunities, challenges and prospects of this

resource in the region

Alvaro Cabrera Paredes1

Summary

This paper provides an overview of the bamboo sector in Latin America

and the Caribbean (LAC), examining the current state-of-sector, and the

opportunities and challenges that face the successful development of the

sector on a regional and national level. Many LAC countries are endowed

with significant bamboo resources, which can be used to meet some of

the pressing social and environmental challenges which the region faces

and which can simultaneously contribute to economic development. The

rapid growth of cities, stemmed by rural-urban migration, put a

continuous strain on housing, which can partly be met by improving the

existing bamboo housing infrastructure. Due to the diversity of experience

and comparative advantages that LAC countries have within their

bamboo sectors, regional dialogue to improve trade and exchange

experiences can result in mutual gains for all countries.

Several areas which deserve special attention are highlighted in the

report, including:

The continued use and expansion of bamboo in social housing

programmes

Capitalizing upon the rich design and cultural heritage of the region

to popularize bamboo as a material in high-end structures and

applications

Further development of standards for bamboo forestry and

construction stages to facilitate better natural resource

management and improved quality control

Further dialogue at a regional level to improve sharing of practices

and move from an informal to a formal regional bamboo trade

1 Alvaro Cabrera Paredes, is the Regional Coordinator of the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), Latin Americana and the Caribbean Office. For further information regarding this paper please contact: acabrera@inbar.int

62

1. Regional Perspective

Latin America and the Caribbean have a rich culture, biodiversity,

natural resources and energy; however, in most countries the poverty

situation is a continual source of concern and for all its wealth, LAC is

also characterized as having the greatest social and economic

inequity in the world. In addition, it is an area of fast growing urban

growth, with increasing numbers of rural people moving to cities since

the 1960‘s putting pressures on infrastructure which have yet to be

resolved. The urban poor make up an important part of the population;

the latest figures for the urban poor in the whole region have reached

29% of the total urban population. (ECLAC, 2007).

1.1 Bamboo resource distribution in the region

Latin America is the richest region of the Americas in terms of the

diversity and number of woody bamboo species, one of the non-

timber forest products widely used in the world. Twenty genera and 429

species of woody bamboos are distributed from approximately 27 ° N

to 47 ° S. Latin America has 39% of the species and 31% of the genera

of the total of 1,100 species and 65 genera of woody bamboos known

in the world (Judziewicz et al. 1999. In Londoño, 2001). Brazil has the

largest bamboo diversity (137 species), followed by Colombia (70),

Venezuela (60), Ecuador (42), Costa Rica (39), Mexico (37) and Peru

(37). (Londoño, 2001). In Latin America, at least ten countries have

significant bamboo resources, although they have not yet made

accurate assessments. A total of 11 million hectares is considered a

realistic estimate for the region, with Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador

and Mexico having the greatest volume of these resources. (FAO-FRA,

2005).2

Currently, there are few accurate statistics on the stock of bamboo in

Latin American countries, although accurate assessments, carried out

by local institutions or the private sector, interested in a particular field,

do exist.

1.2 Resource Value and Utilisation

As with all natural resources, bamboos can be valued on a number of

levels. Broadly speaking, these values are determined through human

consumption (which can be sub-divided into market and non-market

values) and environmental values. Section 1.2.1 below provides a brief

overview of the multiple uses of bamboo throughout the region,

highlighting ‗high potential areas‘ which are based upon current trends,

2 Importantly, bamboos taken into account in the estimate include all the bamboos, which grow from sea level to

4,000 m., therefore not all bamboos are economically viable.

63

and known markets for bamboos. Section 1.2.2 briefly outlines the

environmental uses and values, which are usually not captured by

markets.

1.2.1 Production and Consumption of Bamboos

Plantations and Harvesting

Whether bamboos are planted and farmed or not is a function of the

extent of their use. Due to the wide usage of Guadua species

throughout Latin America, plantations exist, especially in Ecuador and

Colombia. In addition, some other species introduced from Asia are

also planted for various uses (Bambusa vulgaris, B. tuldoides,

Phyllostachys aurea and Dendrocalamus sps).

For most other species, gathering and harvesting takes place at a local

level. This includes Apoclada, Aulonemia, Chusquea, Elytrostachys,

Rhipidocladum and Otatea species, which are used in mainly in

agricultural and domestic applications.

Current Utilisation

Housing- The most visible use of bamboo throughout Latin America is in

housing and architecture, where it is used extensively in rural and urban

houses in Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Peru, especially in

coastal and at lower elevations. Guadua bamboos are the main

bamboo species used in housing, offering quick growth, strength and

other quality properties, such as easy processing and transport, for

housing uses. The use of bamboo housing has helped to meet the

housing crisis in many Latin American cities as rural migrants have

established themselves in city outskirts to seek opportunities at a rate

which has outpaced the supply of more ‗permanent‘ housing. The use

of bamboo in housing has a long history in the region, with traditional

designs such as the bahareque being the basis for modern techniques

and mass production.

High end architecture- Although the use of bamboo in low-income

housing has a long history and is the main use for bamboo resources in

these countries, innovations in design and further research in

architectural techniques by South American architects have pushed

high-end bamboo structures to the forefront of architecture.

Innovations from architects in Colombia such as Simon Velez and Jorge

Stamm, have pushed the boundaries of knowledge and use of

bamboo to create social spaces, and utilitarian, religious and

educational facilities.

Agricultural systems-The importance of bamboo usage in local

production systems is underappreciated due to their invisibility in official

statistics. For rural communities, bamboo is a key material used in

agricultural applications, including rural structures, fencing, feed and

for props and tools. In farming industries where post-harvesting

processing is carried out on site (such as coffee, cacao production)

64

bamboo is an important source of building material and commonly

used for drying facilities and structures.

Traditional and cultural applications of bamboo are quite well

documented, as it has been used for centuries in utilitarian applications

such as for hunting and fishing equipment, bowls, cups, and religious

and ceremonial uses. Although markets for these goods now are small,

they provide important heritage value, as well as for those still relying

upon them. Artifacts made of bamboo are a source of income for

artisans, with varying levels of value.

Other uses- Although currently relatively unformalised, a number of

local or national uses of bamboo are worthy of mention due to their

current size or potential. In Brazil, the use of bamboo for both paper

production and fuel biomass is under development. Given experiences

in other countries, these are both considered to be high- potential

applications, as they can be considered uses with high economies of

scale.

1.2.2 Environmental Values

Bamboos also have important environmental applications in Latin

America and the Caribbean. While these are notoriously difficult to

enumerate, they are worth mentioning in general due to their

importance to local and global ecosystems and are presented briefly

below:

Carbon sequestration and storage

Although they are not major carbon sinks in absolute terms, bamboo

stands are considered to be important in terms of their ability to quickly

sequester and store carbon. The rate of sequestration in young

bamboo stands is considered to be amongst the quickest of all

vegetative species. Given the growing importance of carbon capture

in the context of climate change mitigation, and the extent of

resources in Latin America, this key application should be factored into

decisions related to policies on resource expansion and utilization, and

options for carbon financing should be explored.

Biodiversity and bamboo as anchor species

Bamboos provide important sources of food and shelter for numerous

birds, insects and mammals in Latin America, some of which are

endemic to bamboo forests, or rely on bamboo for a key part of their

diet. At least 4-5% of the bird species in the Amazon are dependent

upon bamboo, and 34 bird species are confined exclusively to

bamboo thickets in one part of the Amazon (Bystriakova 2004). In

addition, certain megafauna such as the brown spectacled bear, and

lowland and highland tapirs feed upon bamboo shoots, as well as 4-5

species of bamboo rat.

Watershed management and erosion control

At a local level, bamboos are important for fixing soil, particularly on

steep gradients and along river banks. The importance of this is

particularly clear in areas prone to flooding or heavy soil erosion; where

65

bamboos are present or reduced there is a notable reduction in soil

loss, and improvement in flood control.

2. Policies Supporting the Development of Bamboo

Despite its abundance and its great potential, trade in bamboo is

relatively low, and few products are commercialised. This is, in part,

due to the lack of governmental policies aimed at promoting the use

of alternative resources, and lack of knowledge of industrialization

processes and potential3.

However, there are a number of areas where, through its inclusion into

the policy framework, bamboo can effectively contribute to meeting

current broad policy objectives. Recognition of these, matched with

support through promotion programmes, financial subsidies and other

incentives, can result in opportunities to leapfrog traditional

development patterns, and obtain quick wins.

2.1 Providing safe and affordable social housing for rural and urban

poor

Bamboo housing is already used by millions of people in Latin America

and the Caribbean. With further support and through targeted efforts

to improve construction techniques, the housing stock can be

upgraded and expanded effectively.

Reasons for focusing upon bamboo housing include:

It is a readily available and affordable resource in many growing

cities which attract rural migrants.

They are easy to process and transport, build and repair,

requiring low amounts of energy and machinery in comparison

to other housing models

They are much quicker and cheaper to establish than other

houses; many more houses can be built using bamboo

Lightweight and strength make bamboo houses naturally resilient

and relatively easy to upgrade

Policies objectives which can partly be met through greater bamboo

utilization:

Access to safe and equitable housing for poor populations in

urban and peri-urban areas

Maintaining high levels of employment in the sector, including in

rural locations- Bamboo harvesting, processing and construction

are less mechanized than alternative methods, which provide

employment opportunities near forests and in urban areas.

2.2 An environmentally-friendly and a vibrant construction sector

3 There are few cases where national and local governments have begun to develop policy instruments to promote the development of an industry and economic activities based on this resource, which will be examined in greater detail below.

66

As well as houses for the poorer segments of the populations, high-end

buildings and spaces can be constructed using bamboo, which reach

criteria for high levels of safety standards, aesthetic qualities and luxury.

During the 1990‘s a number of model structures were pioneered in Latin

America (especially Colombia) to demonstrate possibilities with

bamboo, and these are being increasingly adopted (on a voluntary

basis) by public and private planners, developers and individuals. The

innovative nature of the structures and their high environmental

credentials lead to growing interest and incorporation of bamboo into

buildings.

Further promotion of bamboo within the organized construction sector

can contribute to meeting the following policy objectives:

Improve energy efficiency in the construction sector- lightweight

of bamboo, low energy requirements for processing and local

availability all contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of a

bamboo house.

Reducing pressure on primary forests- substitution of timber by

bamboo can reduce demand for slower-growing timber from

shrinking forests

2.3 Disaster preparedness and response

As much of northern Latin America is prone to strong weather and

seismic events, disaster preparedness is a key concern for societies and

governments. By improving the quality of the housing stock and public

buildings, important gains in mitigating human casualties in violent

events can be achieved. Similarly, quick establishment of bamboo

based shelters, constructed in local markets, can reduce post-disaster

casualties and losses through improved response times and better

shelters.

Although the use of bamboo for building does not by itself reduce the

need for careful planning and risk management, its consideration as a

building material should be taken seriously in order to capitalize on its

natural properties of strength, lightweight and durability.

Seismic testing and real life experience in earthquake zones

have repeatedly demonstrated that bamboo buildings can

withstand higher shocks than other constructs.

Traditional bamboo housing design incorporate elements of

resilience-design, including elevation off the ground and roofing

structures which reduce wind-loading. These designs are easy to

fortify in order to improve the resilience of housing.

67

In areas with seasonal monsoons or hurricanes, damage to

bamboo houses can be easily repaired.

Possible policy objectives include:

Reducing casualties in disaster events through more resilient and

safer housing

Improving post-disaster response through more easily mobilized

temporary housing

2.4 Halting environmental degradation

Better utilization of existing bamboo stands, and expansion of bamboo

coverage can result in quick wins for environmental objectives.

Bamboos grow at a much faster rate than other sources of woody

biomass, can be successfully substituted into production lines, and offer

a number of benefits to the environment.

Reducing soil erosion, especially on deforested and degraded

hillsides

Reducing rate of deforestation through substitution of wood for

production and energy

Carbon sequestration through reforestation with bamboo

2.5 Meeting energy needs and household energy security

Bamboo can be used to produce heat energy and electricity at

household and larger level, and is currently the focus of attention in

several Latin American countries as a source of alternative energy.

Piloting of large scale production units for gasification is being tested in

Brazil, with promising results.

3. Bamboo Initiatives in the Region

This section presents some key initiatives and experiences of working

with bamboo in several member countries of INBAR in Latin America

and the Caribbean.

3.1 The Republic of Peru

Peru has vast reserves of bamboo, but most of this resource is

inaccessible in the Amazon area. The most accessible areas to start or

strengthen existing use are in northern Peru in the departments of

Lambayeque, Cajamarca, Piura and Amazonas.

Resource Utilisation

Development of a technical standard for bamboo (2008-ongoing)

Ongoing efforts to improve formalization and competitiveness of

the bamboo sector in Peru, to develop technical standards

68

through characterization studies of the cultivation, harvesting,

post harvest and to promote diversification of commercial and

industrial uses and plantations through reforestation initiatives

Process driven by Ministry of Agriculture and involving numerous

stakeholders from government and NGOs, providing an effective

platform for exchange and collaboration

The ‘Project for the management, use and marketing of bamboo in

Florida’

Enhancing capitalization of existing resources in Northern Peru

Introduced techniques of value addition to improve rural

incomes

Improved sustainable management of existing bamboo stands

Bamboo Building

Reconstruction using bamboo following 2007 earthquake in the Ica

región of Southern Peru

Support provided to families to reconstruct using bamboo

incorporated in a training course.

Developed new designs for buildings in a participatory manner

Rebuilt model houses, churches and public buildings

Bamboo Diploma (run between July-December 2009)

Collaboration between numerous academic, government and

NGO partners

Compilation of techniques and data on a national scale, with

inter-regional and international collaboration

Strong element of disaster response

15 architects trained

3.2 Ecuador

Eucador is a major producer and user of bamboo in LAC, and has

demonstrated a number of positive experiences with bamboo,

particularly in the social housing sector. It is also a major exporter of

bamboo to Peru (5-7million non-registered culms per annum)

Resource Utilisation

There is major demand use of bamboo in banana plantations

and in flower industry, both important export sectors for Ecuador

A recent initiative, the Bamboo Pilot Project offers training

material for planting and utilization of bamboo resources

Small to medium size enterprises are involved in production of

bamboo panels, and technology exchange with China (e.g.

Giant Bamboo, Rainforest Bamboo)

There is growing interest in public procurement of bamboo for

schools and public buildings (furniture)

69

Bamboo Building

It is estímated that 10-15% of Ecuadorians live in bamboo houses

Bamboo is important in the social housing sector- one charity

(Hogar de Cristo) has built 35,000 houses for the urban poor in last

3 years and pioneered a system for providing affordable houses

to local urban communities, starting from the city of Guayaquil,

and are now active in many coastal cities

Important and growing tourist markets exist for bamboo houses

for hotels and resorts

3.3 Colombia

The bamboo sector in Colombia is characterised by an initiative on

Guadua standardization and common resource management, and a

rich tradition of building with bamboo in innovative ways

Resource Utilisation

Specific focus upon Guadua development with an aim of

greater industrialization using a supply chain approach is being

supported by the Inter-American Development Bank

Pioneering examples of bamboo forest certification and

regulation development are in place, including common

resource management schemes for forests (FSC smallholders)

Bamboo building

There is a strong historical legacy of building with bamboo in

numerous techniques (bahareque and quincha techniques),

with innovations from major names in architecture (Simon Velez,

Jorgg Stamm)

Ongoing training programmes on resource management and

construction are incorporated into local universities (Technical

University of Pereira, FUNDEGUADUA programme)

A Seismic Resistant Standard 2010 (NSR-10) has been developed,

and bamboo continues to be included into standards pertaining

to earthquake resistant construction under the housing policy

3.4 Chile

Resource Utilisation

Ongoing projects are looking at better utilization of indigenous

species as well as introduction of 25 bamboo species, with a

view on energy generation

Several national endeavours are aimed at value addition and

product development including charcoal and panel production

There is a high concentration of resources between the IX and XI

region. In these three regions bamboo is covering an area of

900,000 hectares (Chusquea culeou)

,

3.5 Argentina

70

Resource Utilisation

Argentina has approximately 2,000,000 ha of bamboo consisting

of 7 indigenous species and 2 introduced species. This provides a

high potential for forestry project development

The Ministry of Agriculture has established a National Forum of

bamboo to facilitate discussion and dissemination of information

in 2005

There are some local governments and private initiatives that are

developing production activities of plants and plantations in the

area of Misiones and Buenos Aires (eg Eldorado Bamboo,

Bambu-Guazu, etc.). One of the most important initiatives is the

project for the Development of Bamboo in the Delta of Buenos

Aires, which promotes the use of bamboo (Phylostachys sp.) and

increases the value of raw materials through manufacturing

processes.

Bamboo building

The University of Tucuman has been developing several projects

on bamboo construction, which has allowed the training of a

whole generation of developers with knowledge of bamboo

Important work is being carried out by the Bamboo Research

Agency of the National Government, within the Ministry of

Science, Technology and Innovation.

3.6 Other initiatives in INBAR member countries in the region

There several additional initiatives working with bamboo in different

INBAR member countries:

In Cuba the project for the development and research of rattan

is implemented by the Cuban Institute of Forest Research. There

is also the CIDEM project -bamboo of the Central University of Las

Villas.

In Venezuela, a project on community development based on

bamboo is led by Polar Foundation.

In Panama there are development projects implemented by the

NGO APASAN and there is experience in bamboo product

development through the company Bambusa.

In Suriname interest in bamboo and rattan are growing, both

with the government and the forestry research institutions

71

4. Conclusions and Recommendations

As seen in the examples, there are issues of common regional interest,

and some similar needs.

4.1.Regulation and standardization

It is necessary to strengthen regulations in many countries, in order to

improve the processes of harvesting, post-harvest treatment and

processing of bamboo. There are several initiatives underway (eg Peru)

and others already consolidated (eg Colombia).There is a good

opportunity to promote exchanges between different initiatives, an

exchange between actors who led the initiatives (ministries, civil society),

and these exchanges will allow development and will avoid the

duplication of work as well as repeating errors.

Regulations, will improve production, lead to more competitive

companies and producers and improve prices and processes, and can

be done by involving the direct participation of people. Standardization

will enable bamboo to take its place in conventional markets, ensuring

appropriate use of the resource, its inclusion in the list of legal

construction materials and initiatives and facilitate the export and import

of the material.

The understanding, adaptation and adoption of experiences (standards,

certification processes, regulations) depend largely on joint initiatives,

governments and national networks with its partners from other countries

being willing to work with unified criteria to facilitate the implementation

of these standards in the region. Here INBAR could play a fundamental

role, being an intergovernmental body with cross-border regional

facilitation as one of its major tasks.

4.2 Local capacity building

There is a common need in many countries of the region for the training

of human talent in issues related to bamboo for productive processes

and income generation. In many countries there are permanent and

regular trainings in various aspects of the bamboo production chain

available. It is necessary to make an analysis of complementarity

between these programmes to design a strategy to take advantage of

training opportunities for the benefit of the countries least likely to do

so. There is a possibility of implementing a strategy to disseminate

information on training opportunities in the region.

INBAR offers events annually to get to know the experiences of countries

that have developed large bamboo industries, such as China and

India. LAC stakeholders that participate in such events can build on

these contacts to promote further exchange of technology and

technical assistance among different continents.

4.3 Building further awareness of the uses of bamboo

There is a strong need for more public awareness for the different uses of

bamboo, its importance and its potential in and for the region. This in

72

many ways could counteract the over-exploitation that is taking place

at the moment, and also increase the value of this resource.

An exchange of experiences among countries with a developed

industry of bamboo and countries with abundant bamboo resources but

with limited knowledge on bamboo looks like one of the most important

strategies to follow. This exchange should primarily involve political actors,

decision makers, investors and community leaders to facilitate internal

exchange and social learning within their countries, and leaders

responsible for formulating policies for the promotion of new or

underutilized resources such as bamboo and its many possibilities for use.

Perhaps one of the topics of greatest interest among countries in Latin

America is the possibility of using bamboo as a means of energy

generation based on biomass. There is some experience in this field in

countries like China and more recently in Latin America, such as Brazil

and Honduras. There are initiatives in progress to develop pilot activities

for energy generation with the use of bamboo in Chile, Ecuador and

Peru.

INBAR is preparing outreach and training materials to address the issue of

dendro-energy from bamboo in Latin America. This material, will be

shared with network members in the region through workshops,

conferences, lectures and virtual instrument.

4.4 Improvement of rural - urban linkages

Major challenges for INBAR and its partners include the promoting of the

development of rural urban linkages between producers and consumers

of bamboo and rattan and shortening the chain between them. Long

value chains mean lower profits for primary producers. Informal value

chains prevent the professionalization of occupations, and leads to

lawlessness in the harvest, processing and marketing of bamboo. INBAR‘s

strategy for achieving this goal is working through networks that through

pro-poor trading and marketing transactions to stabilize prices and

standardize product quality.

4.5 Generation and sharing of information

There is much about bamboo in LAC that needs further research. Also

the potential of introducing rattan warrants further consideration. Several

universities, often in isolation, have been working on research on

bamboo in various ways.

There is a need to begin to link these research initiatives through national

and regional platforms for exchanging experiences, and at the same

time link them to the global playing field. This will improve knowledge of

bamboo, as well as increase the number of people trained to work with

bamboo and rattan in the region, and will be an essential part of

developing the sector for the future.

References:

73

Andean Community of Nations. About climate change: some

indicators, Peru, 2007.

COMPYMEFOR. Industrialization of bamboo, Argentina, 2005.

FAO. Forest Resources Assessment, Rome, Italy, 2005.

Londono, X. Evaluation of the bamboo resources in Latin

America. Cali, Colombia, 2001.

M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and

C.E. Hanson (eds).Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth

Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom

and New York, NY, USA. 2007.

Moran, J. Bamboo in America, current situation and exploring the

XXI century, Costa Rica, 1998.

Moran, J. Vision and Projections of the construction industry and

other bamboo-based industries in Latin America. 2004.

Websites:

http://websie.eclac.cl/sisgen/ConsultaIntegrada.asp

www.bambuguadua.com

www.bosquesflegt.gov.co

http://www.bambu.cl/

http://www.portafolio.com.co/economia/vivienda_eco_portafolio/A

RTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_PORTA-7486789.html

Experts consulted: Jorge Moran (Ecuador), Luis Fernando Botero

(Colombia), María Emilia Caro (Argentina)

74

Selling Bamboo and Rattan in Asia:

Developments, Opportunities and Barriers

T. P. Subramony4

Email: subramony@inbar.int

Regional Coordinator (South Asia)

International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR)

South Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India.

Introduction:

The paper presents an overview of the present status of bamboo and

rattan market opportunities in the Asian region. It looks at the

developments, the constraints in the markets and marketing of the

products from a global and a regional perspective and the means to

address them. In order to create and develop a market-driven demand

and approach for bamboo and rattan products, as also to provide

access to authentic data and information on the trade and market

status of value-added products, regular monitoring and analysis of the

market, preferably product-focused, at the national, regional and global

levels are most essential. Based on such information, sustainable and

mutually beneficial linkages could be established between producers

and markets through cross-country, and cross-regional collaborations.

The data presented in this paper are indicative figures, which have been

collected from published and reliable unpublished reports, and therefore

represent a mix of official and unofficial records.

Bamboo and Rattan and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):

The MDGs set by the United Nations target reducing poverty and

improving the lives of the world‘s most disadvantaged people. While all

are essential for a ‗better world‘ three stand out within the scope of this

paper: poverty reduction (MDG 1), environmental sustainability (MDG 7),

and developing a fairer global trading system (MDG 8). The MDGs have

focused global development activities in a positive manner, and

bamboo and rattan are ideal resources to address development

strategies that integrate poverty reduction and environmental

sustainability through pro-poor trade.

Bamboo and rattan can be a key component in the socio-economic

development of the poor millions, particularly women and socially

disadvantaged groups, in countries where bamboo is distributed. The

4 I wish to sincerely acknowledge the valuable inputs and suggestions from my colleagues in INBAR in preparing this report: Coosje Hoogendoorn; Jolanda Jonkart; I.V. Ramanuja Rao; Andrew Benton; Lou Yiping; Shyam Paudel; Ren Hong; Fu Jinhe and Giles Henley

75

growing public and private demand in developed countries for

environmentally friendly products, systems and lifestyle options would be

easily fulfilled by bamboo and rattan, as they are eco-friendly, highly

renewable, and easily processed by rural communities. For these reasons,

they have the potential to generate a renewable and sustainable

source of income and employment for the rural producers and

processors in Asia. However, one overriding constraint is the lack of

market access for the rural producers, far removed as they are from the

commercial world.

The image of bamboo and rattan and their products is one of the most

crucial factors influencing the commercialization. Bamboo and rattan,

both as resources and as products, invoke in the consumers strong

associations ranging from very negative to very positive. The strength is

their green, environment-friendly image. Furthermore, the products are

usually perceived as being exotic. The negative aspects are generally

attributed to their perceived low cost, quality and durability.

An overview of bamboo and rattan resources and market opportunities

in the Asia region:

Asia is undoubtedly the powerhouse of the global bamboo and rattan

sector. While important bamboo and rattan resources are found in other

tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world, the Asian countries are

leaders in the development of the sector, while at the same time

representing a rich tradition in the use of the two commodities. In virtually

all countries of East, South East Asia and South Asia, as well as the Pacific,

bamboo is found. Rattan is present in most of the countries in the tropical

belt of Asia. Little bamboo or rattan is found in the dry western part of

Asia, although promising experiment with bamboo have been carried

out in Turkey along the coast of the Black Sea.

In many countries there is a lively trade in bamboo and/or rattan, while

China, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and India

export significant quantities of bamboo and rattan products. Among

these, China is undoubtedly the largest exporter, both to other Asian

countries and to the rest of the world. Asian countries such as Japan and

South Korea are important markets for bamboo and rattan products

made in the region. The table, based on trade statistics for 2007

collected by INBAR, illustrates this.

Major Asian

exporters

Export Value

2007 (mln USD)

Major Asian

Importers

Import Value

2007 (mln USD)

China 1,140 Japan 222

Indonesia 432 South Korea 37

Philippines 63 Singapore 50

Vietnam 79

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Malaysia 18

Thailand 34

While these Asian countries are the most relevant in international trade,

this does not mean that bamboo and rattan are not important in other

countries in the region, on the contrary. Few data are available on

internal trade within countries in bamboo and rattan products, but it is

generally believed that this is much larger than what is exported, at least

in quantities but probably also in value.

Throughout the region, bamboo is used widely in the rural areas for

baskets, containers, furniture, housing, incense sticks and food. A number

of those products are sold to the cities, and additional uses have been

developed in particular in and for the cities, which include chopsticks,

scaffolding, laminated and mat board, paper, kitchen ware, and

flooring and veneer. Very recent products, both for the local and the

global market, are strand woven beams, charcoal for purification

purposes, viscose, and composites that are used for wind turbine blades

as well as surf boards. Although it has its own specific characteristics that

set it apart from wood, innovations with bamboo are more and more

considered as renewable and durable alternatives for timber. The

interest of governments in the region in the development of the bamboo

sector is increasing, to stimulate income generation in rural areas, to limit

deforestation and to stimulate industrial development and export

potential.

Rattan has a rich history in the region, with a wide use for baskets,

bridges, fishing gear and furniture. Throughout the region the picture of

people sitting in front of their houses or shops in a rattan chair is a

common sight. Rattan is also used as a food plant in the region, the

young stems (in a somewhat similar way as bamboo shoots) and the

fruits. The main internationally trading countries in rattan products are

Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and China. Innovations in the use of

the resource are growing, examples are perma-cane and laminated

rattan from the Philippines, and for architecture the very innovative use

of rattan for the roof of the Pavilion of Spain at the Shanghai World Expo

2010. A remarkable recent innovation is the use of rattan as artificial

bone on a trial basis in sheep in Italy – small pieces of rattan are heated

under special conditions, and phosphates, carbon and calcium added.

Rattan is the best of the different woods tested, because of its structure

and porous nature, which mean that blood, nerves and other

compounds can travel through it, and it eventually fuses to real bone.

In general in the region it can be said that there are ample resources of

bamboo for the present level of use, and possible some increase,

provided that proper and sustainable management technologies are

used. Where there is a lack of bamboo it can be planted – it is a species

77

that responds well to plantation technology, and it is well known that

bamboo reaches commercial production very fast. As far as rattan is

concerned, the situation is different. Rattan is an a part of the tropical

forest eco-system, and although in particularly in Malaysia a lot of

progress has been made with the development of plantation

technology, it is mainly extracted from the forest – the tropical rain forest

that is under a tremendous treat in the region. The use of rattan

resources in the region is considered to be unsustainable, both because

of deforestation and over and unskilful harvesting, while the costs of

plantation approaches are too high at present to be able to compete in

the market with both rattan extracted from the natural forest or other

crops and trees that could be planted in the same plot.

Policies

There is general agreement that the bamboo and the rattan sectors in

Asia have a lot of potential, for poverty reduction (MDG1), for

sustainable use of the environment (MDG7) and for pro-poor trade,

locally, regionally and globally (MDG8). Also there is no lack of

innovations for the development of products that will find readily a

market in the 21th century, from the bottom of the pyramid to the rich

and trendy, in rural areas and more and more in the cities. Unfortunately

what is lacking in many countries to realize the potential are supportive

policies. This will be illustrated by looking at two examples, harvesting &

resource management and construction.

Harvesting and resource management

Both bamboo and rattan are usually considered non timber forest

products (NTFPs), and the regulations in the region for their use tends to

follow the policies for NTFPs or for forest products in general. Forest is

usually in the countries of the region considered state property, and the

laws for harvesting by local people of bamboo and rattan often vary

between being forbidden (e.g. as part of the struggle against

deforestation), or only for private use of the community and not for

further sale. Frequently, transport of culms and stems requires transport

licenses, which are expensive or difficult to get. The result of this is that

illegal and informal practices are rife in the region, at the minimum

preventing sound development of a high potential sector, and in some

cases threatening to lead to extinction of valuable species and

ecosystems because of illegal and damaging harvesting practices of

often people from outside the region who do not consider the forest

essential for their own livelihoods. Policies related to forest infrastructure,

such as forest road construction, are also very important for bamboo

and rattan transportation after harvesting.

It is being recognized that bamboo as well as rattan needs specific

recognition. If it is taken into account that both bamboo and rattan,

when properly cut, will re-grow with new culms and stems from the same

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stump or root-system, it makes sense to develop policies that will

encourage people to specifically harvest bamboo and rattan rather

than other species that do not re-grow, and stimulate proper

management of the resources through a system of rewards or tenure

arrangements. In China large stretches of bamboo forests are

recognized as belonging to specific farmers or have been given a lease

for 30 years, who have the sole right for harvesting and management of

the resource under a flexible and favourable harvesting quota system to

control possible harmful overharvesting practices. Based on this system,

pre-processing at the community level, and hence income generation,

has been particularly striking in the East of China.

Construction

Asia has a huge tradition of using in particular bamboo for construction.

Throughout the region one can find traditional houses build largely with

bamboo, from China south to Indonesia and west to India. In addition

bamboo is used frequently as a tool for construction. The bamboo

scaffolding around sky-scrapers in Hong Kong is a famous example. In

China bamboo mat board is frequently used as cement board when

making foundations or other concrete elements of buildings. In many

places bamboo poles are used as supports during the construction

phase.

While until recently bamboo constructions were often regarded a thing

from the past or for people who could not afford a house made of stone

or concrete, the interest in bamboo as a renewable, low carbon

footprint and affordable construction material is now increasing

significantly. A lot of innovative work has been done in the region in for

example China, the Philippines, Nepal and India where modern bamboo

and rattan materials and designs have been developed to build private

homes, both at the high end and the low end of the market, schools and

other community buildings. Like for wood-based housing, there is a big

potential for pre-fab housing using in particular bamboo, an industry that

can be a provider of many jobs in countries in the region. In addition

bamboo, and rattan, are extremely popular for construction of resorts

and tourists accommodation and facilities. However, there is no country

in the region that has an official building code for bamboo as a legal

construction material, which means for example in China that all

constructions with bamboo as the main construction material are

officially ‗temporary‘ buildings. This makes it very difficult to obtain loans

or mortgages, and it is proofing to be a major hurdle in developing the

value chain. While efforts are underway to develop a national building

code in Nepal and a provincial code for Sichuan in China, a regional

effort, possibly even a global one, is needed to establish the necessary

policies and building codes to realize the potential for construction with

bamboo and rattan in the region, both to provide houses to the

institutional and the private market and to create more enterprises and

therefore jobs.

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Standards and technical, environmental and social certification.

In Asia bamboo and rattan are used from the informal level, for weaving

or simple containers, to the highest technical level for building houses,

mass production of flooring and furniture and new material mixes that

find their application in wind turbines and surgery. While fortunately no

official standard or certification is needed (and should be needed) for

baskets and containers made and used at home by a rural family, there

is a need for the countries in the region to have standards and

certification where long distance trade and/or products that require safe

construction such as houses and huge wind turbines. For the bamboo

and rattan sector in Asia to continue its spectacular growth of the last

decade and to make it possible for more countries and people to

benefit, this is a priority issue.

There are three types of standards and certification. Firstly there is the

need to develop technical standards that guarantee the buyer that the

products meets specifications and minimal quality levels. Such standards

are needed for example for the development of bamboo and rattan for

construction purposes, as argued above. Presently there are two ISO

Standards for bamboo: ISO-22156/ISO-22157, which apply to the use of

structures made of bamboo5. Technical standards can be developed at

industry sector level, national levels and at international levels. For export

purposes, it is important to work on the development of internationally

accepted standards.

Increasingly the market is requiring environmental standards and

certification, starting in the forest, but also during the production process

in relation to the use of polluting chemicals. An issue to tackle at the

policy level is the fact that while it may not be difficult for small farmers

and forest dwellers who harvest and pre-process bamboo and rattan to

meet the required environmental standards, it is often very difficult for

them to obtain the certification, due to the high costs of the certification

procedures. This is true in Asia, but apparently also in other parts of the

world, such as Latin America. The third type of standards and

certification is social certification, which relates to the working conditions

of people involved in the production chain. This field is very much in

development in the Asia region. Since the bamboo and rattan sector

are relatively new as industrial sectors, there is the opportunity to avoid

negative developments by directly introducing social standards and

certification methodologies which take into account both national

legislations and customers requirements in this aspect. For example,

there is quite a lot of potential to develop Fair Trade bamboo and rattan

products with local producers for the international market, although it

5 ISO-22156/ISO-22157 refer to structures using round bamboo, split bamboo , glued laminated bamboo or bamboo-based panels joined together with adhesives or mechanical fasteners

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should be realized that the official Fair Trade label is only a small segment

of the market.

INBAR, together with its official partners in its member countries in the

region, should play a leading role to promote standards, the

implementation of appropriate policies, and fair systems of certification.

Such work is on-going for building codes and standards and for

environmental standards and certification, and is likely to become more

important in the future, in particular for Asia, with its high potential for

international trade.

A short overview of the bamboo and rattan in the member countries of

INBAR in Asia

In Bangladesh, bamboo species are utilised in building construction, as

well as for items such as house posts, rafters, walling, ceiling and roofing,

furniture, and handicrafts. Rattan is confined to areas in which forest

remains, particularly the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet, where it is used

almost exclusively for furniture. The government is investing in developing

rattan resources with a 67 hectare plantation near Chittagong that will

soon start selling commercially. In Bangladesh, rattan is used mostly for

furniture making, furniture frames, basket making, for making woven

cane seats and for tying bamboo and other products with split canes.

In Bhutan bamboo grows naturally because of the country's largely

undisturbed forests and the limited agriculture practiced in areas where

bamboo proliferates. Bhutan probably has the greatest variety of

bamboo species of all the Himalayan countries. Bhutan's great range of

altitudes and climates account for this diversity. Rattan, in Bhutan, is used

for making ropes, furniture frames, walking sticks, umbrella handles and

other household items such as mats, screens and furniture. Raw rattan

canes are also exported.

Nearly half the World‘s bamboo species grow in China. The country leads

the world in bamboo-based development. China exported over 1140

million USD worth of bamboo and rattan products in 2007, and is the

most important exporter in the world. 35 Million people depend on

bamboo and rattan for their livelihoods in China. The most famous

bamboo eaters in China are the giant pandas, which spend up to 12

hours per day feeding on bamboo, which have become a symbol for

biodiversity under threat. Rattan is found only the southern most parts of

the country, and popular for making furniture.

India is the second largest natural reserve of bamboo – found to grow

practically all over the country. The north-eastern states – rich in bamboo

diversity – account for two-thirds. About 13.47 million tonnes of bamboo

are utilised for the purpose of paper, construction, scaffolding, housing,

furniture, handicrafts, incense sticks, etc. Rattan is widely used for

furniture. Rattans in India are predominantly distributed in the Western

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Ghats of Penninsular India, Eastern and North-eastern India and the

Andamans & Nicobar Islands. Rattan extraction and utilisation in India is

by and large, a cottage industry which is highly labor intensive and

hence provides diverse employment opportunities and value-added

products

In the 1980s Indonesia supplied 60 – 80% of the World‘s rattan, and

today still remains the leader in the production and export of raw

rattan materials. The rattan gardens of Kalimantan are arguably

the best example of rattan management in Asia. Due to the

increasing scarcity of rattan resources and the wish of the

Indonesian authorities to develop added value processing in –

country, there is an export limit on the raw rattan materials which

can be exported. Bamboo is used more locally. It is omnipresent,

and provided for example the building material forsimple shelters

after the recent earthquakes in Yokjakarta and on Sumatra.

Bamboo has also a strong cultural value in Indonesia, the famous

angklung and kulintang instruments are made from huge

bamboos.

Malaysia has much bamboo and rattan. They are utilized for making

chopsticks, vegetable baskets (home industry), toothpicks, paper,

furniture (rattan), etc. A study has shown that women play an important

role in the industry, for example they constitute around 61% of the

workers in the manufacturing of bamboo baskets. Malaysia also plays a

leading role in research on the possibility of growing rattan in plantations.

In Myanmar, a large diversity of bamboo species are utilized for utensils,

handicrafts, construction material, pickled bamboo shoots, pulp and

paper. Bamboo is also processed into charcoal for export to countries

such as Japan and Korea. Rattan is an important local resource for the

furniture and handicrafts sectors for export, although the export has

dropped dramatically due to the political situation in Myanmar.

Around the year 2000 bamboo culms and shoots in Nepal accounted for

an annual production of approximately 3 million and 102 tonnes,

respectively. The culms are utilised for scaffolding, housing, storage bins,

fencing, roofing; bamboo shoots, weaving materials, etc. Rattan is

mostly found in the Terai region in the west of the country, where it is

used for furniture and handicrafts, but raw rattans are in considerable

demand and the resources are dwindling.

Well over 30,000 people are involved in the bamboo and rattan

sectors in the Philippines, and the country is among the most

significant international traders. The country has been leading in

design for both bamboo and rattan products. A good example is

Permacane, a novel way of laminating rattan in response to the

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dwindling availability of large diameter rattan stems, which is

finding applications in both furniture design and architecture.

In Sri Lanka, bamboo is widely used for purposes such as bridges, ladders,

leaves for thatching, storage boxes, winnowing fans, food covers, flutes,

blinds, tea plucker's baskets, etc. Some of the best rattan cane for

furniture making comes from Sri Lanka‘s forests.

As with many South Pacific nations, Tonga is believed to have a range of

native and introduced bamboos, but these are not grown commercially.

Tongans traditionally fire ―Fana Pitu‖ - bamboo cannons - to welcome

the New Year. Rattans don‘t grow in Tonga.

Thanh Hoa province is one of the centres of Vietnam‘s bamboo

production, with nearly 60, 000 hectares of bamboos, and it is often used

for reforestation. The bamboo sector in Vietnam has seen a steady

strengthening during the past decade, and the country is now one of

the most significant traders. Vietnam is developing its bamboo

processing industries at a fast rate and has a large export sector for

bamboo household items, flooring and furniture. Vietnam is also an

important country for the production of rattan, but is experiencing

challenges, for example, between 2007 and 2008 the price of rattan

stems in Vietnam doubled due to a supply shortage.

Conclusions: Regional and World market and business opportunities for

bamboo and rattan value-added products from Asia

The world market for bamboo and rattan and their products is estimated

at around US$10 billion, out of which internal and often informal

consumption (primarily on local markets and in construction of houses)

and international trade account for US$5 billion each. Asia has a major

local market, and is without doubt presently the leader in international

trade. While markets are steadily developing for industrial bamboo

products such as flooring materials and textiles, there has not been any

sustained effort to bring the small and medium bamboo and rattan

sectors into the global market. In the absence of such an effort, the

development of the sectors will end up skewed, with these economically

potent resources available to the poor moving away from their hands

into the hands of those who have better financial power.

As has been shown, opportunities do exist and need to be exploited to

ensure the development of pro-poor trade in the region; but this requires

at the least improved policies, This can be done through developing

national, regional, global linkages, in which INBAR should play a

coordinating role for its member countries.

Because of the unique combination of having both a significant local

market and a growing international market, the Asian bamboo and

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rattan countries are in a unique position to overcome the barriers to the

development of the bamboo and rattan sector, and develop these

durable and renewable resources in such a manner that poverty

reduction and environmental sustainability can be integrated through

pro-poor trade.

References and information sources:

Saw Eh Dah. 2001.

Bamboo and Rattan of Myanmar

Training and Research Development Programme, Forest Department,

Ministry of Forestry, Myanmar

Rajendra B. Joshi. Swoyambu Man Amatya. 2001.

Bamboo & Rattan Development in Nepal

Department of Forest Research & Survey, Nepal

Dayananda Kariyawasam. 2000.

Bamboo resources and utilization in Sri Lanka

Ministry of Forestry, Watershed Management, Sri Lanka

Azmy Hj. Mohamed and S. Appanah. 2000.

Bamboo resources conservation and utilization in Malaysia. Forest

Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Md Nuruzzaman. 2001.

National report on the state of bamboo and rattan development in

Bangladesh, Forest Department, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

J.K. Rawat, D.C. Khanduri.

The Status of Bamboo and Rattan in India.

FRI and MOEF, India

Dorji Rinchen. 1996

Non-Wood Forest Products of Bhutan

Divisional Forest Office, Bhutan

Nigel Smith. 2006.

Mekong Bamboo Sector Feasibility Study. Final Report, 1st Edition: 2006.

Oxfam Hong Kong, IFC, and Mekong Private Sector Development Facility

Neela De Zoysa and K. Vivekanandan

Rattans of Sri Lanka, An Illustrated Field Guide 1994.

Sri Lanka Forest Department

84

Bamboo Value Added Industry: Market Opportunity Assessment and

Entry Strategy, INBAR/FAO/UNIDO Report, 2002.

Bamboo Product Commercialization in the European Union: An Analysis

of Bottlenecks and Opportunities,

INBAR Technical Report No. 29, 2006

Non-Wood Forest Products in 15 Countries of Tropical Asia: An Overview,

FAO Report, 2002

Permacane

http://www.permacane.com.ph/home.htme

Turning wood into bones – Report by Duncan Kennedy, Rome

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8446637.stm

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Policy Development Strategies and Institutions for

Bamboo and Rattan: The Current Africa Regional

Context

Michael Kwaku

INBAR Regional Coordinator

West-Africa

1. Introduction

Attaining the economic growth that African governments currently seek

to achieve will require the careful utilisation of the countries‘ natural

resources. However, as has been seen by the high rate of deforestation

in many African countries which has resulted in environmental

degradation and loss of incomes of forest dependent people, this

exploitation has to be carefully balanced to ensure the optimal use of

forests for current and future generations.

Bamboo and Rattan are two natural resources available in many African

countries, for which the optimal level exploitation has not been currently

realised. For bamboo, the widespread availability of resources,

contrasted with the low levels of value addition, commercialisation and

trade, highlight the high potential of bamboo as a pathway for poverty

alleviation, development and environmental sustainability.

On the other hand, due to overexploitation of rattan resources

throughout West Africa, there is a need for the scaling back of

unsustainable practices and the introduction of better management.

Nevertheless, great potential does still exist for the capturing of high

value from rattan, given the high prices that rattan commands not only

in Africa but also in developed markets.

Recognition of the important role that the bamboo and rattan sectors

can play in poverty alleviation and sustainable development for rural

and urban areas calls for policy response to help promote knowledge

and formalisation of the sector. Using approaches which focus upon

existing and high-potential uses, and building national sectors through

South-South cooperation with the Asian countries most experienced in

bamboo and rattan sectors will provide opportunities to realise the

benefits from bamboo and rattan effectively.

There is a greater need for policy initiatives and strategies to develop the

bamboo and rattan sectors through joint approaches by government

and the private sector. For instance, in the case of Ghana, the former

President, Mr Kufuor considered bamboo and rattan as one of the

President‘s Special Initiatives. In Ethiopia bamboo was recognized

86

nationally as the ‗Millennium grass‘ in 2007 with special significance for

sustainable development. These project initiatives are expected to

adopt a comprehensive approach towards sectoral development

through the strengthening of forest management and relevant

institutions, policy developments and reforms through championing of

bamboo and rattan as resources in Africa.

2. Bamboo and Rattan resources and utilisation in Africa

2.1 Resources

The high number of African INBAR Member Countries (14) is a telling

indicator of the important presence of these two Non Timber Forestry

Products across the continent, and the high potential that exists for their

sustainable exploitation. Bamboos are found throughout Africa in

numerous climates and biomes, and form an integral part of many

landscapes. Rattans are found mainly in Western and Central African

tropical forests, where a number of indigenous species are known and

being utilised. Due to the high level of diversity between the climates,

there is considerable variance in the distribution of bamboos and rattans

across the continent, with the best known information available for the

major woody species.

The table below shows the area of potential occurrence of bamboo in

Africa, highlighting the high potential for development of the bamboo

sector throughout the continent.

Species Area of potential occurrence (km2)

Hickelia africana 1 200

Yushania alpina 202 000

Oreobambos buchwaldii 527 800

Oxytenanthera abyssinica 7 117 900

Thamnocalamus tessellates 89 300

(Bystriakova et al)

Eastern and Southern Africa: Eastern Africa is home to significant

bamboo resources, along the Indian Ocean coast stretching from

Ethiopia down to Madagascar (through Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique),

and inland into the Victorian and Albertine Rift Valleys (Uganda, Rwanda,

Burundi). Given the high variance in climate and topography in the

region, there is considerable variance in the presence of different

bamboo species, abundance and usage. Although formalised resource

assessments of bamboo are largely unavailable for the region, rough

assessments of resource availability have been carried out at national

and local levels.

West and Central Africa Along the Atlantic Coast the main indigenous

bamboo species is Oxytenanthera abyssinica. One of the main species

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found and used in the region is the introduced Asian species Bambusa

vulgaris. Due to its wider distribution and greater use, rattan is the more

prominent of the two NTFPs in the local economy.

2.2 Major economic activities with bamboo and rattan in Africa

2.2.1 Production

For the vast majority of African countries, bamboo and rattan are

products that are gathered or harvested from the ‗wild‘- they are not

commercially grown6. For instance only 0.6% of bamboo in Kenya is

grown on farms (Ongugo et al. 2000). In West and Central Africa, rattans

are similarly harvested from forests, and increasingly this has resulted in

overharvesting. The harvesting of bamboo and rattan is an important

livelihood activity for millions of Africans, especially in countries where

urban markets exist for bamboo products. Therefore, the sustainable

management of these two resources, as well as the design and

implementation of forestry legislation which affects these activities needs

careful consideration and recognition of the impact on communities

dependent upon these resources.

2.2.2 Usage

Bamboo and rattan are very important materials at the household and

local economy scale. They are used for a wide range of applications

including agricultural support, construction, furniture, hunting and fishing,

utilitarian and household uses and ceremonial applications.

Notable uses, given their high potential for economic development and

addressing current issues, include:

Bamboo Housing

Where bamboo grows abundantly, it is often the primary source of

building material given its lightweight and ease to work with. In Ethiopia

and the East Coast of Madagascar for instance, bamboo houses are a

common sight, and are based upon indigenous technologies that have

been developed and improved over time. There is increasing interest in

the use of bamboo as a housing material in other countries, given the

advantages of modern bamboo houses. In many African countries

bamboo poles are used as supports during construction.

Fuelwood, Briquettes, and Charcoal

6 There are exceptions: Some governments (with the support of INBAR or other agencies), and some small private enterprises have started bamboo plantations, but this remains on a small scale. Examples include institutional activities in Ethiopia, Kenya and Ghana, and private initiatives such as Madagascar Bamboo in Madagascar. These are in a small minority currently, although high potential exists to enlarge activities.

88

Due to the need for energy security especially amongst urban

populations, the use of bamboo as a fuel is being investigated in an

number of countries. In Ethiopia O. abysinica, being a solid and not

hollow species, is used for firewood. More recently also in Ethiopia, in

Ghana and in Mozambique, using technology validated in China and

India, bamboo charcoal briquettes are beginning to be tested and

applied. Given the acceptable levels of energy density, similarity with

wood charcoal production, ease of transport, and higher sustainability of

the plantation or forest from which the bamboo is extracted compared

with timber, the benefits of greater use of bamboo for energy needs are

very positive.

Rattan furniture and household applications

The rattan furniture sector in West and Central Africa is beginning to be

recognised to be an area of high potential, due to the high prices that

rattan furniture commands in developed markets. At a local level, rattan

is used in a wide variety of different uses, including baskets, chairs and

furniture and handicrafts. These play an important role in providing rural

incomes.

3. Brief overview of the bamboo and rattan in INBAR member countries

West and Central Africa

Cameroon

Cameroon has one of the most advanced rattan furniture sectors in

the whole of Africa, with 18 species occurring there naturally

Cameroon also is a leader in terms of the research and industrial

development of rattan with model processing units having been

established in the Limbe region and a number of conferences having

been organized in previous years.

In 1998 the Afrirattan project was developed in partnership with

CIFOR and INBAR. The first West and Central Africa regional bamboo

and rattan development conference was held in Cameroon in

2009. ‘Enhancing opportunities for market-led bamboo-based

development in West and Central Africa‘‘.

Cameroon has only minimal bamboo resources (approx 2000-4000

ha Yushania alpina) and smaller quantities of Oxythenanthera

abyssinica, but where these are found they are often highly

important to local populations

Ghana

The bamboo sector accounted for between 5 to 6 percent of total

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GDP and ranked next to Cocoa and minerial among commodity

exports. It employs over 100,000 people and contributes to the

livelihood for an estimated two million people.

There are five economically viable species of rattan in Ghana:

Eremospatha hookeri, Eremospatha macrocarpa , Laccosperma

secundiflorum, Laccosperma acutiflorum and Calamus deerratus.

The Eremospatha species are currently facing fast depletion due to

high demand and harvesting.

Ghana has a bamboo and rattan national policy- the ‗Bamboo and

Rattan Development Programme –BARADEP‘ aimed at alleviating or

reducing poverty in Ghana. It was established in 2001, and

coordinates the activities in the country

Like in other countries of West Africa, bamboo to some extent is seen

as a replacement of (now scarce) rattan for local furniture makers.

Only recently the interest in bamboo for other higher value purposes

has grown. Lamination and household energy are examples.

INBAR‘s regional office for Western and Central Africa is based in

Kumasi

There are important bamboo and rattan resources in other West African

INBAR member countries including Nigeria, Togo, Sierra Leone, and Benin.

However more work needs to be done to assess the situation in those

countries, and to develop a specific strategy.

East and Southern Africa

Ethiopia

Ethiopia is estimated to have the largest area of bamboo of any

African country – nearly a million hectares, and has a culture of using

bamboo in numerous uses including for fuel, housing (Onion-shaped

Sidama) and handicrafts.

Various projects and trainings have been and are being carried out

in Ethiopia since 2005, tackling subjects such as furniture, weaving,

charcoal and construction. South-South transfer of technology has

been an important factor.

Bamboo also provides an important habitat for wildlife, including the

rare Bale monkey that lives in the forests of eastern Ethiopia on a diet

of bamboo.

The private sector working with bamboo has been developing

quickly during the past decade. There are now several medium sized

enterprises and a large number of well established artisans in the

country that mainly serve the local market, with some exports to East

African regional markets.

INBAR opened its East Africa office in Addis Ababa in 2009.

Rwanda

Rwanda has important sources of bamboo in the areas around the

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Virunga and Volcano national parks, where Yushania alpina is found.

Bamboo is used locally by people for subsistence purposes such as

fencing, baskets and firewood. It is often grazed upon by livestock as

well, which provide an important source of nutrition.

There is considerable potential and interest in the planting of

bamboo for erosion control; deforestation of Rwanda‘s hills is

recognized as a serious issue, and by planting bamboos along

waterways this can reduce the amount of topsoil loss. Already some

small scale initiatives are being carried out by local organizations.

Bamboo also plays a key role in biodiversity in Rwanda, as it

constitutes the major food source for threatened mountain gorillas, as

well as for other wildlife in the national parks including golden

monkeys and buffalo.

There is great interest in using bamboo for the combination of erosion

control and resource for the furniture and households goods industry.

The potential for development of the bamboo sector in Rwanda is

well recognized by several government ministries and private sector,

especially for local development through export promotion and

import substitution. To this end, a series of collaboration activities

have started with Chinese partners. This has focused upon providing

training and technology transfer, with a number of Chinese machines

being sent to Rwanda, work on tissue culture and propagation

techniques.

Rwanda used to have significant rattan resources in the South and

South East, but these have now almost disappeared.

Kenya

Kenya‘s Forest Research Institute together with the World Agroforestry

Centre pioneered the introduction of Asian species to East Africa in

the 1990s.

Bamboos are widely used in the ornamental flower industry in Kenya,

which is a major export sector.

INBAR and its partners are helping tobacco farmers in Kenya switch

to growing bamboo

The CFC East Africa Bamboo project in Kenya and Ethiopia has

resulted in more people benefiting from growing and processing

bamboo.

Bamboo (Y. alpina) is an important element of the the so-called

‗water towers‘ in Kenya, the forests on the hills and the mountains

that play an important role in the water management of the country

Tanzania

Bamboo forests cover an estimated 127,000 hectares in the high

rainfall forests and in lowland areas receiving good rainfall in

Tanzania.

Bamboo is commonly used in rural Tanzania for a number of

subsistence applications such as handicrafts, residential fencing,

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horticultural flower farming, farm props, furniture and packaging

(basketry), trays, and furniture

Bamboo is particularly used around the Mbeya and Isongole region,

where INBAR has been working with a local NGOs, Mbeya Bamboo

Women‘s Group, that helps women working with bamboo and the

Isongole Bamboo Cooperative Society.

The Bamboo and Rattan Association of Tanzania (BARATA), is a

national NGO dedicated to bamboo and rattan sector

development throughout the country, and has published a Country

Specific Opportunity Paper in 2008 in coordination with INBAR

Bamboos in Tanzania are mainly collected from the wild, with the

exception of O. Bruanii bamboos, which are cultivated locally to

produce a type of wine.

Mozambique

A number of bamboo varieties grow in Mozambique, split between

those which grow in the wild and those in homesteads. Species

include Oxytenanthera abyssinica and Bambusa vulgaris striata,

although further taxonomic work is required

Mozambique was the first country in Africa to develop bamboo

charcoal briquettes, which are now being produced on a small scale

and help to alleviate dependency on dwindling supplies of wood.

Bamboo is also used on a small scale for housing, drying places,

agricultural applications like baskets, granary, furniture, craft products.

Specifically in Mozambique, bamboo is also used in fishing

applications, a major livelihood activity in coastal communities.

INBAR helped establish the NGO ―Mozbambu‖ in 2009 in

Mozambique at its Action Research Site which supports communities

to develop bamboo businesses.

INBAR‘s new project in Mozambique will help fishing communities

substitute bamboo for mangrove wood, to increase their incomes

and help save the mangrove forests.

Uganda

Uganda is one of the few countries in Africa with a tradition of eating

bamboo shoots, especially those from the Mount Elgon region.

In the north, bamboo is also used in the construction and

reconstruction of houses, and there is strong interest from the

academic and construction sector to use Oxythenanthera abyssinica

for common housing

Indigenous bamboo species are only found on the slopes of hills and

mountains (Y. alpina)

Bamboo is considered an important alternative to timber, and there

is a growing interest in Uganda to set up plantations, using mainly

Asian species, to combat the serious soil erosion in the country.

Previously, Dendrocalamus bamboo was used to combat water

pollution on the shores of Lake Victoria and there is considerable

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interest in using bamboo further for watershed purposes.

Collaboration activities between Uganda and China have resulted in

the development of an infant bamboo industry, including the

importing of some machines designed for bamboo processing.

Madagascar

There are twenty three indigenous bamboo species in Madagascar,

and several imported varieties, 7 of which are used in a number of

functions by communities living on the East Coast.

Bamboo also has a unique place role in the country‘s biodiversity-

the Greater Bamboo Lemur (Hapalemur simius), Golden Bamboo

Lemur (Hapalemur aureus) and Gentle Bamboo Lemur (Hapalemur

griseus) all live in and on bamboo in Madagascar.

Madagascar‘s unique Valiha bamboo is named after the musical

instrument it is used to produce.

INBAR and IFAD‘s‘ new project in Madagascar will help more people

earn a living from producing bamboo furniture, and grow more

bamboos to reduce soil erosion.

Burundi

Bamboo is commonly used in Rwanda for baskets, granaries and

other agricultural implements. There is some rattan available in the

Southwest of the country, and significant rattan trade with DR Congo,

which has large supplies.

Give the problems of erosion in Burundi, there is important potential

for watershed protection and soil erosion control through strategic

bamboo plantations.

Joint activities with Chinese partners have resulted in the

commencement of some activities on bamboo processing using

Yushania alpina

4. General INBAR and African Member Country approaches for

development of the sector

4.1 Production to Consumption Study Approach

INBAR led Production to Consumption (PCS) studies have been

undertaken in several African member countries to date, with an aim to

collect and publish information on the known availability and use of

bamboo and rattan in each country.

Due to significant gaps for Africa in information on bamboo and rattan

resources, forestry inventories, trade and use, the bamboo and rattan

sector is mainly ‗invisible‘, in the sense that it does not appear in national

93

statistics, reports and policies. The use of a utilisation approach, where

assessments are collected on the basis of current economic activity and

potential were found to be the most appropriate.

Also, given the diversity of indigenous bamboos and extent of existing

usage of bamboo and rattan, it is evident that gains can be made from

further specialisation in African countries, based upon specific product

lines which are already culturally important. The PCS process adopts such

an approach and is consistent with the goal of sustainable development

through the exploitation of these resources by helping to identify

different uses, activities, opportunities and challenges for the sector at a

national level.

4.2 South-South Cooperation and technology transfer

Given the succesful experience with the development of bamboo and

rattan technology and processing in Asia, there are important lessons to

be learnt from the Asian experience, particularly India, Southern China,

and Southeast Asia, where the situation approximates that found in

Africa. In addition, much of the knowledge on bamboo and rattan

silvicultural management and propagation practices developed in

China can be adapted to local species and situations. Through

harnessing existing opportunities for technology and knowledge transfer

such as exchange visits of governments, academic institutions and trade

delegations, African countries can quickly access the knowledge and

technologies that have been developed in Asia.

Examples of INBAR approaches in projects in Africa

INBAR‘s ongoing initiatives are consistent with these two approaches:

the EC funded Bamboo Biomass project implemented in Ghana and

Ethiopia aims to improve indigenous use of bamboo biomass in these

two countries through technology and knowledge which has been

developed in southern China in recent years.

Similarly a new IFAD grant working in four African countries

(Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Ethiopia) focuses upon a

small number of country-specific products (e.g. fishery tools in

Mozambique, housing in Madagascar etc) and uses information and

technologies from India and the Philippines to improve the growing of

bamboos processing of products and marketing and sales based upon

tested and validated business models for bamboo SMEs.

5. Specific Policy Guidelines

94

Given the role that bamboo and rattan resources can have in

contributing to alleviate poverty among marginalised groups and

reducing destruction of forests, it is important that the specific guidelines

are developed for their further adoption and the development of the

sector on a local, regional and national level. Generic guidelines for

further developing the sector in Africa are presented below:

i. Sustainable Management of Existing Natural Bamboo and Rattan

Resources

The careful management of the existing bamboo and rattan resources is

required in order to determine appropriate levels of extraction and

usage. Silvicultural practices to improve and manage the natural

bamboo stands and to increase the production of the bamboo can be

adapted and implemented, with due attention given to possible

negative externalities of inputs and practices at the local level.

This means the application of scientific and sustainable measures for

natural bamboo and rattan cutting and also preventing illegal and

damaging cutting of rattan and bamboo. Policies regarding the legality

of forest access, extraction and transportation should be reviewed

periodically to ensure that they are in tune with current state of the

bamboo and rattan resources.

ii. Bamboo Plantation Development

Where opportunities for larger markets exist- for instance in the

production of charcoal or housing components- the development of

bamboo plantations should be seriously considered in order to provide a

dependable supply of bamboo without compromising the health of

‗wild‘ ecosystems, or putting greater pressure on protected areas such

as national parks. The careful design of plantations can also provide

extra benefits such as halting soil erosion particularly on steep gradient

land (ie. In Rwandan highlands, and along river banks). In addition, the

accessing of carbon financing through bamboo reforestation should be

considered and further researched as opportunities for improving

incomes on a private or community basis.

iii. Special policies to encourage Bamboo and Rattan Research

Governments in Africa should encourage research in bamboo and

rattan especially on silviculture to scientifically develop the resources

base which can support bamboo and rattan industries in the country. At

the same time, other related policies should be worked out to assist the

B&R development such as policies encouraging foreign investment to

establish joint ventures or exclusive foreign ventures, policies rewarding

those individual or enterprises who make important contribution to the

95

national Bamboo and Rattan development, and finally polices providing

preferential financing and revenues in the bamboo sector.

iv. Strengthened South-South Co-operation and Enhance Personnel

Training

Professional personnel in bamboo cultivation and processing is limited in

many African countries. South-South Cooperation can help provide

opportunities for personnel exchange and training of bamboo and

rattan experts leading to better co-operation, exchange and ultimately

trade between Asian, Latin American and African countries.

v. Bamboo and Rattan National Development Strategies

As the successful development of bamboo and rattan industries go

beyond the boundaries of one government agency or organisation,

greater coordination between African country ministries and

departments can provide important impetus to the speed and success

of policy formulation and implementation. In Ghana for instance, the

creation of a national bamboo and rattan department under the

Ministry of Forestry has helped to pool resources and coordinate

approaches to the benefit of the bamboo and rattan sectors and the

communities dependent upon them. The Ghanaian plan of action,

described in Annex 1 can act as case study for other African countries to

implement and adapt to their national situations.

vi. Review of Legislative Framework and industrial stimulation

For African countries to forge ahead in implementing the interest

generated in the development of bamboo and rattan there is critical

issues which must be addressed as well. This includes legislative

framework which will provide specific legislation on bamboo and rattan

relating to protection or conservation, utilisation and industrial processing.

The absence of specific legislation on bamboo and rattan as a non-

timber forest product, in many African countries may be due to the lack

of awareness and appreciation of its economic potential in terms or

poverty reduction, export earnings, employment generation and

environmental conservation. In particular the bamboo industry can be

considered an emerging sector with great potential for economic take-

off in Africa and therefore, legislative instruments are urgently required

so as to ensure sustainable management, utilisation and development of

the sector.

6. Conclusions

Given the high potential that exists in the bamboo and rattan resources

in African countries, there are important opportunities to realise these

96

through the effective design and implementation of productive activities.

Through scaling-up existing local markets and the importing of

technology and knowledge from other countries (especially Asia), further

value can be derived from the bamboo and rattan resources which are

available. Concurrently, putting in place coordinated policies to ensure

the sustainability of the extraction and processing activities, can ensure

that African bamboo and rattan sectors through pro-poor trade can

help to alleviate poverty and provide energy security while

simultaneously meeting environmental objectives. However, because

the sector in Africa is still underdeveloped, collective action between the

African countries and/or Public Private Partnerships are likely to be

specifically needed to realize the potential of the bamboo and rattan

sector in Africa.

7. References

i. SDC Brokerage Service limited, 2003. Strategic plan: Bamboo and

Rattan Network of

Ghana

ii. Chihongo, A.W. et al, 2000. Bamboo production to consumption

systems of Tanzania

iii. Oteng-Amoako A.. et al, 2001. Rattan production to consumption

systems of Ghana

iv. Sunderland, T. C. H., 1997. Guide to Rattans and Rattan Collecting in

West and Central Africa. African Rattan Research Programme Technical

Note No. 1

v. . Ingram V. et al, 2010. Bamboo production to consumption systems of

Cameroon

vi. Bystriakova, N, Kapos, V. &Lysenko. I. 2004. Bamboo biodiversity UNEP-

WCMC/ INBAR

vii. Ongugo, P.O et al 2005, Production to Consumption: A case study of

Bamboo Sector in Kenya Kefri INBAR

97

ANNEX I- Ghana’s model of Bamboo and Rattan Development

Ghana has created a national government body which is in charge of

the development of the bamboo and rattan sector (BARADEP). A plan is

laid out for cooperation between the different government bodies in

order to push forward the development of the bamboo and rattan

sectors. An example of the role of different ministries and deparmtents is

provided below.

A. Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources

i. Propagation of high quality planting materials-Nurseries

ii. Establishment of bamboo and rattan demonstration farms

iii. Allocation of degraded lands to individuals and corporate bodies for

bamboo and rattan

cultivation

B. Ministry of Trade and Industry

i. Promotion and development of trade

ii. Technology transfer and quality control

iii. Processing and marketing of bamboo and rattan products

C. Ministry of Food and Agriculture

i. Promotion of Bamboo and Rattan as cash crops

ii. Promotion of bamboo shoots as vegetables

D. Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development

i. Promotion of Bamboo and Rattan as part of the Local/District Assembly

poverty alleviation

Programme for income generation, employment and rural

industrialisation within a

sustainable context

E. Ministry of Environment Science and Technology

i. Bamboo usage for the protection of river and water bodies

ii. Bamboo usage for the prevention of soil erosion especially in the hilly

areas

iii. Use of Bamboo to create green-belts around villages, towns to serve

as wind breaks,

improve the environment

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F. Ministry of Tourism

i. Using Bamboo gardens to promote eco-tourism

G. Ministry of Finance

i. Providing financial support for the development of Bamboo and Rattan

industries as a means of increasing and diversifying national revenues

H. Ministry of Works and Housing

i. Promotion of Bamboo as an engineering material

ii. Promotion of bamboo as building material in the housing industry for

1. Housing projects

2. School building in rural areas

.

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Bamboo Products and their Markets in India and the

World

I.V.Ramanuja Rao7 and Bhargavi Motukuri8

International Network for Bamboo and Rattan

For the past several decades, a large number of projects in India have used

bamboo as a craft material because it uses the innate skills of communities

and the large number of individuals involved. The result is that there is a large

pool of skilled labor producing similar low-value, low-volume products that

compete in the same limited market bandwidth. Since craft products are

individually produced, quality varies widely, and ‗large quantity with high

quality‘ that the higher paying markets demand is difficult to achieve. Besides,

the emphasis on individual skills combines with cultural barriers to exclude

much of the population, who would otherwise benefit from bamboo-based

socio-economic interventions. Volume production of quality products is

needed for increased benefit spread. For this, non-artisanal production

methods need to be adopted, wherein an individual focuses on one stage of

the process rather than the entire process, thereby ensuring consistent quality

at each stage of production. Quality products in quantity have a better

chance of competing in and retaining markets. The craft-biased focus has

caused rural communities miss out on major opportunities for leveraging the

unique comparative advantage of bamboo for producing mainstream

products that would compete for the present wood, plastic and steel markets.

Of the various mainstream and institutional market opportunities tested in

INBAR-CIBART action research projects, the highest potential for success lies

with commoditized markets such as agarbatties and input products, charcoal,

slats and sticks, and product segments such as packaging, school furniture,

consumer furniture and the construction market segments. These represent the

needed large-scale and distributed-volume demand. Other promising

markets are pencil slats and matchstick splints, membrane furniture, laminated

panels, laminated beams, rafters and columns, and laminated door and

window frames, which are getting into production. While some of these

products are now being produced in community projects, the growth in

production has not been large enough to meet the increase in market

demand. This is an opportunity lost.

There are several barriers to the rural communities gaining from existing and

growing market demand. These are: (a) inadequate and inconsistent quality

of bamboo resources owing to poor or no management; (b) lack of

appropriate technology, tools and machinery adaptation and development

especially for rural areas with limited or no access to electricity and with low

budgets; (c) absence of quality intermediary commoditized products to

ensure quality final products; (d) inadequate production systems that are

unable to produce volume with quality; (e) regulatory and policy constraints,

7 Director, Livelihood and Economic Development Programme, INBAR; also Chair, Centre for Indian Bamboo Resource and Technology (CIBART)

and its group of not-for-profit Section 25 companies in ten states 8 Legal and Policy Specialist, INBAR

100

including lack of conversion of policy opportunities for market development

and price support; (f) inequitable supply chains linking rural producers to their

markets, causing low value share realization and poor product quality; (g) lack

of community-friendly working and risk/venture capital finance and marketing

support (including product design); and (h) enabling and dependable

institutional arrangements that deliver community services and technical

support locally. In summary, the informal nature of bamboo sector needs to

be changed by standardizing the raw material, primary processed forms and

finished products, formalizing the trade in these, adopting a non-artisanal

approach to the sector, and taking advantage of the market opportunities

that exist.

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The Market

The market for bamboo and bamboo products has growing in the past few

years, spearheaded by the rapid increase in bamboo production and trade

coming out of China. Experience suggests that, under the right conditions,

bamboo can be a lead sector for rural industrialization and large-scale

poverty reduction. Technical innovations, particularly in standardization and

production, have enabled bamboo products to compete with mainstream

wood products such as laminated flooring, composite boards, and paper

and pulp. Other promising bamboo products, such as bamboo shoots and

bamboo handicrafts, do not compete in the wood products markets and

their growth is regulated by unique factors. It is estimated that the current

value of global trade in bamboo products is worth about $7 billion, which

could rise to nearly $17 billion by 2013 on mid-level growth. The current market

size as against the projected market size by 2013 for some of the products

would be as follows.

Product Value (million $)

Global (2006) Global

(2013)

India (2004) India (2015)

Chopsticks

Charcoal

Activated

carbon

Bamboo shoots

Handicrafts

Blinds

Flooring

Panels &

boards

Furniture

Housing

Scaffolding

Paper

TOTAL

300

100

20

1,500

3,000

500

100

200

1,100

----

----

----

6,820

400

130

170

1,700

4,200

1,200

1,200

2,200

5,600

----

----

----

16,800

---

---

---

75

285

---

45

225

85

56

93

225

1,089

---

---

---

965

975

---

450

770

740

260

195

473

4,828

In view of the global trends in bamboo usage coupled with the fact that India

has one of the largest bamboo resources globally, the development of this

sector needs to be a priority. Annual bamboo harvest in India is 13.47 million

tons, of which 11.7 million tons are estimated as utilized industrially in paper mills,

for scaffolding, in fencing, for internal consumption in bamboo-growing

households, handicrafts and miscellaneous items like incense-sticks, ladders,

ice-cream sticks, agricultural implements, etc. Commercial cultivation of

bamboo in India is negligible although there is considerable amount of

bamboo grown in homesteads. The annual market for value-added bamboo

is estimated at $1.0 billion (in 2004). This could grow to more than $4.8 billion by

2015 with consistent supply of processed bamboo, development of industry,

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channeling raw materials into manufacturing system and an assurance of

steady market.

Bamboo is subject to the same global and regional trade regulations as wood.

Despite the inherent advantages of bamboo from livelihood and

environmental perspectives, there are very few countries (such as China, India

and Vietnam) that have favorable policies towards bamboo at present.

Further, the customs codes that are used for the collection of trade statistics do

not specifically define bamboo products within their categories and it is

necessary to interpolate to derive best guess-estimates. INBAR has now

produced a new series of codes that will be implemented by the World

Customs Organization in 2007 and this should enable more accurate

understanding of the trade.

Bamboo’s wide distribution, availability and people’s familiarity with the

material would enable successful applications to be replicated quickly to

benefit a large number of people. The key products that offer opportunity for

communities in the Indian market are described below under six broad classes

– higher volumes have positive implications for resource producers, higher

values for value adders.

High volume-low value products (commodities)

1. Agarbatti/Incense sticks: The incense stick market is valued at $400 million

with an annual compounded growth rate at 20%. Further value addition

occurs when incense paste is hand-rolled, mostly by women, on to the sticks

to make ―raw‖ incense sticks, which are then perfumed to obtain finished

incense sticks. About 1,000 billion incense-sticks are produced annually, and

bamboo sticks account for only 7-8% of the total cost of incense sticks. This

puts the current value of bamboo in incense sticks at $30 million. Annually 0.67

million tons of bamboo is consumed by the incense stick industry. Incense stick

production is a home-based industry engaging about 500,000 people, mostly

women. Though both domestic and export markets are growing, only 10% of

the total cost of finished incense sticks is realized by the producers because of

marketing and financial constraints. Transportation, marketing and advertising

often claim 60-70% of the total cost, causing both producers and retailers to

be at the mercy of agents and wholesalers. This is beginning to drive people

out of the industry, especially in South India. Note that agarbatties use inputs

that are outputs from other enterprises – bamboo sticks, charcoal and jiggat

(tree bark powder).

2. Slats: Slats in various sizes have significant and growing volume markets.

These are used in blinds (curtains) including venetian blinds, and as input for

laminated products such as bent-laminated furniture, panels and flooring.

3. Charcoal: Charcoal is next only to firewood in terms of meeting the energy

needs of rural communities. The decreasing availability of wood and the

greater need for its sustainable use necessitate the use of alternative sources

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of energy. Bamboo charcoal is one such source. It has a high calorific value

and can be produced using simple equipment that can be made locally.

Honeycomb briquettes extruded using powdered bamboo charcoal (calorific

value of 26-29 MJ/kg) and the producer gas generated during char

production (average calorific value 4,520 kJ/n m3) are both good sources of

energy. Bamboo charcoal can be produced at the community level using

drum-kilns or brick-kilns. For larger scale production, a thermal gassifier is

suitable. In one hour, a thermal gassifier can produce 100 kg of charcoal from

400 kg or bamboo. Therefore, in 24 hours, 2.5 tons of charcoal can be

produced from about 10 tons of bamboo. This translates into an annual

production of 625 tons of charcoal using 2,500 tons of bamboo, assuming 250

days of operation. A supply chain set up to service this scale of production

would financially benefit a large number of producers, while reducing

deforestation and increasing energy security.

4. Bamboo Matchsticks: The present value of the Indian match industry is

estimated at $123 million. The industry‘s annual wood requirement was 2.6

million m3 in 2005 (MoEF, 1999), growing at the rate of 6% per year. There was a

shortfall of 900,000 m3 of splints in 2000, which was partly met using waxed

paper sticks. A major shortfall of match-splints is expected within the next 3-5

years. The price of splints has already gone up, squeezing profits and forcing

smaller players to shut shop, thereby rendering thousands jobless at the

cottage industry level. The importance of matchstick production is that the

splints could be produced by rural poor households, which is not possible from

wood, as it needs costly machinery. Simple hand/pedal-operated machine

could be used to produce bamboo match-splints. The spread of benefit

would be very wide, considering that the number of people involved in the

industry runs into millions. The patented IPIRTI-INBAR technology for bamboo

match-splint meets or exceeds specifications set by Bureau of Indian

Standards. Assuming a 10-12% share of the present value of the match industry,

the potential market for bamboo match-splint would be worth $1.3 million.

5. Pencils: Indian market consumes an estimated 1.5 billion pencils per year,

with an annual growth of 20%, and is valued at $180 million. The shortage of

wood has opened up space for replacements. Pencils with plastic body have

appeared in the market, but these are small in number at present. The

companies that control 80% of the market for pencils have expressed interest

in a wood substitute material like bamboo; the substitution would help reduce

their dependence on the forest department. Pencils from bamboo look and

function in the same manner as regular pencils.

6. Fuel Pellets: Firewood is the most commonly used renewable biomass. A

study revealed that 6% of the trees in villages are cut annually, and over 75%

of this is sold to the urban market. Bamboo is renewable, and its biomass can

be pelleted and used as an efficient alternative to firewood. These fuel pellets

are uniform, have thrice the energy density in the same volume, and are easy

to store. They can be produced at $67 per ton, a price competitive with

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firewood. Compressed biomass pellets have a rapidly growing export market,

growing from zero to 1 million tons in two years in the United Kingdom and the

Netherlands. Canada exports 500,000 tons of biomass pellets to Europe

annually. Pellets from bamboo have been produced.

High volume-high value products

7. Bamboo wafer board/oriented strand board (OSB): Although factory-

produced, these bamboo boards represent a significant new market for rural

bamboo producers. Wafer board and OSB are widely used (95% houses) in

the US and Canada. Bamboo is an ideal raw material for the production of

wafer board and OSB due to its strength and dimensional stability. The price of

15-mm thick wafer board/OSB made of bamboo is approximately $0.33/ft2 for

UF resin-based and $0.44/ ft2 for PF resin-based – approximately half the cost of

treated wood boards of same thickness. Technology has been developed to

produce roofing sheets from wafer board that also insulate thermally, which

makes it a very competitive product ($0.22/ ft2 for 5-mm thick sheet).

Medium volume-low value products

8. Bamboo packaging cases: Fruit and vegetable packaging is a multi-million

dollar industry. Horticulture contributes to 28.5% of GDP in agriculture and a

52% share in agricultural exports, with an annual growth rate at 12% in quantity

and 34% in value. The total post-harvest losses in fruits and vegetables during

handling, storage and transportation go up to 40%, amounting to more than

$890 million annually. To reduce this loss, while keeping the dwindling wood

resources in mind, alternative forms of packaging have been mooted.

Bamboo packaging cases (20 kg) developed by an INBAR-CIBART Action

Research Project for mangoes, apples and tomatoes have been accepted in

the marketplace, although there is need to bring down prices through greater

volume production. Of the total estimated use of 13.5 million tons of bamboo,

5% is used for packaging purposes in the form of baskets, which damages the

produce. The Konkan region of Maharashtra alone uses 3 million wood cases

annually for packaging mangoes. There are several other fruit and vegetable

producing states in India, offering a huge market for packaging.

Medium volume-high value products

9. Furniture: The consumption of wood other than plywood for making furniture

is estimated at 3.36 million m3 in 2005 and set to rise to 4.62 million m3 by 2010.

Bamboo as a substitute for wood to make furniture is expected to grow up to

$224 million by 2010. A range of furniture for school, office, showroom and

home is made from bamboo. Bent-laminate furniture from bamboo is now

produced. Consistent supply of processed bamboo is the key to the growth

and development of this industry.

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10. Housing: Bamboo‘s inherent qualities of structural strength, light weight,

easy workability, and other properties such as vibration damping and heat

insulation make it perfect for housing. Safe (earthquake resistant up to 8.3

Magnitude) and durable bamboo housing and other constructions have

been introduced. The current size of bamboo usage in the housing segment in

the country is about 1.35 million tons out of a total consumption of 13.47 million

tons. The potential market for bamboo for construction and repair of houses is

estimated at $163 million. The opportunity of using bamboo as a structural

material amounts to $22 million in the North-East region alone. This market

could be much higher if the growth is fuelled by inclusion in government

sponsored housing schemes. The government‘s low-cost rural housing

program aims to construct over one million houses worth $868 million in the

financial year 2005-06. For various reasons, this program has not made much

of a dent, and there is now a thrust to make available affordable and better

targeted rural housing loans.

Low unit volume-low value products

11. Utilitarian craft products: Handicrafts, is one of the principle industries in

India where bamboo is used. Utilitarian handicrafts products such as bamboo

baskets, mats and trays currently account for $81 million. An estimated 2.55

million tons of bamboo is used in handicrafts. This sector employs about 15

million people with the majority being women or those from socially and

economically weaker sections of the society. The growth in this sector has

been phenomenal – the rate of employment has increased from 4.82 million in

1991-92 to 15 million in 2000-01. The overall penetration of handicrafts in middle

and upper-middle-class homes is as high as 16 per cent. The domestic market

potential is $112 million, which is largely untapped. This industry is expected to

grow at the rate of 15% per annum.

Low volume-high value products

12. Art craft products: Bamboo enjoys universal favor with artisans. The skill of

weavers, artisans and crafts persons has found bamboo a worthy and

versatile medium capable of giving the required shape to their imagination.

Although traditional bamboo handicrafts are mainly woven, new methods of

workability have increased the range of handicrafts, with significant tourist

market opportunities. Art bamboo products should be produced of high

quality and priced as such.

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Bamboo Innovations: Appropriate Rural Technologies

for urban products- Examples from the Philippines

Carmelita B. Bersalona

Zone 1, Bangued, Abra

PHILIPPINES

Tel.: +6374 752 8247

Email: carmelita@inbar.int

Summary and outcomes

The Community Enterprise Development Project, coined Design Center

Philippines, was undertaken to investigate and implement new ways and

processes of producing bamboo components and products with village

level production as its focus. Thus, the project veered away from the use

of heavy capital investment in machinery. Instead, thermo setting resins

like polyester resins with fiberglass mats and hemp were introduced and

integrated into the usual village outputs of bamboo culm slats, split

halves, and woven mats to take these products into a different level of

higher value products welcomed by furniture makers and home builders

alike for use in resorts and natural homes in the Philippines and around

the world.

The main research outcome are grouped into 12 process innovation

technologies which open new and infinite possibilities for designers

working with bamboo to benefit the rural poor who have been left

behind in the 21st century, but whose products are commonly used in

urban markets. These innovations are:

Using Bamboo Woven Mats

1. One layer bamboo strips, woven into structural shapes such as

baskets and furniture leg components, woven on desired moulds,

then released, and laminated one side with fiberglass, make

structurally sound seats, chairs and hollow furniture components of

all sizes and shapes. This technology innovation opens a variety of

ways bamboo can be shaped into furniture and home accessories

for functional use.

2. One layer bamboo strips are woven into fiberglass chair molds,

leaving the fiberglass mold inside and injected with polyester resin

to bind the two making beautiful woven chairs of any size and

shape structurally sound. A series of chairs were made to illustrate

this.

3. Two layer woven bamboo mats sandwich with fiberglass woven

mats and polyester resin were molded into one piece all woven

bamboo mat stackable chairs, seats and backs replacing molded

plastic chairs, seats and a multitude of containers;

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4. Intricately woven and colored open weave bamboo mats were

sandwiched between 2 fiberglass woven mats to make into light

diffusers woven and decorative skylight roofing sheets. This

technology opens a multitude of possibilities for lighting fixtures,

diffusers and bathroom wall tiles;

5. One layer closed weave finely woven bamboo mats were

laminated with fiberglass mats and polyester resin and shaped into

counter tops for bathrooms and kitchen; the same technology

uses the closely woven fine bamboo mats as table tops, and

decorative wall panels and opens the door to a multitude of

home accessories.

Using Bamboo Rotary sliced Veneer promoted by the Department

of Science & Technology of the Philippines

6. Rotary sliced bamboo veneer strips were cut to desired widths and

shaped into honeycomb core boards and honeycomb furniture

components using polyester resin. Endless housing structural

components and furniture configurations can be made with this

technology especially if used with even cheaper environmentally

sound glues found in India coming from cashew.

7. Rotary sliced bamboo veneer strips used in the past for panel

facing or pressed into mat bowls, trays, plates, and spoons were

stripped into 2 inch widths and laminated successfully with

polyester resin to any length and shape to form structurally sound

furniture components replacing steel and wood. This opens

immense possibilities for bamboo in furniture bringing it to the 21st

century. Two types of prototypes were produced to illustrate this:

stools and stackable chairs.

Using Thin-walled Bamboo culms

8. Thin walled bamboo culms are split into 3 parts and laminated

back to back with resin and hemp into thin lightweight furniture

components structurally sound. This opens large possibilities for

designers to use bamboo in furniture. Two types of prototypes were

made to illustrate this: a series of folding chairs with canvas and

stackable chairs with woven mat seats.

9. Thin walled bamboo components are split into 2 parts, crushed,

bent and laminated back to back with polyester resin and

fiberglass mats to make into structural building and furniture

components. Here again infinite possibilities have opened to

designers in using bamboo for furniture and building components.

Two types of prototypes were made to illustrate this: outdoor

lounging chairs and floorboards for decks.

Using Typical Bamboo Slats

10. Bamboo slats were assembled into 1.2 m x 1.2 m panels held

together with paper then laminated with polyester resin into 10

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mm plywood boards to avoid warp age. This enables the village

workers to supply finished flooring material to the market without

heavy investment in machinery.

Glues

11. The use of polyester resin with fiberglass woven mats or hemp in

these processes brings the component to the outdoors. The initial

trials were not sound. Repetitive experiments perfected the

proportions, combinations and processes used. Other thermo

setting glues that are cheaper should be looked into especially

those coming from India.

Finishing

12. The use of stop sag with gel coat resins as clear putty or fillers and

gel coat as clear primers for finishing bamboo is a breakthrough in

finishing technology for bamboo products. It not only brings the

product outdoor but brings the quality level of the product into the

high end market. Many techniques and processes were tried over

and over again to finally determine how to finish bamboo properly.

Penetrating wood stains are sprayed on to color the bamboo after

the primer. The gel coat is again sprayed on top on the color to

seal it. Then a mat finish polyurethane coat is sprayed for the final

coat. This finish puts bamboo at par with all high end wooden

furniture.

Note 1: Spray painting should be done using air operated piston

pump compressors and airless spray guns to get the proper

thickness per coat of application. Otherwise the resins need to be

diluted and are not that effective outdoors. Lack of access to such

equipment during prototyping prevented us from testing the

product under different harsh weather conditions. We have

however tried the unit in a demo and tested the usage of paints. It

is less durable than half of conventional standards.

Note2: we have not yet been successful in finding color fast stains

to withstand the tropical sun. More experiments still need to be

conducted.

Though more studies are required to be undertaken to commercialize

the production of these technologies, attached drawings give one an

idea of products that can be developed along the lines of furniture

alone.

In addition to the innovations presented, a drum pyrolyzer with 40%

recovery was fabricated in collaboration with the Cottage Industry

Technology Center and Forest Products Research and Development

Center to turn bamboo waste into charcoal. This has helped every

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household engaged in bamboo production to turn 70 kgs of waste every

week into 240 pesos, adding to their income stream.

The Context

In Abra, Philippines, the number of households involved in commercial

use of bamboo is around 1524, with 930 households concentrated in 18

villages (6 municipalities). This amounts to about 4572 people assuming

that per household 3 people are actively involved in the industry.

Each household generates around 70 kgs of bamboo waste every week

producing bamboo furniture and barbecue sticks for the local market.

Turning the waste into charcoal to add to their income stream was a

priority.

Most of these producers would supply the export market through traders

in the past. However with China‘s entry into the market, most export

orders stopped due to China‘s ability to provide the world with high

quality commercially produced bamboo products at the right price. In

addition, these producers have been left behind by the 21st century as

new innovations in materials like plastic, having low maintenance and all

weather qualities, have taken the place of indigenous materials like

bamboo and rattan with look-alike products catering internationally to

resorts, spas and outdoor furniture.

However, with problems arising from climate change and other events,

much interest has been aroused again on sustainable materials such as

bamboo. People are beginning to ask again if the materials used are

sustainable. With this opportunity at hand, the task was to investigate

new ways of how bamboo products could be produced in village level

workshops at the right price for the 21st century market - taking

advantage of the boom in resorts and return to natural homes. In the

province of Bohol alone, known for its eco tourism, ten thousand resort

rooms need to be built till the year 2010. At current cost of one million

pesos a room, this translates to 10 billion pesos for one province alone in

the Philippines. There are at least nine other similar destination provinces

being sold by the Department of Tourism. The other markets with bright

future are school desks and classrooms.

Craftsmen from other parts of Asia and Africa are feeling very similar

problems and opportunities. Thus it was thought that new processes

need to be found to keep bamboo craftsmen busy in the 21st century

and the Philippines was in the best position to do so.

The decision to conduct the research in the Philippines is threefold: the

Philippines international leadership position in design excellence; its

technical expertise in developing new products and processes with

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focus on indigenous materials; its experience using village level

workshops for its export industry.

Scope of Replication

The innovations in this study were designed to rely on the village

craftsmen for most of the primary processes with exception of veneering.

It also relies on the village craftsmen for producing the mats in mass with

the help of patterns and moulds. It also continues to rely on the bamboo

producers to cut, split, and strip bamboo culms to desired component

specifications.

These components are brought to a factory in the midst of a village

cluster where they undergo curing, veneering, crushing, bending, drying,

lamination, and some finishing and assembly. The factory‘s clients are

different furniture makers, home builders and home depots that in turn

assemble, finish, and deliver the final product to their clients/outlets.

At the center of these operations is a core group whose function it is to

continuously market, research and develop new products and processes

through the collaboration of the village craftsmen, the factory, and the

furniture/ home designers + makers. External collaboration shall be

provided by Suppliers of different materials and equipment, the Local

Government Units and Indigenous Institutions, the Bamboo Industry

Cluster Committee and the Philippine Bamboo Network.

Main Players

a. The Bamboo Producers + Harvesters + Carriers

b. The Village Craftsmen

c. The Factory ( a partnership of InHand Abra and InTechDev )

d. The Home accessory + Furniture makers and Home + Resort

Builders

e. Home Outlets + Building Contractors and its Clients

f. Suppliers of Glues + Resins + Moulds + Equipment

g. Provincial Bamboo Industry Cluster Committee (PBICC)/ Philippine

Bamboo Network

h. Local Government Units and Indigenous Institutions

Scaling Up

A factory in the midst of a village cluster, equipped with the right

equipment such as curing, cutting, and veneering equipment, presses

and moulds, and finishing equipment. These can be scaled up

depending on the type of products it needs to do and market

requirements per Region.

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Scaling Out

Bamboo village craftsmen exist in every Region in the Philippines doing

similar bamboo products. Depending on a Region‘s requirements, a

factory brought in the midst of a village cluster could replicate similar or

the same products through the collaboration of the bamboo producers,

village craftsmen, the factory and the furniture makers/ home

builders/outlets. Equipment can be fabricated or funded with the

collaboration of the Technical Education Skills and Development Agency,

the Department of Science and Technology and the local government

units as in the case of their collaborated efforts to fabricate more drum

pyrolizers in Abra after the successful demonstration of the first unit.

Main Technical Components of the Program

a. Process design – designing processes with focus on the village

craftmen capability to produce products for the 21st century

market at the right price, quality and time. This necessitates

collaboration among the bamboo producers and craftsmen, a

technically capable factory which can operate at village level

and furniture makers and home builders who market their own

products to the 21st century market.

b. Product design +Prototype – fast prototyping technologies

linked to market requirements

c. Mould design + execution – efficient and cost effective mould

materials and production

d. Material Preparation + Weaving on Moulds or following Patterns

- computer aided programs to produce patterns from 3 d

drawings.

e. Veneering + Drying + cutting – veneering and drying

equipment to prevent mould and cut veneer strips into

specified widths and lengths.

f. Glues + Resin Lamination – environment friendly thermosetting

resins and needed fibers for maximum strength.

g. Connectors + Hardware + Assembly – bamboo, because of its

nodes, unlike wood is never the same and difficult to mass

produce.. thus assembly becomes a challege.

h. Dyes + Paints + Resins + Painting Equipment – color fast dyes for

the tropical weather; colorless resins top coats to help keep

colors fast and moisture out; airless spray paint equipment that

allows the thick application of the resin.

i. Charcoal drum pyrolyzers – efficient recovery of waste material

at village level.

I. THE INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT

In 1988, InTechDev Systems, InHand Abra and the National Livelihood

Support Fund collaborated to bring development in the province of

Abra through a seed project using thin walled bamboo which was then

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abundant in the province, and developed by Intechdev into bamboo

plywood panels with trade name ―plyboo‖. The project was paralyzed in

1989 due to the earthquake that devastated the province cutting off the

raw material supply. Despite that, the panels were continually being

promoted, tested and used successfully in a low cost housing model -

the Pinatubo House in 1990. The supply problem was never resolved and

finally dwindled when the bamboo in the uplands flowered a few years

later mothballing the project altogether in 1996 for lack of material

supply.

InHand Abra then concentrated on working with village craftsmen to

scale up their facilities and know-how. These village craftsmen are

presently very successful on their own and their facilities demonstrating

‗industrialized-handicraft‘ seen in the town of Bumagcat, Tayum.

However, few have followed their footsteps as the exports orders for craft

items slowed down since the emergence of China in the industry. Seeing

that a return to industry was a key factor to develop the bamboo

industry, InHand Abra represented by Carmelita Bersalona partnered

with INBAR to get funds to restart the plyboo project in Abra and

became the Action Research Site (ARS) of INBAR in the country.

Carmelita Bersalona, began to assist INBAR in its livelihood projects in

Africa and India in the year 2005. It began to dawn on her that the

problems of craftsmen in third world countries was universal – the

craftsmen received less than a dollar for a day‘s work, unable to sustain

their own needs, yet, at the same time, their products were priced high

compared to that of China‘s. It seemed clear from her visits to other

countries that setting up common facility centers alone was not the

answer to alleviate the problems of the craftsmen.

In 2005, InHand Abra and Intechdev jointly wrote a proposal to ITTO to

investigate new ways of producing bamboo products for the 21st century

market with focus on village level workshops and craftsmen. The

proposal was approved but no funding was available. In 2006, funding

from IFAD through INBAR for InHand Abra to finally start the much

needed investigation and study of new processes began. Medilen Singh

of Intechdev partnered with InHand Abra to direct the process and

development of process innovations.

On the other hand, through the management of InHand Abra, the INBAR

Global Marketing Initiative (GMI) Design Centre has collaborated with

the Department of Science and Technology to develop other bamboo

processing technologies. For example, the Design Centre, working in

tandem with the Forest Products Research & Development Institute, has

contributed towards the development of bamboo charcoal and

veneering technologies. In collaboration with the Philippines Textile

Research Institute, the Design Centre has also developed bamboo fibre

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processing technology, which can be applied to furniture making. All

these have been used by Intechdev in its process innovations.

II. PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

The challenge was to find appropriate methods to enable bamboo

producers to continue with their craft but at the same time answer the

needs of the local and international market in the 21st century.

The idea was to let go of the notion that more machinery meant better

products.

The Philippines has the highest cost of electricity in the Region and supply

is not stable in poor communities. Also, producing weather resistant

products meant the use of resins for glueing and protection.

A trip around the various research and development agencies of

government showed the problem of using stripped bamboo for

lamination. Failure was in the glue line despite the use of polyurethane

glues due to the absence of appropriate processes. Standard thickness

of bamboo strips was critical to the process for proper bonding. Also

critical was the use of proper jigs and clamping system. The down side

also was the cost of polyurethane glues which sell at 800 pesos a liter.

To test different resins, woven mats were used to make into waterproof

boards and furniture. Polyester resins proved to be the best suited but

not friendly to the environment but the aesthetic results were wonderful.

However, future collaboration with the manufacturer resulted in

environmentally friendly resins that are water based. The first board

produced was left outdoor for 2 months for testing. The only thing that

changed after 2 months was the color of the bamboo mat that was

dyed. Polyester resin proved to work well with bamboo. It is the most

inexpensive of thermo setting resins. It sells at 127 pesos a liter. The board

may be used for ceiling diffusers and as a substitute to bathroom tiles

and kitchen countertops. If we find a UV protective treatment to keep

the colors fast despite the light, the board can be used as roofing sheets

for certain areas like patios.

An alternative to using bamboo strips for furniture component is the use

of rotary bamboo veneer and at certain cases combined with sliced

bamboo veneer. Rotary cut veneers come in standard thickness and

pliable enough to be shaped into different forms. However, it has a

limitation on length, 57 cm, but can be stripped with paper cutters and

taped to desired lengths.

The resin is mixed with a hardener and brushed onto the strips. The strips

are laid into desired moulds or jigs and clamped manually. The outer

strips may be made of a sliced veneer so as not to show the joints of the

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veneer taped together. The setting of the resins is completed within 20

min and removed from the mould. The piece is then weather resistant as

it is sandwiched in resin. The piece is allowed to cure overnight then

sanded and finished with polymer gel coatings or clear polyurethane

paints. Parts maybe welded together also using the resin instead of metal

hardware. The process is simple but requires highly precise craft skills that

may be learned.

Another process innovation is the utilization of bamboo with 3.5‖

diameter and more than ¼‖ thickness and with long internodes. The

bamboo culm is cut into cylinders according to specified sizes, scraped,

split/ripped and planed into desired width and thickness and laminated

back to back with polyester resins to desired shapes clamped in moulds.

Preparatory to lamination, heat bending is done then clamped till cool

for the required shape to stay. For its seat and back rest, crushed

bamboo or laminated woven bamboo/fiber mats are utilized.

The production process of bent bamboo furniture was refined and

proper jigs and moulds developed and tested on new designs for patio

furniture. These were exhibited during the International Bamboo and

Rattan Exhbition in Guangzhou, China on September 22-24, 2007.

Crushed bamboo laminated back to back into decking boards using

resin and fiber mat in between was very successful. After 3 months of

water test, the glue line held nicely. However, during the test against

severe tropical sunlight, the bamboo cracked at the surface within a

week much like pine wood decking boards do. The thinly coated resin

surface gave in and peeled off. We need to apply the resins properly

with airless spray units to get the required thickness on the surface before

doing further tests again. If it persists, then the thing to do is to use oil

based weather resistant coatings like xyladicor to protect the bamboo

decking boards from the weather, and repaint every 3 years.

Impact

The Process innovation of combining bamboo veneer, bamboo splits,

crashed bamboo and polyester resin, brings bamboo into the garden

furniture category and building materials resistant to weather. It allows for

indoor and outdoor use of the furniture and building components which

is the clamor of the market today for aesthetics and easy maintenance.

It will allow bamboo to compete with imitation bamboo and rattan

furniture for outdoor using aluminum and plastic fiber imitations. Not only

is bamboo used for esthetic purposes but is also used for structural

purposes with respect furniture and building components. It does away

with metal for structural components.

The process innovation will also provide the Bamboo Industry in the

Philippines with a chance to develop and grow using the process to

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supply the furniture makers with components they need to compete

internationally.

Constraints Faced During the Program Implementation

Internal

Workplace was too small and affected by changing weather;

Equipment such as dryers, presses, cutting tools and proper

painting equipment were lacking or make shift;

Jigs were temporary and made of wood;

Pace was slow as each experiment went through tests before

proceeding to next phases.

Each phase went through as series of trial and error procedures for

process elimination as there were no models to follow.

External

Lack of color fast dyes

Lack of technical data on resins and glues

Lack of inexpensive glues in the market especially thermosetting

glues

Lack of equipment facilities to rent such as new types of airless

painting equipment necessary to test the weather resistant

qualities of the products.( Because of this lack, we are unable to

test whether our present coatings can withstand the severe heat

of tropical sunlight and continuous rain and heat conditions)

Lack of testing equipment to expedites test results such as the

effect of UV rays.

Further Research Needs

For furniture and building materials, the production processes still need to

be refined with proper presses, jigs, moulds, spray equipment and knock

down hardware developed and tested before actual building of

prototype house can take place. Its outcome will be the final costings

and equipment listing before commercialization of these processes can

take place.

Target Group

The projected commercialization of the bamboo furniture at the village

level using the new innovations shall involve 96 households from two

weaving villages of La Paz ( Mudeng and Udangan) with an average

annual income of Php 34800 and 59 households from the village of

Bugbog, Bucay and Bumagcat, Tayum which has some basic machines

and tools for semi-processing of bamboo. The bamboo producers of

Tayum earn an average annual income of Php 79500 which is attributed

to semi-mechanized production. The indigenous peoples of Licuan-Baay

and Sallapadan will be tapped to supply crashed bamboo.

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The Gender Dimension

In every household at least one woman is involved in the production of

bamboo components. Historically, the women of the household hold the

purse. She markets the products and manages the income of the

household. Thus, in this case, at least 155 women will be involved at the

village level.

In the factory, most of the workers in the assembly section will be women

earning at least minimum wage.

Accessibility

The innovations made in this action research will be learned and

demonstrated in the factory to be established in village clusters. It will be

open to INBAR‘s network of member countries.

Institutional Sustainability

The factory will operate directly at the community level. It will buy the

products from the craftsmen, therefore, it needs to set up and train them

well with respects processes and equipment if it wants quality products

delivered at the right price. The factory will be a joint venture of

Intechdev and InHand Abra in partnership with INBAR - one having the

expertise of technology transfer, the other, community development.

Dissemination Pathways

Communication Strategies at the Village Level

1. Collaboration with the Provincial Bamboo Industry Cluster Committee

(PBICC) which plans, coordinates implements and evaluates

programmes that strengthen development of the bamboo sector. The

PBICC, chaired by the Provincial governor and co-chaired by the

Department of Environment & Natural Resources and the Department of

Trade & Industry, draws membership from a wide range of government,

technical and financial institutions. Members of the PBICC include the

Department of Agrarian Reform, the Technical Education Skills &

Development Agency, the Department of Labor & Employment, the

Technology Livelihood Resource Development Center, the Department

of Science & Technology, the Cooperative Development Authority, the

Department of Local Government, the Land Bank of the Philippines, the

Department of Education and Culture, and the Abra State Institute of

Science & Technology. As of 2007, the PBICC has increased its

membership with municipalities engaged in bamboo production and, or

processing now being represented.

2. Coordination with indigenous leaders/institutions and local

government officials on policies related to bamboo harvesting

and infrastructure development

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3. On site consultations including design clinic

4. Training cum production schemes

5. Provincial and regional trade fairs

6. Communication through SMS messages and email

Communication Strategies at the National and International levels

1. National and international trade fairs

2. Collaboration with government agencies:

a. the Department of Science and Technology to produce a number of

new bamboo processing technologies. For example, working in tandem

with the Forest Products Research & Development Institute, it has

contributed towards the development of bamboo charcoal

b. the Philippines Textile Research Institute, the bamboo fibre processing

technology applied to furniture making

c. the Department of Trade & Industry on new product designs that will

increase access to growing domestic and international markets;

marketing research by the Bureau of Domestic Trade, which supplies

designers with details on the latest consumer trends and material

developments; new product designs to be exposed to markets through

the Center for International Trade & Market Exposition.

3. ECO Network composes of individual designers, social enterprise

developers, manufacturers, and exporters bridging community

producers with technology, design and market.

4. Philippine Bamboo Network, Philippine Bamboo Foundation and other

NGOs in the development of the Philippine Bamboo Industry.

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Evaluation of the Bamboo Industry’s Impact on Rural

Sustainable Development in Anji, China

Zhu Zhaohua

Email: zhzhu@inbar.int

International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR)

1. Evaluation Activities and Methodology

1.1 Background

This evaluation was carried out as part of the Impact Evaluation for

Bamboo and Rattan project sponsored by DGIS, the Netherlands, for the

purpose of studying the impact of bamboo industry development on

poverty alleviation in Anji County, Zhejinag Province in China. The

evaluation was conducted by the International Network for Bamboo

and Rattan (INBAR) from 23rd July to 4th August 2003 with support from

the local government and technicians. Since 2003, I have visited Anji

several times every year and conducted tracking surveys to the Bamboo

products in order to catch up on the new process and find out the

problems appeared.

1.2 Activities and Methodology

1.2.1 Framework and Questionnaires

Surveys were carried out according to the objectives of the evaluation.

Different frameworks and questionnaires were designed for use at county,

township, and village levels and were geared toward local conditions..

Key persons such as officials and experts who are know much about the

history of local bamboo industry development or are in charge and

participated in the bamboo industry were invited to attend the

evaluation activities.

1.2.2 Discussions and Symposiums

Discussions and interviews were conducted from county to village level.

At the county level, key person invited to the evaluation meeting

included the Deputy Director, the General Engineer and Statistician of

Anji Forestry Bureau, and the Director of the Anji Forestry Research

Institute. At the township level, key persons invited included officials in

charge of industry development, technicians, and engineers from the

Anji Forestry Bureau. At the village level, the head of the village, village

representatives and those in bamboo production demonstration

households participated in the evaluation. At the private enterprise-level,

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participants invited to the meeting included production managers,

technicians and purchasing agents.

Two county level meetings were held: the first was held at the beginning

of the evaluation project and elaborated on survey frameworks and

documents necessary for project completion, while arrangements were

made for data collection and evaluation activities; the second meeting

was held at the conclusion of the survey and analysed and summarised

the data and documents collected. Shanchuan Township, located in the

mountainous area of Anji County, was selected as the target for the

township survey. Majia‘nong Village in this township was selected for the

village level survey. A bamboo flooring factory, a curtain factory and a

furniture factory were selected as the survey targets at the private

enterprise level. The tracking surveys carried out after 2003 also follow the

method mentioned above in which we try to collect the latest Statistical

data.

1.2.3 Document and data collection

The data and documents collected are primarily from three sources:

1) Statistical data on the bamboo industry and bamboo resources

collected over the years by the Anji Forestry Bureau in local government

documents, work reports for high-level governments, research papers,

and program results.

2) Data from the Anji Statistics Bureau on population, education,

habitation, income and employment level of urban and rural residents,

resources, industry, agriculture, commerce, industrial structure,

environment, and infrastructure of the county .

3) Statistical data from township and village levels, and grass-root

measures for bamboo industry development.

Data was also collected through interviews with officials, entrepreneurs,

farmers, and technicians.

2. Basic information of Anji

2.1 Background

Anji County is located in northwest Zhejiang Province, China, and covers

19 townships. The total area of Anji County is 1886 km2, 61.5% of the land

is mountainous and hilly, with 23,970 ha of cultivated land. In 2004, the

forest coverage of Anji County was 69.4% with bamboo forests

occupying 60% of this area and 35.35% of the total area of the county at

66,670 hectares. The average annual temperature is 15.5C with average

precipitation of 1500-2000mm. The county is in the North Subtropical

climate zone.

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2.2 Economy

In 2005, the total GDP of Anji County was 10.462 billion RMB, a 70%

increase from the GDP in 2002 of 6.159 billion RMB. In 2002, the GDP from

primary industries (raw material production) was 911 million RMB, while

that from secondary industries (bamboo processing) was 3.188 billion

RMB and from tertiary industries (services) 2.053 billion RMB. The figures in

2006 were respectively 1.132 billion RMB, 5.366 billion RMB and 3.964

billion RMB; with increase rates respectively of 24.3%, 68.3%, and 93.1%. In

2002, the per capita income of farmers was 4930 RMB. This had increased

by 62.98% to 8031 RMB in 2006. The primary production value of

agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry was 880 million, 638 million

and 210 million RMB respectively with a total value of 17.28 billion RMB.

2.3 Population

In 2006, the total population of Anji was 456.700, of which 359,400 or

80.15% of the total population live in rural areas. The average population

growth rate is 4.31‰ per annum, with a male: female ratio of 105:100.

The per capita living area of the rural population is 49.8m2.

2.4 Education

There were 64,104 registered students in 2006: 9,236 in high school, 17,197

in middle school, and 29,070 in primary school, 1,469 in adult higher

education school, and 8,601 in secondary vocational school. The

percentage of school-aged children attending primary, middle and high

school was 100%, 100% and 87.59% respectively.

3. Bamboo industry development

Anji has the most well-developed bamboo industry in China and, as one

of ten Chinese Bamboo Homelands (term used to designate an area

where an abundance of bamboo grows), Anji County is well-known to

domestic and international communities.

3.1 Anji County’s long history of bamboo cultivation and utilization

Archaeologists have shown that there has been a long history of

bamboo cultivation and utilization in Anji, which can be traced back to

the Neolithic Age. Bai Juyi, a famous Tang Dynasty poet, already named

the Anji region as bamboo‘s homeland in one of his poems: ‗The region is

bamboo‘s home, spring bamboo-shoots grow abundantly all across the

valley‘. Detailed records on bamboo species, cultivation, processing and

utilization exist from the Song Dynasty. Bamboo has become an

indiscernible element of the local people‘s life, culture and spirit with

many writers praising the beauty and dignity of bamboo in their works.

121

The famous China Bamboo Museum and the largest monopodial

bamboo garden (with a collection of about 300 bamboo species) are

both located in Anji County. Anyone who comes to Anji County will be

impressed by the richness of the bamboo cultural atmosphere.

3.2 The importance of the bamboo industry in the local economy

The 2002 and 2006 data listed below clearly illustrates the important role

that the bamboo industry plays in Anji‘s economy:

60% of the 120,000 farmer households directly generate income

from bamboo.

The county‘s output value of bamboo raw materials (bamboo

culm, bamboo shoots and other by-products) is 420 million RMB in

2002 and 550 million RMB in 2006, which consists of 32.8% of Anji‘s

agricultural production value in 2002 and 31.83％ in 2006.

Adding the production value of 3.5 billion RMB from bamboo

processing, the total production value of the bamboo industry was

3.92 billion RMB or 28% of the gross output value of Anji‘s industry

and agriculture in 2002. In 2006, the production value of the

bamboo industry increased to 5.65 billion RMB which was 37.9% of

the gross output value of Anji‘s industry and agriculture.

In 2002, the export value was US$77.78 million with 50 million RMB

gained in tax revenue (this is 20% of the county‘s total revenue

from taxes). The export value reached to US$222 million in 2006.

Through bamboo raw materials transportation and sales, the

income of rural locals was increased by 500 million RMB with an

average increase of 6,250 RMB per household or 1,759 RMB per

capita, accounting for 38.61% of the rural per capita income.

Nearly 1,000 bamboo processing factories offered about 30,000

jobs most of which were filled by rural surplus laborers. A large

number of farmers also increased their income by engaging in

transportation and sales.

In 2006, Anji‘s production value in raw bamboo materials was 550 million

RMB, an increase of 30% from 2002; the value from its processing industry

was 5.65 billion RMB, a 61.4% increase. The total production value in 2006

was 6.20 billion RMB, which represented a 58.2% increase from the value

in 2002.

3.3 Anji bamboo industry statistics since 1978

While Anji County has long been established as a traditional bamboo

homeland, its industrial bamboo utilization, especially with mechanical

production, only started about 20 years ago. As can be seen from the

figures in Table 1, the bamboo industry in Anji has changed a lot from

1978 to 2003.

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Table 1 Anji bamboo industry development statistics from 1978-2003 Year 1978 1988 1994 1996 1998 2001 2002 2005 2006 Increased

percentag

e %

(compare

with 1978)

Area of

bamboo

plantation

(ha)

54822 55330 56514 63330 66667 67333 6733

3

22.9

Area of

Moso

Bamboo

(ha)

43200 43600 44533 49867 50733 52000 5200

0

20.4

Number of

bamboo

processing

enterprises

30 178 490 1620 865 1880 1880 6266

Moso

Bamboo

Standing

Stock

(million

stock )

95 110 115 131 135 140 140 47.4

Annual

Culm

Production

(Million

culm)

9.33 12.19 16.00 18.50 20.00 22.00 22.0

0

136

Production

value of

bamboo

raw

materials

(million RMB)

150 184 240 230 320 400 420 450 550 267

Production

value of

bamboo

processing

products

(billion RMB)

0.003 0.026 0.49 0.73 1.70 2.74 3.5 4.86 5.56 188200

Yearly

production

value of

Moso

Bamboo per

hectare

(RMB)

2700 3000 4500 5700 7500 10500 1200

1

345%

Utilization

ratio of

individual

culm (%)

25-30 25-40 30-50 40-60 70-85 80-95 85-

95

240-216

123

3.3.1 Bamboo forest resources:

Rich bamboo resources existed in Anji even before the 1980s. In the past

28 years, however, there has been a 22.9% increase in bamboo forest

area with a 20.4% increase in the area of moso bamboo forest. Although

the increase in the area of bamboo forest is not large, the number of

bamboo culms has increased by 47.4% and annual bamboo culm

production has more than doubled with an increase of 136%. The annual

production value of bamboo material has increased by 267% and

economic value per hectare has increased by 345%. The data show that

the level of bamboo forest management has improved significantly as a

result of effective technology extension and this has resulted in numerous

economic benefits.

3.3.2 Bamboo processing:

Anji‘s bamboo industry started in 1985 when a number of bamboo

processing machines were first imported from Taiwan. Most of the

bamboo processing enterprises started from household plants that were

many in number, small in size, and low in mechanization and production

value. In a period of 20 years, the number of bamboo processing

enterprises increased nearly 19 times and the production value of

bamboo increased over 1882 times.

3.3.3 Moso bamboo culm utilization rate:

The utilization rate of raw bamboo material is gradually increasing along

with the effectiveness of processing technologies. The properties of

different parts of the bamboo culm (from the bottom to the top) are

quite different. The utilization rate will be very low if the bamboo culm is

only used for making one type of product. For example, the utilization

rate of bamboo in a normal bamboo flooring factory was about 25-28%.

This can be greatly increased by following the comprehensive utilization

methods commonly used in bamboo processing enterprises in Anji: the

base (about 5-10% of the total culm) is used to make bamboo charcoal;

the lower middle section (about 50%) is fit for making bamboo flooring;

the upper middle section (about 30%) is used to make bamboo curtains

or mats; and the top (about 10-15%) is used to make sticks and

scaffolding. The otherwise unused materials can be processed into

bamboo pulp, bamboo particleboard, chipboard or bamboo charcoal.

Some waste materials are also used as fuel in charcoal processing. In the

past, small enterprises were greatly burdened by the large amount of

fuel needed in charcoal processing--using wasted bamboo material as

fuel provides a cheap solution while increasing the utilization rate at the

same time. Usually, several factories work together to maximize the

utilization of the bamboo raw materials with plants purchasing specific

bamboo parts from one single raw processing factory that processes

124

bamboo culms according to different end product demands. This

benefits all parties by reducing costs and dividing up tasks. Currently, 95%

or above of the bamboo plant can be utilized. Even bamboo particles

and sawdust (once considered useless waste materials) are now in short

supply after the establishment of bamboo particle board and sawdust

board factories in Anji.

With the improvement of techniques over the past 20 years, bamboo

culm utilization has increased from an original rate of 25-30% to 85-95% in

2005. There is still further potential in bamboo utilization development.

3.4 The three stages of Anji’s bamboo industry development

Looking back on the past 29 years, the history of Anji‘s bamboo industry

can be divided into three stages. These stages have not been artificially

delineated but follow the natural progress of bamboo industrialization in

Anji with much overlap between each stage. Every step of the way,

local foresters and government officials adopted different measures to

promote and accelerate the industry‘s progress.

First Stage: developing bamboo resources and improving bamboo stand

quality

This stage started in the late 1970s to early 1980s when China began to

implement its opening up and reform policy. At the end of the 1970s, the

rural population in Anji was under the poverty line, with annual income

per capita less than US$50 (250 RMB) per year. After the local

government decided that bamboo-based development was a good

way to alleviate rural poverty, its main task was to develop bamboo

resources in order to secure a base for development of the industry.

Technologies for low-yielding moso bamboo rehabilitation and

cultivation for both culm and shoot use were widely applied all over the

county. Farmers were encouraged to participate in the research and

dissemination of high-yielding bamboo technology. In total, the local

government and farmers invested over 40 million RMB to increase

bamboo resources. At the same time, local farmers spent over 1 million

working days to establish 4,000 hectares of high-yield bamboo

plantations for both culm and shoot use and rehabilitated 15,733

hectares of low-yield bamboo and 5,333 hectares of natural bamboo

stands. All these activities resulted in an incredible increase in the annual

production of raw bamboo materials: culm production increased by 80%

from 7.5 million culms in 1970 to 13.5 million culms in 1989; the production

of fresh bamboo shoots increased from 10,000 to 20,000 tons annually.

Second stage: Processing capacity expansion and economic benefit

improvement through technical inputs

125

The second stage ran from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. During this

period, processing and full utilization of local bamboo resources became

the priorities of local bamboo industry. As a result of foreign investment

from Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the U.S., many local farmers

became attracted to the bamboo processing industry. The number of

bamboo processing enterprises increased from 30 in the 1970s to over

1000 in 1996. Some farmers began to design and produce machines

themselves, developing the complete range of machinery needed for

bamboo processing. This, promoted the development of the bamboo

industry in Anji. In Shaquan Village, for example, out of 530 households

over 60% were engaged in bamboo mat processing and there were

more than 70 bamboo mat factories in the village. In 1996, the village

produced over 20 million sheets of bamboo mat with all necessary

processing facilities available within the village, from bamboo stripping

and weaving to plastic lace wrapping machines, from gauze presses to

bamboo mat pressers. From raw material to finished mat, all processing

stages were mechanized and all of the products were exported. This is

why Shaquan village has gained fame as a bamboo mat village.

During this period, some high-yield plantation bases were established

under the leadership of provincial, county and township officials and

with the joint-effort of technicians and farmers. The Director General of

Zhejiang Provincial Forestry Department established an 80 hectare pilot

plantation for high-yield moso bamboo techiques and rehabilitation of

degraded natural stands in Anji County. County officials established

another 80 hectare demonstration plantation, as well as 12 pilot villages

and 100 households to promote bamboo industry development. Farmers

participated in high-yield and high-efficiency bamboo production

competitions. A program was carried out at the village level with the

goal of getting at least 10 farmer households in each village to manage

at least 10 mu (0.67 hectare) of bamboo plantations, with an annual

income per mu of at least 1000 RMB (15,000 RMB per hectare). The

objective behind these activities was to guide bamboo cultivation,

plantation management and bamboo processing using science and

technology.

Third stage: Sustainable development through economic, social and

ecological effects

Starting from the mid-1990s to the present, the third stage is aimed at

developing the eco-economy, promoting secondary and tertiary

bamboo industries and increasing the comprehensive benefits and

realization of sustainable development. In this stage, the following

initiatives were established:

(1) Strategy and policy identification: In 1996, the local government

launched the ‗Anji bamboo development plan‘. In addition, the

126

government formalized and stabilized land contract policy for farmers

managing bamboo plantations with rewards for research development

and dissemination. 24 of the most widely utilized research results were

awarded prizes that year.

(2) Supply chain promotion: the management model of ―company +

raw material base + farmer‖ was promoted, with processing enterprises

and farmers cooperating to establish the bamboo raw material base. As

a result, production scale, product quality, and benefits to farmers have

all greatly increased.

(3) New product and technology development: As the scale and

capacity of production increased, product innovation accelerated and

an abundance of new products entered the market, including daily

utensils, craftwork, decoration boards, green organic foods, beverages,

and bio-tech products. More than 5,000 kinds of bamboo products are

produced in Anji every year.

(4) Comprehensive benefits of bamboo plantations: Bamboo eco-

tourism is fast becoming an important and growing sector of Anji‘s

economy. The National Bamboo Forest Park, China Bamboo Museum

and Anji Bamboo Garden are target sites well-known to both domestic

and foreign tourists. In 2006, about 3.63 million tourists visited Anji bringing

in an additional income of 1.24 billion RMB to locals. The development of

the bamboo industry has also stimulated development in other sectors

including transportation, plastic production, packaging, textiles,

machinery, architecture and chemicals. A bamboo curtain factory

owner said that his factory creates at least 10 million RMB of work for

other relevant industries for every 20 million RMB of bamboo curtain

products he produces .Since all materials related to bamboo cultivation

or processing can be found within the county, Anji is becoming the

largest national supplier of bamboo industrial equipment. The survey

revealed that the Anji bamboo sector (including plantation

management and processing) generated 1.8 billion RMB of value for

other industrial sectors in 2005.

(5) Combination of bamboo industry development and environment

protection: Bamboo plantations in Anji County were divided into two

types: ecological plantations and commercial plantations. The

management of both types are required to comply with the guidelines

of eco-environmental protection. 36,667 hectares or 55% of total

bamboo area was taken up by ecological plantations. Eco-plantations

play an important role in water and soil conservation with specific criteria

in place for management, including rules on harvesting intensity, soil

preparation and density control.

127

3.5 Status of Anji bamboo industry in China

A foreign friend visiting Anji made this remark concerning the local

bamboo industry: ‗If you want to find the world‘s best bamboo industry,

you only have to look in China. If you want to find the best bamboo

industry in China, you only have to look in Zhejiang Province. If you want

to find the best bamboo industry in Zhejiang, you only have to look in

Anji‘. Anji produces enormous quantities of bamboo products and has

accumulated great knowledge about bamboo industry development.

The statistics in Table 2 below reveal the prominent role that Anji plays in

China‘s bamboo industry.

Table 2 Production value of Anji bamboo industry in 2001

(As compared to the whole country and Zhenjiang Province) Items of

production

value (PV)

Anji BI PV

(Billion RMB)

BI PV of

Zhejiang

Province

(Billion RMB)

Percentage

% (Anji/

Province)

BI PV of

whole

country

(Billion RMB)

Percentage

%

(Anji/whole

country)

Total

production

value of

bamboo

industry (BI)

3.3 10 33.0 21 15.7

Primary

Industry

0.4 2.5 16.0 5 8.0

Secondary

Industry

2.74 7.5 36.5 16 17.1

Tertiary

industry

0.16

Table 3 Status of Anji bamboo industry in 2001 Bamboo forest area in

Anji (ha)

66,667

hectares

Accounts for respectively 1.6% of the total in

China and 8.3% of that in Zhejiang Province, the

third largest in all the counties in China

Bamboo forest

coverage

35.3% Top in China

Annual production of

commercial bamboo

culm

20 million Accounts for 4% of the production in China and

20% of that in Zhejiang Province

Fresh bamboo shoot 35,000

tons

Accounts for 1.7% of that grown in China and 5%

of that in Zhejiang Province, the third largest in

China

Annual processing of

bamboo culm

40 million Accounts for 8% of China‘s production and 40%

of that in Zhejiang Province, top in China

Export exchange

value

590 million

RMB

Accounts for 14.2% of the total for China, 35.5%

of the total for Zhejiang Province

4. Bamboo industry’s impact on rural development

4.1 The importance of the bamboo industry in Anji’s rural economy

128

4.1.1 Wide participation of local farmers

In Anji, 359,400 out of a total population of 448,000 live in rural areas.

Nearly 60% of the income for the county‘s 120,000 households was

directly generated from the bamboo sector. Nearly 50,000 households

were involved in bamboo cultivation with about 35,000 farmers engaged

in bamboo product processing and about 3,000 households engaged in

product sales. In addition, there were quite a number of farmers who

were involved in the transportation of bamboo raw materials and

products. Most farmers worked multiple jobs and did forestry, industry

and commercial business work and only took full part in agriculture

activities in the busy farming seasons. At the present, the demand for

labor from the bamboo harvesting and processing industries are so high

that more than 10,000 laborers from outside Anji are employed in this

work.

4.1.2 Bamboo industry is the major source of income for farmers

Statistics from 2005 showed that the average income of each bamboo

farmer household increased by 7,034 RMB as a direct result from

bamboo raw material production. This means that the average per

capita increase in income was about 1780 RMB, which does not even

include earnings from bamboo processing, transportation and product

sales.

Table 4 shows the operation figures of a 0.4 ha bamboo plantation

owned by Mr. Ye Liangyou, a farmer from Majianong Village, Shanchuan

Township.

Table 4 Input and output management details of Mr. Ye‘s 0.4 hectare

bamboo plantation (2001-2002)

Expenses

0.4

hectare

1

hectare

Income (RMB) 0.4

hectare

1

hectare

Bamboo culm

(RMB)

7,400 18,500

Branches, tops

and sheaths

1,000 2,500

Workdays

(days/2 years)

148 370 Winter shoot 4,390 10,975

Wage (RMB) 4,440 11,100 Spring shoot 2,390 5,975

Fertilizer (RMB) 1,400 3,500 Rhizome shoot 2,870 7,175

Total 5,840 14,600 Total 18,050 45,125

Net income in RMB (gross income minus total expenses) 12,210 36,525

We can see from Table 4 that the net income from the 0.4 hectare

bamboo forest in 2001-2002 (2001 was the off year for bamboo

production) was 36,525 RMB per hectare. Because the major labor input

129

was done by Mr. Ye Liangyou himself, the 4,440 RMB in wages belonged

to him.

Table 5 shows the operation figures of a 0.2 hectare paddy field also run

by Mr. Ye. It is obvious from comparison that management of a bamboo

plantation is more profitable than a paddy field.

Table 5 Input and output management details of Mr. Ye‘s 0.2 hectare

paddy field (2001-2002) Expenses

(RMB)

0.2

hectar

e

1

hectar

e

Income 0.2

hectare

1

hectar

e

Net income (RMB)

0.2

hectare

1

hectare

Soil

Preparation

210 1,050 Paddy

rice (kg)

1,500 7,500

Seeds 60 300 Value

(RMB)

1,800 9,000

Fertilizer 150 750 Straw

(kg)

750 3,750

Manageme

nt

240 1,200 Value

(RMB)

300 1,500

Pesticide 60 300

Harvesting 300 1,500

Sum(RMB) 1,020 5,100 2,100 10,500 1,080 5,400

Table 5 shows that Mr. Ye earned 1,080 RMB in net income from the 0.2

hectare paddy field every year (thus 5,400 RMB per hectare). The net

income from bamboo cultivation (18,263 RMB/hectare per year) is

almost 3.38 times that from paddy farming, which is why farmers have a

much higher incentive to cultivate bamboo plantations. To guarantee

food security in 2004, the Chinese government tried to increase paddy

cultivation by increasing its purchase of rice crops. The price of rice was

also raised from 1.2 RMB/kg to 1.6 RMB/kg. Even after these measures,

the benefits of bamboo farming still outweighed those from paddy

cultivation. While rice paddies need well fertilized soil in order to florish,

bamboo can be planted on sloped or hilly areas.

4.2 Employment generation and rural development

A great number of surplus rural laborers were absorbed by the local

bamboo industry and rural life began to gradually adapt to industrial

production and market economy. Like other rural areas, Anji County has

limited tillable land with a total of 23,900 hectares of tillable land in the

whole county (about 0.066 hectares per capita). There are about 80,000

rural laborers who are fully or partly involved in various activities related

to the bamboo industry including cultivation, plantation management,

primary processing, transportation, and sales. In Anji, it is difficult now to

find surplus laborers because about half of them are engaged in the

130

bamboo industry. Presently, labor in Anji is in short supply and the number

of outside laborers numbers to about 20,000.

Local government statistics show that the annual income of a local

farmer managing bamboo plantations was 5000-7000 RMB, that of a

seasonal worker in bamboo processing factories (from April to August)

was 4000-8000 RMB with a full-time worker earning 12,000-15,000 RMB.

Middlemen can earn 3,000-5,000 RMB annually through buying bamboo

shoots or culm from farmers and selling them to factories; salesmen can

earn 30,000 to 50,000 RMB annually. A number of farmers became

involved with at least two different aspects of the bamboo industry and

some even entered the management level of enterprises.

Majianong in Shanchuan Township is an example of a mountainous

village where bamboo processing was being developed. There are 247

households with a population of 854.192 workers in the village were

employed by bamboo processing factories, 45 were engaged in

bamboo product sales, and 3 households were managing micro-

processing factories. At the same time, each household held bamboo

plantation land contracts and also had one or more workers who were

involved in activities other than agriculture. They had thus evolved from

typical farmers to players in industrial production and market economy.

The bamboo industry has greatly transformed this rural area.

The bamboo industry also accelerates the pace of rural modernization:

the industry‘s development plays a role in improving rural education,

infrastructure, environment, and other social benefits.

4.2.1 Elimination of famine and poverty

The results of a survey on the socio-economic status of two village groups

in Majianong indicated below.

Table 6 Per capita annual income of villagers in 2002 (Majianong) Group1(67

households, 220

villagers)

Group2(36

households, 114

villagers)

Sum(103

households, 334

villagers)

Percentage of

the total %

Annual

income

(RMB)

H V H V H V H V

2000-3000 0 0 1 3 1 3 0.9 0.9

3000-4000 5 7 3 7 8 14 7.8 4.2

4000-5000 6 14 3 9 9 23 8.7 6.9

5000-8000 20 67 10 37 30 104 28.8 31.1

8000-

10000

26 96 9 28 35 124 34.0 37.1

>10000 10 36 10 30 20 66 19.4 19.8

131

Note: H refers to the number of households & V refers to the number of

villagers

Table 6 shows that Majianong Village realized basic co-prosperity. There

was only one household (3 members) in the village whose annual

income was in the lowest bracket of 2000-3000 RMB. This was due to the

fact that the family‘s only worker fell ill and lost his earning ability (the

household‘s income for 2002 reflects special assistance from the local

government for families without laborers). The per capita annual income

of 82.2% of households and 88% of villagers was over 5,000 RMB. The per

capita annual income of 53.4% of households and 56.9% of villagers was

over 8,000 RMB. In China, Majianong village is comparatively well-off as

its average per capita income in 2002 was above the national average

of 2,500RMB. It should also be taken into acount that actual income of

the villagers is always higher than that reported in government statistics.

Since 2004, the village began to develop eco-tourism and farm-stays

based around its bamboo plantations and the per capita income has

been increasing very fast (up 10,000RMB in 2005).

4.2.2 Improvement in living standards

Since 1989 when bamboo was first introduced as a development crop to

2002, 90% of farmers have built new villa-style homes and the average

living space per person has increased to 70 m2. In the village, the

average number of TV sets per household was 1.5 and all households

except for 20 had a washing machine. In total, the village had 207

telephones, 230 mobile phones, 160 refrigerators, 20 air conditions, 235

motorcycles (with 30 households owning none), 23 tractors, 5 cars, 9

other motor vehicles, and 15 computers. According to the villagers, more

than 95% of the improvement in their living standards can be attributed

to the bamboo industry.

Statistics in 2004 and 2006 show that the living standards in Anji have

continued to improve. For example, there are 182,044 mobile phones in

2004 and 278,900 in 2006 and 153,643 landline phones in 2004 and

175,500 in 2006 among the total150,486 Anji households, a marked

increase from the figures in 2002.

4.2.3 Focus on education

All children in the village fulfilled the educational requirement of 9 years

of compulsory schooling. 100% of school-aged children registered to

enter primary and middle school while 95% enrolled in senior middle

school and 30% in high school. Almost all of the adult villagers participate

in different training courses every year. In 2002, they participated in two

bamboo training courses.

132

4.2.4 Equality for women

The status of women increased as the rural economy developed.

Women in Majianong Village enjoyed equal rights and access to all

economic and social activities. The following are the participation ratios

of male and female villagers in different bamboo industry activities:

bamboo forest management 60:40; products sales 50:50; bamboo culm

harvesting 100:0; transportation 90:10; employment in factory 30:70;

bamboo shoot harvesting 60:40.

4.3 Increasing the added value of bamboo

Before the industrialization of bamboo processing in Anji in the 1970s,

most bamboo materials hearvested in Anji were sold directly as raw

materials. The price of bamboo culm was 160 RMB / ton at the time. In

the early 1990s, machanical processing added value to raw bamboo

culms and the price increased to 240 RMB/ ton. The market price of

bamboo culm continues to rise (400RMB/ton in the mid-1990s,

460RMB/ton in 2002, and 700RMB/ton in 2005) and has increased 3.38

times from 1978 to 2005.

In Majianong Village, there are 333.4 hectares of bamboo plantation

with an annual production of about 100,000 culms (1650 tons). The

income from simply selling culms would be 1.15 million RMB or 884 RMB

per capita per year. But the value of bamboo culms increases 3-10 times

when it is processed into different products, such as flooring, curtains,

charcoal, paper, chopsticks, and scaffolding. Bamboo processing also

creates many employment opportunities for locals. Anji Changfeng

Bamboo and Wood Company, which produces bamboo curtains, mats

and dish trays, has an annual production of about 2 million m2,

consuming 800,000 bamboo culms every year. This means that at least

1334 hectares of bamboo plantation--equal to 4 times the bamboo

resources of Majianong Village--are required to meet its production

demand. In addition, the company needs to employ 100 permanent

and 360 seasonal workers who work 4-8 months every year. The annual

production value of the company is about 30 million RMB--2-8 times that

of just selling raw materials. Most of the added value benefited farmers

who were permanent or temperory employees of the company.

Comparing products in the domestic market and those made by

different manufacturers, it was found that the added value of processed

bamboo differed from product to product. The following is a list of

bamboo products ranging from high to low added value: bamboo

handicrafts daily handicrafts gardening products and furniture

bamboo poles (for decoration)bamboo sticks bamboo charcoal

decoration boards curtains flooring molding boards

scaffolding and agriculture tools.

133

5. Knowledge gained from bamboo industry development

5.1 Parellel development of resources, economy and ecology

Anji has always been famous as the national bamboo homeland

because of its rich bamboo resources. Locals were unable to benefit

from these resources, however, because of poor processing skills and an

unestablished market. Things changed in the mid-1980s when farmers not

only cultivated and managed bamboo plantations, but also processed

bamboo in household factories. By 1998, Anji had established 1620

micro-processing factories. In addition, farmers joined in product trading

and marketing. By 2002, Anji had established 18 bamboo shoot, 8 culm

and 4 bamboo product marketplaces,and over 3000 local farmers were

involved in bamboo marketing and trading at home or abroad. Because

the local government attached importance to the development of the

bamboo industry, Anji was able to achieve sustainable development of

both its bamboo resources and social economy. In other words, the

development of its resources, economy and ecology occurred

simultaneously.

5.2 Developing locally produced processing machinery

What was behind the rapidity and enormous scale of bamboo industry

growth in Anji? One key element that enabled the industry to advance

so fast was local equipment production. In 1989, bamboo processing

machines made mainly in Taiwan were imported to Anji when foreign

actors invested in local bamboo processing factories. Local farmers were

introduced to the efficiency and advancements of mechanical

bamboo processing but could not afford to import more machinery from

abroad. Thus, local technicians began to design and manufacture the

machines by themselves. The locally developed machines functioned

better and cost less (1/3-1/4 the cost of imports). Now, Anji possesses the

capacity to manufacture various bamboo processing machines with

over 200 types in 8 categories. In 2002, Anji had 30 machine

manufacturing factories with 2000-plus workers involved in production,

sales and after-sale services. The production value from the industry has

exceeded 100 million RMB per year. Now, Anji‘s bamboo machine

manufacturing capacity not only meets local and national demand,

some of the machinery produced in the county is also exported to other

countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The development of

localized processing machines also accelerated the popularization and

dissemination of bamboo processing techniques among local farmers,

allowing them to realize mechanical processing with affordable

investments.

134

5.3 Focus on scientific research and technology extension

The bamboo industry of Anji has always been among the most

developed in China. Anji is especially advanced in high-yield bamboo

plantations, high-efficiency bamboo processing and the development

of new products. This is due to the great importance attached to

research and technology extension. From 1978 to 2002, the local

government implemented 33 bamboo research projects, from which 24

programs won national, provincial and county level prizes. Once the

research results proved to be successful, the technologies were

immediately applied in the field through the establishment of

demonstration sites and households. A network of technology

dissemination was established at county, township and village levels,

and in household factories and companies.

5.4 The establishment of a supportive policy system

In order to provide an appropriate environment for the local bamboo

industry, a policy investigation team consisting of relevant local

government officials was organized to study existing and identify new

policies to promote the industry. In different stages of industry

development, the policy team undertook the task of interviewing local

farmers and enterprise owners to gather their perspective and

understand their needs for related policies.

For instance, in 1997, it was found that bamboo farmers were reluctant to

harvest winter shoots, preferring to leave them in the ground. Research

showed, however, that reasonable harvesting of winter shoots could

actually stimulate bamboo growth. Thus, the local government provided

a subsidy of 1500 RMB per hectare in 1998 to farmers in order to

encourage winter shoot harvesting. The measure achieved great

success. Farmers harvested 37,000 kg of winter shoots in a 30.3 hectare

demonstration plantation with an increased shoot production value of

240,000 RMB. From 1999, Anji began to extend the technique of winter

shooting. Now this technique is applied throughout the county and the

economic benefit from local bamboo plantations has increased by 25%.

Most of Anji‘s enterprises faced challenges from poor technology, low

investment in research, slow product renewal, lack of innovation, small

production scale and little foreign capital investment. After realizing

these weaknesses, the local government implemented a new policy in

2004, which encouraged 4 things: technology advancement, innovation,

large-scale processing and foreign investment. Relavent policies were

provided for enterprises--reduced taxes, intensified financial support in

the application of new technologies and research results, and low or

interest free loans for partnership with related academic and research

institutes. This policy program also encouraged the development of new

135

products and technologies that increased bamboo‘s added value and

expanded production scale so the production value and benefits meet

industrial development goals; finally, the policy encouraged local

enterprises to attract foreign capitals and increase exports. Criteria were

established in order to guarantee that enterprises which received

support would achieve preferred results.

In the past, bamboo farmers must pay 8-10% taxes on special farm

produce to the government after they sold their bamboo in the market.

However, the government remitted agricultural taxes since 2005 and

bamboo was included.

6. Challenges and opportunities ahead

6.1 Challenges

6.1.1 Challenges to Anji‘s predominant status

Although the production value and scale of Anji‘s bamboo industry is still

the largest in China, other bamboo producing locations have

advantages that challenge Anji‘s position, especially in the areas of

business management, scientific technology as applied to products,

integrated utilization of bamboo tailings, production scale, and new

product development. For example, the most efficient and largest scale

producers of bamboo shoots, flooring, charcoal and molding board are

outside the county. At the same time, Anji is still the best at producing

some specific bamboo products, such as curtains, carpets, laminated

and particle boards. In 2001, investment in technology improvement was

comparatively low with a total of only 50 million RMB, which was 8.26% of

the total investment on technology improvement in the whole county.

This could hardly meet the demands of such a large industry. The lack of

funding for technology research has been addressed with the local

government focusing more attention on this issue since 2004.

6.1.2 Insufficiency of raw materials

A great gap exists between resource consumption and supply in Anji.

The annual consumption of moso bamboo was 50 million culms and that

of middle- and small-sized bamboo culms was 80,000 tons. This greatly

exceeds local annual production of 20 million culms of moso bamboo

and 40,000 tons of middle- and small-sized bamboos. In 2003, Anji

imported 29 million moso bamboo culms (semi-processed) and 40,000

tons of middle- and small-sized bamboos from other locations in China to

meet production demand. Insufficient resources resulted in the increase

of local bamboo prices. Local enterprises were urged to use cheaper

resources from other provinces such as Anhui, Fujian and Jiangxi, where

new primary processing bases had been established. The situation in

2005 was even more serious--the consumption of raw bamboo materials

136

amounted to 80 million culms, which was 3.38 times that of local

production.

6.1.3 Slow product development and lack of well-known brands

Most of the bamboo products in Anji are low in technical content and

fall in two categories--curtains and mats. These two major categories

make up 66.4% of the total bamboo industry production value in Anji.

Production of items high in technical content and value is developing

slowly and include flavone extraction from bamboo leaves, bamboo

fibre, charcoal and tar acids. Most enterprises could not develop their

own brands or have their products certified because of poor technical

capacity. This has blocked product quality improvement and impaired

the local industry‘s ability to compete in domestic and international

markets.

6.1.4 Poor efficiency as a result of uncontrolled competition

No powerful bamboo industry association exists which can unite all

bamboo enterprises and create a healthy, orderly and balanced

environment for competition. Price cutting became the most frequently

used competition method which resulted in the profit loss for the whole

industry. For example, the export price of door curtains to Japan was 50

RMB/sheet in the late 1990s and dropped to 32 RMB/sheet in 2002

because of uncontrolled competition. However, the selling price of door

curtains did not rise accordingly and has been kept at 1,980 Japanese

Yen (130 RMB)/sheet. The low exporting price resulted in low profits. The

same happened to bamboo flooring exports. While the price of raw

materials has been increasing and the selling price of bamboo flooring in

Europe and America has stayed at a constant USD 50/m2, the price of

exports has dropped from USD 28/m2 in the mid-1990s to USD 18-20/m2

from in 2002 and USD 15-16/m2 in 2005.

6.1.5 Challenges in biodiversity protection

In recent years, the government of Anji County has paid great attention

to eco-environmental protection and about 40% of bamboo forests

have been designated ecological forests for public welfare. The forest

structure, however, has been challenged by the over-planting of

bamboo. Out of the total forest area in Anji of 131,900 hectares, 66,700

hectares or 51% of the land is populated with bamboo. Many new

bamboo plantations are established every year because farmers are

eager to reap their economic returns. Local bamboo species are mostly

monopodial and the increase in bamboo forests area by rhizome

extension is at least 0.8% annually or at least 500 hectares per year.

Furthermore, 80% of the bamboo found in Anji is moso bamboo

137

(phyllostachys var. pubescens). The risk of a dominant mono-species is

increasing.

6.2 Bamboo industry development potential

Even though it faces many challenges, great potential still exists for the

bamboo industry in Anji. Local government officials and technologists

have been searching for ways to increase the speed, effectiveness and

sustainability of the industry‘s development. The following issues are

being considered:

6.2.1 Improving bamboo plantation management to increase unit

production

The total area of moso bamboo in Anji is 50,733 hectares, among which

only 7,333 hectares were of high-yield bamboo producing a value of

over 30,000 RMB/hectare annually. The other 85% of bamboo were of

low-yield plantations. With cooperation from the local government,

officials and technicians worked with farmers to establish pilot sites of

high-yield bamboo for culm or shoot (winter, spring and rhizome shoots)

harvesting, and low-yield bamboo rehabilitation. These sites saw good

results. For example, the experiment sites (320 hectares) in Wulicun

Village, Tianhuangping Township established with the Anji Forestry Bureau

and Zhejiang Forestry College reached a net income of 45,000 RMB

annually. The data from local experiment sites showed that there is

potential for increasing production without expanding bamboo

plantation areas.

6.2.2 Promoting bamboo-based eco-tourism

As the demand for eco-tourism has increased, Anji will no doubt become

a center for eco-tourism due to its rich bamboo resources and

preferential location near large municipalities such as Hangzhou,

Shanghai and Nanjing. Data shows that the annual increase in the

number of tourists in Anji was 40% from 2000 to 2003. Income generated

from the tourism industry in 2003 was 490 million RMB. This number

continues to grow as 3.116 million tourists brought in a revenue of 950

million in 2005. With an estimated tourism production value of over 2

billion RMB by 2010, Anji would do well to fully explore and develop its

potential for community-based eco-tourism.

6.2.3 Structural adjustments and development of high value-added, low

raw material consumption bamboo products

As mentioned above, the government of Anji adopted policies to

support an increase in the technology capacity and economic

efficiency of the bamboo industry. For the following reasons, Anji is at the

138

threshold of developing high-tech and high-efficiency bamboo products:

1) Throughout the nearly fifteen years of development, many talented

locals have mastered bamboo processing technologies and bamboo

economy and trade laws. 2) Abundant capital has been accumulated,

making large-scale bamboo production possible (in 2002, there were 10

enterprises in Anji with annual output value exceeding 20 million RMB

and export value exceeding 10 million RMB). 3) A mature policy

environment supports bamboo industry development. 4) Technical

support from many research institutes and universities has been widely

available.

Since 2001, the local government has been making adjustments to the

structure of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries of bamboo.

Although their planned production goal will be realized in advance, the

local government still needs to intensify their efforts to balance the

industry structure. In 2004, the production value of Anji‘s bamboo industry

had reached 5 billion RMB.

Table 7 Bamboo industry development goals from 2001 to 2006 2001

(billion

RMB)

Accounting

for total %

2006

(billion

RMB)

Accountin

g for

total %

Annual

increased

rate %

Primary industry 0.4 12 0.55 8 8

Secondary

industry

2.74 83 6.0 86.8 17

Tertiary industry 0.16 5 0.36 5.2 18

Sum 3.3 6.91

Based on the actual progress of bamboo production in the first half of

2006, local authorities estimated that the five year development goals

will definitely be accomplished. The primary and tertiary industries will

exceed their production value goals, while the secondary industry will

reach its target value.

6.2.4 Strengthening the association of local bamboo industry (NGO)

Bamboo industry associations consist of bamboo processing enterprises,

bamboo farmers, relevant government officials and technicians. The

function of these associations is to promote cooperation and exchange

among partners, regulate behavior as well as to promote the sustainable

development of Anji bamboo industry. The experience of other counties

shows that a good NGO could play an important role in extending

technologies and improving the capacity of the local industry,

coordinating between the private sector and the local government,

strengthening market development at home and abroad, and providing

debate and cooperation platforms for its members.

139

Bamboo and Rattan: Custom Codes and Trade

Statistics

Abstract: Due to the deterioration of global environment and pressure on

the supply of timber resources, bamboo has garnered more and more

attention from both producer and consumer countries throughout the

world. Bamboo industry and trade contribute greatly to the global

economy and trade. This study used UN Comtrade data to analysis the

global trade status of bamboo / rattan products. The global trade

statistics of these products with different UN codes system before and

since 2007 were compared and analyzed. Most of these products were

traded within and between Asia and Europe. China, EU, USA, Japan and

other Asian countries. More efforts need to be made to add new HS

Codes for bamboo and rattan products sot that the quality of global

bamboo / rattan trade data can be improved through international

cooperation and data research.

1 HS Codes of Bamboo Products

The Harmonized Coding System (HS) is a 6-digit commodity classification

system developed in the 1980s by the Customs Cooperation Council,

later renamed the World Customs Organization (WCO) . There were 9 HS

codes for bamboo, of which only 1 code was given to bamboo products

specially, that is ―bamboo for plaiting‖ and the rest 8 codes were not

differentiated from the codes of wood products or other similar materials.

For example, bamboo shoot products are not distinguished separately

from preserved vegetables. Additionally, these traditional codes didn‘t

reflect developments of industrial bamboo commodities such as

bamboo flooring, panels, boards, pulp and paper, fabrics, charcoal and

shoots.

With the aim of improving the quality of bamboo trade data, INBAR and

the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) helped to

develop 9 new, 6-digit codes for bamboo and 2 for bamboo and rattan

furniture and seats to reflect the changes in the industries over the last

10-15 years. These were formally approved by WCO in 2005, and have

been effective since 2007.

Each code should represent at least US$50 million annual trade

according to HS requirements, otherwise it is not added to the list. At

present, most bamboo products, both newly developed products,

including pulp and paper, bamboo panels, charcoal and traditional

products, such as basketwork, mats and screens, and preserved

bamboo shoots, are listed in individual categories. However, the codes

still need improvement. Some products still end up listed in inappropriate

product categories or are not differentiated from other similar products.

Table 1 Harmonized System (HS) codes for bamboo

140

Codes in 2007 Codes before 2007

Codes Code description Codes Code description

# Bamboo raw materials

140110 Bamboo for plaiting 140110 Bamboo for plaiting

140190 Veg. materials used for

plaiting(incl. bamboo)

# Bamboo plaited products

*460121 Bamboo mats and

screens

460120 Mats and screens(incl.

bamboo)

*460192 Bamboo plaits and

plaited prods

460110 Plaited products(incl.

bamboo)

460191 Plaits and plaited

prods(incl. bamboo)

*460211 Bamboo basketwork 460210 Basketwork(incl.

bamboo)

# Bamboo industrial products

*440210 Bamboo charcoal

*440921 Bamboo shaped

products

*441210 Bamboo plywood

*470630 Bamboo pulp

*482361 Bamboo paper

articles

# Furniture and seats

*940151 Bamboo and rattan

furniture

940150 Furniture (incl. bamboo)

*940381 Bamboo and rattan

seats

940380 Seats(incl. bamboo)

# Bamboo shoots

*200591 Preserved bamboo

shoot

200590 Preserved

vegetables(incl. shoot)

Note: * new codes effective since 2007; # headings for description

purpose only in this paper.

The revision of bamboo codes reflects the rapid development of the

global bamboo industry and the increasing trade of bamboo products. It

also indicates that bamboo products and trade have been drawing

attention both from producer countries and consumer countries.

2 An Overview of Global Bamboo and Rattan Trade

The total export trade value of product sectors including bamboo

increased to US$ 6.99 billion in 2007 from US$ 3.89 billion in 1995, with an

average annual growth rate of 6%. Products exports grew substantially,

of which furniture increased fastest, up from US$ 0.90 billion to US$ 2.24

billion between 1995 and

Table 2 Global trade of product sectors including bamboo?

Unit: million USD

141

Import Export

Value Proportion Value Proportion

140110 Bamboo for plaiting 134 0.02 53 0.01

140190 Veg. materials used

for plaiting 93 0.01 74

0.01

Sub-total of raw materials 227 0.03 127 0.02

460110 Plaited products 0 -- 0 --

460121 Mats and screens 362 0.05 465 0.07

460211 Basketwork 1887 0.25 1424 0.20

460191 Plaits and plaited

prods 64 0.01 70

0.01

Sub-total of plaited products 2313 0.31 1960 0.28

940150 Furniture 2069 0.28 2240 0.32

940380 Seats 618 0.08 378 0.05

Sub-total of furniture and

seats 2687 0.36 2618 0.37

200590 Preserved

vegetables 2283 0.30 2288

0.33

Sub-total of shoots 2283 0.30 2288 0.33

Grand total 7510 1.00 6992 1.00

2007 with an annual average of growth rate of 11%, followed by

preserved vegetables, mats and screens with the growth rate of 8%

(Figure 1).

2.3 Trade Flow of Product Sectors including Bamboo Trade in 2007

According to UN Comtrade data, China, Indonesia, EU, the Philippines

and USA were the top five exporters of product sectors including

bamboo with market shares of 38%, 10%, 9%, 2% and 2% respectively in

2007. EU, USA, Japan, Canada and Singapore were the top five

importers, responsible for over 59% of the total imports value of bamboo

products, including raw materials, plaited products, furniture and seats.

According the data analysis, China was the largest exporter of raw

materials with a value of US$ 37 million in 2007, nearly 30% of the total

export value. EU was the largest importers of raw materials with a value

of US$ 68 million, 30% of the total import value of materials. China,

Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and USA were the top 5 exporters

of plaited products including basketwork, mats and screens and EU, USA,

Japan, Canada and Korea were the top 5 importers. China, EU, USA,

Thailand and Malaysia were the top five exporters of furniture and seats,

USA, EU, Canada, Japan and Singapore were the top five importers of

furniture and seats.

3 Global Trade with New Codes

In cooperation with the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)

and European Forest Institute (EFI), the International Network for Bamboo

and Rattan developed the Bamboo and Rattan Trade Database from

2003, based on UN Comtrade data, utilizing the Harmonized Commodity

142

Description and Coding System (HS) used by World Customs

Organization (WCO) (INBAR 2007).

3.1 Trade Statistics for Global Bamboo Trade

Bamboo trade data, partly using the new codes, was updated in the

global bamboo and rattan trade database (INBAR 2007). The total

export value using the new codes in 2007 was US$ 2.15 billion, which was

a lot less than the data according to the code system before 2007 and

obviously indicated that the new codes are more accurate for some

specific codes and products, such as preserved bamboo shoots. The

export trade value for bamboo raw materials, bamboo plaited products,

bamboo industrial products, furniture and seats, and bamboo shoots

were US$ 0.06 billion, US$ 0.55 billion, US$ 0.67 billion, US$ 0.65 billion and

US$ 0.23 billion respectively, representing proportions of 3%, 25%, 31%,

30% and 11% of the total (Table 3).

The data with new codes in 2007 reflected a more accurate and proper

composition and proportion of main bamboo products in global market,

although the current bamboo products trade statistics still misestimate

global bamboo trade as furniture and seats share codes with rattan and

some bamboo products are not classified from wood and similar

materials. In addition, a considerable proportion of national bamboo

trade data is not stated, as many countries have not started using the

new codes or have not completed transfer and updating according to

the new codes.

3.2 Trade Statistics for Bamboo Products in EU

As the largest importer and the third largest exporter of bamboo

products in the world, EU used and developed its commodity codes

within the framework of UN coding system and updated timely. There are

13 codes for bamboo products in EU coding system, of which one extra

code was given to bamboo shoot other than preserved bamboo shoots

(EU 2008). According to EU trade statistics, the total trade value of

bamboo products in EU decreased from 2007 to 2008, of which the

export value

Table 3 Global export trade value of bamboo products in 2007

Unit: Million USD

Codes Bamboo products

Data with

old codes

Data with

new

codes

Data

difference

140110 Bamboo for plaiting 53 55 2

Sub-total of bamboo raw

materials 127 55 -72

460211 Basketwork 1424 289 -1135

460121 Mats and screens 465 230 -235

460192 Plaits and plaited 70 28 -42

143

prods

Sub-total of bamboo plaited

products 1960 547 -1413

440210 Bamboo charcoal -- 58 58

440921 Bamboo shaped

products -- 298 298

441210 Bamboo plywood -- 248 248

470630 Bamboo pulp -- 62 62

482361 Bamboo paper

articles -- 3 3

Sub-total of bamboo industrial

products -- 669 669

940151 Furniture 2240 333 -1907

940381 Seats 378 320 -58

Sub-total of furniture and seats 2618 653 -1965

200591 Preserved bamboo

shoots 2288 227 -2061

Grand Total 6992 2151 -4841

decreased from US$ 108 million to US$ 79 million and the import value

decreased from US$ 612 million to US$ 466 million. N.B. It should be noted

that these figures are for import and export into and from the EU as a

single unit, and do not include the import and export between EU

countries As the largest importer of bamboo products, the total import

value in 2008 was US$ 466 million, of which 9% was for bamboo raw

materials (US$ 44 million), 6% for bamboo shoot (US$ 26 million), 11% for

bamboo industrial products (US$ 51 million), 27% for bamboo plaited

products (US$ 129 million), 22% for furniture (US$ 105 million) and 24% for

seats (US$ 111 million). As a significant exporter, the total export value of

bamboo products from EU in 2008 was US$ 79 million, of which 55% were

furniture and seats, 24% for bamboo industrial products, 11% for bamboo

shoots, 7% for bamboo plaited products and 3% for bamboo for plaiting.

A comparison of trade value of bamboo products based on UN

Comtrade data and EU trade statistics in 2008 was made to address the

data differences by different data sources (table 4). As shown in table 4,

there was a data difference between UN Comtrade data and EU trade

statistics, of which UN Comtrade data overestimated US$ 28 million of the

export value of EU in 2008 and US$ 5 million of the import value in 2008.

3.3 Trade Statistics for Bamboo Products in China

As the largest exporter of bamboo products in the world, China

developed it national 8-digit codes within the framework of UN coding

systems. Up to 2007, 26 codes had been set for bamboo products in

China, of which 5 individual codes are given to bamboo shoot products,

8 codes to various bamboo panels, 6 to other industrial bamboo

products, including bamboo charcoal, chopsticks, sticks, pulp and

paper, 4 to bamboo plaited products, and 2 to furniture and seats

144

(mixed with rattan) and 1 to bamboo raw materials (China‘s Custom

2008).

The total export value of bamboo products from China in 2008 was

US$ 1.36 billion, of which 14%(US$ 193 million) was for bamboo shoots,

44%(US$ 594 million) for bamboo plaited products, 3%(US$ 35 million) for

furniture and seats, 24%(US$ 324 million) for bamboo flooring, 4% (US$ 56

million) for other panels, 8%(US$ 105 million) for chopsticks and sticks,

2%(US$ 33 million) for bamboo for plaiting and the rest 1% included

bamboo charcoal, pulp and paper articles(Zhang 2009). The total import

value of bamboo products in China in 2008 is about US$ 16 million, of

which 50% was for pulp and paper articles, 21% for raw materials, 7% for

furniture and seats.

Table 4 Trade value and composition of bamboo products in EU in 2008

Unit: Million USD

Code Products

Import Export

UN

data

EU

data

UN

data

EU

data

140110 Bamboo for plaiting 46.4 43.76 2.46 2.32

Sub-total of bamboo raw

materials 46.4 43.76 2.46 2.32

460211 Basketwork 38.69 36.49 1.85 1.75

460121 Mats and screens 15.39 14.52 0.97 0.92

460192 Plaits and plaited

prods 82.19 77.52 2.8 2.65

Sub-total of bamboo plaited

products 136.27 128.53 5.62 5.32

440210 Bamboo charcoal 8.45 7.97 1.45 1.37

440921 Bamboo shaped

panels 38.61 36.42 6.86 6.47

441210 Bamboo plywood 3.05 2.87 8.85 8.35

470630 Bamboo pulp 0.23 0.22 0.12 0.11

482361 Bamboo paper articles 4.16 3.92 2.86 2.69

Sub-total of bamboo industrial

products 54.5 51.4 20.14 18.99

940151 Furniture 118.1 111.4 5.44 5.13

940381 Seats 111.15 104.84 40.52 38.22

Sub-total of furniture and seats 229.25 216.24 45.96 43.35

200591 Preserved bamboo

shoots 27.59 26.03 9.61 9.06

Grand Total 494.01 465.96 83.81 79.04

Although the new codes were developed for more bamboo products,

the current UN Comtrade data still overestimates the actual trade

situation. A comparison of trade statistics in China in 2008 based on the

data of UN Comtrade coding system and Chinese national codes

showed the trade data differences with new codes for bamboo (table 5).

145

Data difference of the total export value of China in 2008 between UN

Comtrade data and Chinese national data was about US$ 316 million,

which mainly came from bamboo shoot products other than preserved

bamboo shoots, bamboo plaits and plaited products, bamboo

chopsticks, sticks and sculpture. Obviously, it showed that some very

important bamboo products with a big trade market have not been

classified in appropriate categories in UN Comtrade data and further

adjustment should be done for the 6-digit HS codes of bamboo products.

4 Conclusions and Recommendations

4.1 Importance of Global Bamboo Trade

As the most important non-timber forest product resource, bamboo is

closely bound up with the life and existence of 1.5 billion people around

the world, benefiting not only the producer countries but also the

consumers in many developed countries. Global bamboo trade over

recent decades has increased continuously, both in terms of the total

value of exports and imports and the number of exporters and importers

of bamboo products. The main bamboo products in the global market

are raw materials, traditional plaited products, further-processed

products, furniture and bamboo shoots. Asian countries with abundant

bamboo resource and traditional bamboo industry are the major

exporters of bamboo products in global market, especially China, which

dominates the exporting market with a very significant market share. EU

and USA contribute to the exporting market greatly as well, with their

advanced processing technology. EU, USA and Japan are the top

importers of bamboo products, either raw materials, or traditional

products and value-added products.

4.2 Necessity of Additional New HS Codes for Bamboo and Rattan

Products

UN Comtrade data has started to separate the main bamboo

commodities from rattan and many wooden products.

Table 5 Export trade value of bamboo products in China in 2008

Unit: million USD

Code Products UN

data

China‘s

data

Data

difference

14011000 Bamboo for plaiting 33.59 33.14 0.45

Sub-total of bamboo raw materials 33.59 33.14 0.45

44021000 Bamboo charcoal 7.24 5.26 1.98

44092110 Bamboo flooring - 324.33 -324.33

44092190 Bamboo shaped

products 329.34 5.03 324.31

44121011~1099 Bamboo plywood 72.2 51.32 20.88

44190032 Bamboo chopsticks -- 75.50 -75.5

44219022 Bamboo sticks -- 29.92 -29.92

44201010 Bamboo sculpture -- 11.03 -11.03

146

47063000 Bamboo pulp 3.29 3.72 -0.43

48236100 Bamboo paper

articles 0.01 0.04 -0.03

Sub-total of bamboo industrial

products 412.08 506.16 -94.08

46012100 Bamboo mats and

screens 195.06 330.56 -135.50

46021100 Bamboo basketwork 189.50 222.49 -32.99

46019210/9290 Plaits and plaited

products 13.85 41.04 -27.19

Sub-total of bamboo plaited products 398.41 594.09 -195.68

94015100 Bamboo and rattan

seats 17.79 13.79 4

94038100 Bamboo and rattan

furniture 22.43 20.99 1.44

Sub-total of furniture and seats 40.22 34.79 5.43

07099010 Fresh bamboo shoots - 5.17 -5.17

07119031 Salted bamboo

shoots - 11.23 -11.23

07129010 Dried bamboo shoots - 13.51 -13.51

20059110 Preserved bamboo

shoots 161.54 145.74 15.80

20099190 Other preserved

bamboo shoots - 17.72 -17.72

Sub-total of bamboo shoots 161.54 193.37 -31.83

Grand Total 1045.84 1361.56 -315.72

However it is still insufficient and needs to be further improved. For

example, bamboo furniture and seats still share codes with rattan, and

many important products are still classified in other categories without

specific codes, such as bamboo chopsticks, craftwork as well as some

new products including bamboo fiber and chemical products. Therefore,

efforts to add new HS codes for bamboo products should be made and

promoted with the cooperation of WCO, INBAR and our member

countries.

4.3 International Cooperation on Trade Codes and Data Quality

The production and consumption of bamboo and rattan products major

is concentrated in Asia and Europe. The related trading countries have

better developed commodity codes for bamboo products. For example,

the 8-digit codes in China increased from 12 to 25 in 1992-2007 with more

bamboo products classified from wood, vegetables and similar materials

in China‘s Customs codes. As one of the key importers of bamboo

products, and especially as the largest importer of bamboo shoots,

Japan has developed bamboo HS codes with individual codes for

bamboo shoots, chopsticks, charcoal, etc. To improve the quality of

present trade data international cooperation on code and data

147

research should be further enhanced and countries need to exchange

information on bamboo and rattan trade statistics.

148

BAMBOO AS A BUILDING MATERIAL FOR THE 21ST

CENTURY

SHYAM K PAUDEL1

1. Senior Programme Officer, International Network for Bamboo and

Rattan, Beijing 100102, PR China, Email: spaudel@inbar.int

Abstract: Increasing global population haswh significantly increased the

demands of sustainable building materials. A report reveals that currently

about 1.4 million housing units are built and it represents 55-60% of all the

environmental impacts. It is also said that more than 40 trees are required

to build a good size wood frame house. The increased demand of timber

has caused global deforestation at the rate of 0.2% annually of the total

forest area that accounts for 7.5 million hectares of the forest. It has

posed a question whether the current building materials are sustainable

to meet the global demands of housing.

There is a serious concern to look for alternative housing materials that

are cheap, widely available and environmentally friendly. Bamboo has

been found excellent building material due to its versatile characteristics.

It is estimated that more than a billion people live in bamboo houses

mostly in developing worlds. Additionally, its ecological and economical

characteristics have made it a sustainable building material.

Various testing, researches and practical experiences have revealed

that bamboo has high tensile strength, high strength to weight ration and

high specific load bearing capacity. Due to its long, strong and elastic

nature of fibbers; bamboo is known as high resistance to the earth quake.

It has also natural insulation properties that would save thermal energy

and it is a very durable material if treated properly. This paper mainly

deals with the prospects, constraints and opportunities to use bamboo as

building material in the 21st century.

INTRODUCTION

The world population reached 6 billion in 1999 and is estimated to reach

7 billion soon after the year 2010. The overwhelming share of the growth is

taking place in developing countries. The population of developing

countries has more than doubled in 35 years, growing from 1.89 billion in

1955 to 4.13 billion in 1990 (Karl, 2000).

Growing population has a serious implication to the human settlement

and housing deficit. At least 600 million urban dwellers in Africa, Asia and

Latin America live in ―life and health threatening homes‖. Increasing

149

number of urban poor is also homeless in both developed and

developing countries with current estimate of over 100 million (Karl, 2000).

Housing deficit affects two millions only in Central America (Quintans,

1998) and is more than 22 million units in India from 2002 to 2007 and 7

million in Pakistan (Bastani and Klein, ND). In Asia (excluding China) in

1998, 45% of the population lived as squatters and informal rent-paying

residents (Bastani and Klein, ND). In addition the frequent natural

disasters such as Hurican Katrina, Tsunami and the recent earthquakes in

Indonesia have made hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

The increased housing deficits have increased the demands of

affordable and sustainable building materials. One report reveals that

currently about 1.4 million housing unit are built annually that represents

55-60% of all the environmental impacts in the urban areas.

Wood has been one of the most important building materials and said to

be more environmentally friendly than concrete and steel if they are

harvested from the sustainable sources. However, the demand of wood

and annual harvest is rising with the increasing population. The increased

demand of timber has caused global deforestation at the rate of 0.1.8%

annually of the total forest area that accounts for an average of 7.3

million hectares of the forest (FAO, 2005)

The short supply of timber and the rising costs of other conventional

construction make it imperative to increasingly use the alternative

sustainable material for housing such as bamboo.

BAMBOO AS A SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIAL

Bamboo as a dynamic plant

Bamboo is a giant grass. There are about 75

genera and 1250 species worldwide (Sharma,

1980), with total bamboo areas about 22 million

hectares and with a yield of 2000 million tons

(Zehui, 2007). It grows from tropical to sub-

temperate regions, though the great diversity is

found in sub-tropical region. It is known to be one

of the fastest growing plants in the world. Its growth

rate ranges from 30 cm to 100 cm per day.

Bamboo grows densely sometime more than

10,000 culms per hectare and can be easily

regenerated naturally. Bamboo attains its

maximum size in 60-90 days of shoot sprouting and can be harvested in 3

to 6 years depending upon species. Bamboo multiplying is very easy as it

expands naturally with rhizome. Its natural expansion capacity and short

rotation have made it well known as an environmentally green plant.

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Bamboo has a very long history for its use in various purposes such as

food, shelter, furniture etc. Bamboo has been serving humanity from

cradle to grave in many countries since ages in many different and

ingenious ways. It has strength, flexibility and versatility and therefore is

suitable material for the various types of construction.

Bamboo as a building material

Bamboo is one of the oldest materials used for the construction of houses

and other structures. Its strength, flexibility and versatility make it a

suitable material for addressing every housing component when treated

and used properly. Bamboo is relatively cheap, easy to work with and

readily available in most warm climate countries. It is estimated that

more than one billion people in the world live in bamboo house and in

Bangladesh alone more than 70% houses are made up of bamboo (Vries,

2002).

Bamboo can be a potential building material in the most of the

developing countries where it grows. Fortunately, it grows in the most of

the African and Asian countries where the affordable and sustainable

building materials are in high demands. There are 65 species of bamboo

which are used in construction purpose (Jayanetti and Follet, 1998).

Gauda augustifolia is the mst popular species in Latin America countries.

Similarly, Bambusa nutans, Dendrocalamus strictus, Dendrocalamus

hamiltonii Bambusa balcooa, Bambusa vulagris, Phyllostachys

bambusoides are widely used in Asian countries. Bambusa

arundinaceae and Bambusa vulgaries are found to be very suitable

species for construction in Africa (Oteng, 2002).

Mechanical and physical properties of bamboo

Various physical and mechanical testing carried out for various species

of bamboo revealed that it is strong enough to be used as a building

material. In certain mechanical properties, bamboo even surpasses

timber and concrete. However, it is difficult to generalize the properties

of bamboo as it differs with the species, age, climatic factors, moisture

content and different heights of the culm.

Generally, the density of bamboo varies from 500 to 800 kg/m3. Bamboo

possesses excellent strength properties especially tensile strength. Study

shows that bamboo is as strong as wood and some species even exceed

the strength of Shorea robusta and Tectona grandis (Sattar, 1995, table

1). An increase in strength is reported to occur at 3-4 years and

thereafter it decreases. Therefore maturity period of bamboo is

considered 3-4 years with respect to density and strength.

Table 1: Comparison of important strength properties of bamboos and

wood of India

Species SG MC (%) MOR

(Kg/cm2)

MOE

(Kg/cm2)

MCS

(Kg/cm2)

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Bambusa bambos 0.65 15.5 674 65000 483

B. nutans 0.72 16.0 545 85000 508

B. tulda 0.71 14.9 506 82650 615

D. strictus 0.72 10.7 1184 159490 645

Tectona grandis 0.60 12.0 959 119600 532

Shorea robusta 0.71 12.0 1318 162045 641

Source: Sattar (1995)

Note: Kg/cm2 = Kilogram per square centimeter; SG = Specific Gravity;

MC = Moisture Content; MOR = Modulus of Rupture; MOE = Modulus of

Elasticity; MCS = Maximum Crushing Strength.

The comparison clearly reveals that bamboo is better in properties than

that of Spruce and equal or more than steel in tensile strength. More

importantly the failure in bending of bamboo is not actually totally failure.

Due to its strong fibers, it first cracks unlike timber which breaks if bending

fails (Janssen 2000). This quality of bamboo gives an opportunity to repair

or replace failure parts of house. The elasticity of bamboo is better than

wood for seismic resistant housing and as has been proved in the case of

several small houses. One more advantage of bamboo over timber is

that it does not have rays. Rays are mechanically weak therefore

bamboo material is better in shear than timber material.

STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNTIES AND THREATS (SWOT) OF

PROMOTING BAMBOO FOR HOUSING

A. Strengths

i. Environmental friendly

Control of deforestation: Bamboo also helps to prevent deforestation.

Bamboo could be used to replace the use of timber for housing. Due to

high culms density per unit area and short rotation, bamboo forest could

be highly productive can produce as much as 2000 culms per hectare

per year. An study from Costa Rica revealed that only 70 hectares of

bamboo plantation were sufficient to build 1000 bamboo houses per

year. Additionally, bamboo can be regenerated within 2-3 years while

that with timber could take longer than 25 years. It is the fastest growing

plant of the world and the replacement is easier and faster.

Long term environmental impacts: The life cycle study done by Prof

Murphy of London imperial college using the environmental parameters

revealed the interesting result that if environmental impact of a masonry

building is assumed to be 100%, the bamboo house contributes only

about 60% of the masonry building. However, the study also found that

the most of the environmental impacts of the bamboo house comes

from the concrete foundation as the foundations of the both type of

houses are similar. When the foundation is not included in the study, the

rest of the parts of the bamboo house contribute less than 40% impacts

in many environmental parameters (Murphey et al 2004). In addition,

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bamboo is said to be 30% more efficient in carbon sequestration than

other plants due to its fast growth and short rotation.

Energy saving: Bamboo is one of the most environmentally friendly

materials and its process and production consumes limited energy.

Bamboo has a zero waste as all the parts of the bamboo can be utilized

efficiently. Bamboo dust has been used for making particle board and

insulation brick. Bamboo requires a little energy for the production of

normal use of several building materials. It requires only 30 Mega joules

per cubic meter (MJ/m3) per Newton millimeter square (N/mm2)

compared to concrete, steel and timber that require 240, 500 and 80

MJ/m3 per N/mm2 respectively (Janssen 2000). Studies show that

processing of bamboo requires only 1/8 of the energy that concrete

needs to create a building material of the same capacity. In comparison

to steel bamboo needs only 1/50 the amount of energy for its processing

(Roach 1996).

ii. Social Adaptability

Construction with bamboo requires minimum technology. Most of the

bamboo houses are based on existing local technology. It also allows

self-help construction with greater flexibility, which develops ownership

and intimacy to the people. However, Its versatility offers multiple

technological options from very economic to highly expensive buildings

with greater flexibility in designing and construction including high end

buildings for the wealthy citizens of the world. Bamboo has the potential

not only to provide homes for the homeless, but also to provide quick

relief shelters in disaster affected areas

iii. Economical

Low cost: Of all the great advantages of bamboo housing is that its low

cost compared to wood and masonry. The cost of one house built by

Viviendas del Hogar de Cristo (VHC) in Ecuador is less than US$ 500 which

is affordable to the low to middle class people.

As a raw material bamboo is one of the cheapest construction materials.

A full length culm costs less than a dollar in the most of the countries

where it grows. INBAR‘s experiences on the construction of

demonstration bamboo houses in many countries reveal that bamboo

houses can be more 50% cheaper than conventional concrete building.

The modern bamboo house built in Nepal costs around USD 70 per

square meter which is almost 50% cheaper than the conventional

building. Similarly, the INBAR‘s demonstration building in Ethiopia costs

around USD 100.00 per square meter which is around 60% cheaper than

normal concrete building in the country.

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Viviendas del Hoger de Cristo (VHC): Ecuador

Viviendas del Hogar de Cristo (VHC) is a Non Governmental

Organization, which started its work in Guayaquil in 1971. It is a non profit

organization that aims to give shelter to the homeless, strengthen the

family unit and promote human and spiritual value at home. As a first

step towards a better life, VHC offers migrants and other homeless

people a temporary, affordable and low cost house made of bamboo.

In general a VHC house with all its components of bamboo and wood is

fabricated about 2.5 hours resulting daily production 50-80 houses at the

VHC production plant and a house can be assembled in a single day

with minimal instruction and the help of friends. Clients are offered credits

of US$ 450.00 which can be paid back over three years. During 30 years,

VHC provided houses for more than 61000 families. In the early years

averages of 160 houses were built per year and went up 843 per year in

1984. Presently they produce 80 houses a day (INBAR/VHC 2002).

There are a number of different designs of houses and these are evolved

gradually over the years. Houses are designed to fit in three sizes - small

(3.3m x 6.4m), medium (4 m x 6.4m) and large (6.5m x 6.4 m). The houses

are not made entirely of bamboo but consists of prefabricated wooden

frames with bamboo panels attached (Diacon, 1998).

The main division is between ground level houses and raised on stilts. The

raised foundation is for better air circulation from base and for storage

The VHC houses are rectangular in shape with the surface area varying

from 20.5 m2 to 41 m2. They have both one and two sides slope gable

roof (Vries 2002). These houses lack basic facilitates such as toilet, kitchen

etc.

As the bamboo and wood used are not treated, the estimated durability

of these houses is not much longer than 5 years. However life could be

extended by preservation of bamboo and improvements with additional

materials such as stones and clay (INBAR/VHC 2002).

Community based production chain and Local employments: The

manufacturing of the low cost bamboo houses provide employment to

a large number of people including extra employment generation in its

forward and backward linkages such as cultivation, harvesting, primary

processing, transport and marketing of bamboo. In India only, bamboo

generates jobs for a total of 60-72 million workdays before primary

processing and 120 million workdays for weaving works (Janssen 2000).

Bamboo housing can boost environmentally sustainable growth of local

economies by providing great opportunities for communities to improve

their livelihood standards by linking them into the production and supply

154

chain. Bamboo based production chain would not only provide

affordable and environmentally friendly housing, but would also

enhance local livelihood by involving the local community in the

management, harvesting, pre-processing, processing and the

assembling of building.

iv. Durable and safety

International standards: International bamboo building codes regulations

have been approved by ISO. National bamboo building codes for some

countries are also available or underway, facilitating a global approach

to building with bamboo.

Earthquake resistance: Bamboo‘s lightweight and favorable elastic

properties make the material highly resistant to earthquake. Research by

Eindhoven University and tests carried out by Timber Research and

Development Agency (TRADA) International for model bamboo houses

in India confirmed the capacity of bamboo as an effective earthquake

resistant material. The results of TRADA International demonstrated that

a bamboo structure can resist up to 7.8 Richter scale seismic forces

(Jayanetti 2005). Gutierez (2000) mentions that 30 houses in Costa Rica

located in the epicenter of 7.6 magnitude rector scale earthquake

survived without any damage. Many of the concrete homes and hotels

collapsed but all 30 bamboo-houses in the area remained intact.

B. Weaknesses and limitations

i. Non dimensional material

Bamboo is a non dimensional material and therefore doesn‘t come in

uniform shape and size. Based on species, age and locality bamboo has

different length of internodes, culms thickness, tapering ratio and size of

hollowness. Due to these non dimensional characters, it may require

skilled craftsmanship to work with especially for the jointing of the

bamboos.

ii. Quality and quantity of bamboo

There are more than 1200 species of bamboo. The most of them differ

greatly in their physical and mechanical properties. However, only a few

of them have been identified as suitable for the construction purpose

both by practical experiences and scientific testing. Moreover, the

properties of the same species may differ with location, age and

different height of the culms. It makes more difficult to choose a right

bamboo for the construction. Therefore, more scientific testing and

research are needed to develop simple tools to test the bamboo locally.

155

In addition, although there might be interests and demands from many

countries for bamboo housing, the limited availability of the specific

bamboo species for construction may inhibit the development of a large

scale bamboo housing project.

iii. Treatment knowledge

Bamboo doesn‘t long last if it is not treated properly. Unfortunately, the

knowledge on proper preservation and use of bamboo for the

construction has not reached in many parts of the world. It is one of the

main reasons for the less preference of the bamboo compared to other

building materials.

iv. Bamboo codes and standards

In many countries, it is not possible to bamboo houses without approved

national codes. Moreover it would be further difficulty for the owner of

the house to take house loan from bank. There is an international

bamboo building code, however the national codes are made for only

limited number of countries. This poses a serious limitation in promoting

bamboo buildings in many countries.

C. Opportunities

i. Improved technology

To mitigate the problems associated with non-dimensional material,

technology has been developed to process raw bamboos into panel,

board and beam. Panel and beam can be standardized for their

dimensions and properties. Houses made from such panels cane be pre-

fabricated and could be packed and shipped into other countries. Such

houses would be lightweight, cheaper and durable and would be

lucrative business in European market.

Similarly, bamboo mat corrugated sheet (BMCS) is a recent

development in bamboo housing sector. Bamboo can be used as

corrugated roofing sheet. The BMCS sheets are light and tough and are

easy to handle, and resistant to breakage. Tests show that material is

strong, fire and weather resistant with low thermal conductivity with

good insulating properties (Follet, 2003). It transmits much less heat to the

inside of the building compared to iron sheets due to high thermal

resistance. Additionally, it doesn‘t amplify the sound of heavy rain unlike

iron sheet (Hunter, 2003). It is higher quality and environmental friendly

compared to iron corrugated roof. The cost is also comparable and

affordable to lower income group.

ii. Wider target groups

156

One of the most obvious advantages of bamboo housing is that it offers

a range of building options from very low cost to expensive one. It

attracts both low and high income classes. Living in an environmentally

friendly home has become a fashion for many rich people in many

countries. Bamboo houses have been popular demand in Hawaii, USA

where a Hawaii based company supplies pre-fabricated bamboo

houses from Vietnam.

There are mainly two reasons that attract the rich class for the bamboo

house; i) it is aesthetic and ii) it is known as a green product. European

market is highly sensitive to uncertified forest products. Bamboo has a

reputation of being sustainable plant because of its reproductive

capacity and short rotation cycle compared to wood. This popularity

makes it easy marketable as a sustainable building resource (Paudel and

Lobovikov 2003).

iii. Resource availability

Although availability of required quantity of bamboo may be a problem

in some countries, it is still available in a wider range of climate

throughout the world as high as 4000m. Fortunately, it grows in the most

of the African and Asian countries where the need of the cheapest

building materials is important to address the housing shortage.

Additionally, experiences up till now suggest that suitable bamboo

species for construction are available in most of the countries where it

grows naturally. Jayanetti and Follet (1998) have listed 65 suitable

bamboo species for the construction (Jayanetti and Follet, 1998). Gauda

augustifolia is normally popular in Latin American countries for the

construction. Similarly, Bambusa nutans, Dendrocalamus strictus,

Dendrocalamus hamiltonii Bambusa balcooa, Phyllostachys

bambusoides are widely used in Asian countries. Bambusa

arundinaceae and Bambusa vulgaries are found to be very suitable

species for construction in Africa (Oteng, 2002).

iv. Housing in seismic and other disaster prone areas

Bamboo housing has a great potential in seismic and disaster prone

areas. Due to lightweight and favorable elastic property of bamboo, its

quality to resist earthquake pressure is very good. Bamboo houses can

be promoted in earthquake prone areas so as to reduce damage to

lives and properties. Similarly, bamboo pole could be a very important

material to provide relief shelter in the disaster areas. International

Organization for Migration (IOM) provided bamboo temporary shelters

for 10,000 earthquake affected families in 2006/2007 in Java, Indonesia.

D. Threats and challenges

157

i. Social stigma

Despite the overwhelming potentiality of bamboo housing for various

income classes, it has been facing problems for wider acceptability. The

problems, however, are mainly associated with ―people‘s perception‖.

The followings are the main misunderstandings;

It is a poor men’s timber: The status of bamboo is still in demeaning

compared to other housing materials. Despite engineering recognition

as a strong building material, prejudices of so-called ―poor men‘s timber‖

have abated its real value as a construction material and living in a

bamboo house can be a stigma on the family (Janssen, 2000). People

tend to plaster their houses to make them look like concrete houses. As

they think it is an indicator of poverty, as soon as they can afford to, they

tend to replace their bamboo buildings with masonry or concrete.

It is not durable: Generally, natural durability of bamboo varies from 1–7

years depending upon its use and exposure (Jayanetti and Follet 2000,

Janssen, 1995). As the knowledge and skills on bamboo treatment to

prolong the durability is mostly lacking in general population of the

developing countries, it is perceived as a temporary solution.

Lack of technology: Bamboo has been used traditionally since a long

period of time for housing and doesn‘t generally require high-tech.

However, there seems to be a feeling of technological gap among the

people to use bamboo in improved engineering designs. The general

tendency is that people likes to have a proven technology to avoid risks

involved in own innovation.

Lack of right bamboo species: It is heard most often people saying that

they don‘t have right bamboo for the construction as other countries

have. The reality is different. They have not tested their own natural

bamboo resources. Moreover, the most of the bamboo species can be

used for housing if they are processed into engineered panels.

ii. Improper use

There is a serious threat that improper and non-scientific uses of bamboo

for housing, and therefore quick deterioration of houses, may negatively

influence the overall image of bamboo for building in the future. There is

an urgent need to educate the public and building professionals at a

global level and raise awareness to avoid such a threat.

CONCLUSIONS

158

Bamboo is an excellent building material that offers a range of building

options from very low cost to high end and therefore can meet the

requirements of wider economic groups. However, there are still a few

constraints and limitations that inhibit the promotion of bamboo as a

building material at large. The main limitation is the misperception of

people regarding bamboo as a poor men‘s timber. However, such

perception could be altered with proper extension education such as

training, workshop, demonstration of high end buildings. In addition, use

of bamboo for public buildings such as school and office and

encouraging rich people to use bamboo can also boost its reputation

among the public.

The other problem of using bamboo lies within its own physical

characteristics. Bamboo is a non dimensional material and is very difficult

to use compared to other building material. However, technologies are

being emerged to process bamboo into panels and beams that could

be standardized for its dimensions as well as mechanical strengths. INBAR

has been working for the development of pre-fabricated modular

bamboo housing system using engineered bamboo panels and beams.

One of the main threats for the promotion of bamboo housing is

improper use of bamboo for the house construction. Untreated and

improper don‘t only reduce the life of the house but also spoil the overall

image of bamboo housing. There are various methods and ways to treat

bamboo. However such knowledge is needed to reach to the local

people who are in needs of such technology. Large scale training and

extension programmes are needed to bring technology at local level.

REFERENCES

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Diacon, D. (1998) Housing the homeless in Ecuador: Affordable housing

for the poorest of the poor. Building and Social Housing Foundation,

UK

Follet, P. and Paudel, S. K. 2003. Proceeding of Bamboo Housing

workshop Kumasi Ghana. INBAR proceeding

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Assessment (FRA) 2005. http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/fra2005/en.

accessed on 07 December 2007

Gutierrez, J.A. 2000. Structural Adequacy of Traditional Bamboo Housing

in Latin America. INBAR technical report no. 19

Hunter, I. R. (2003). Corrugated Bamboo Roofing. INBAR newsmagazine

Volume 10, Issue 1, June 2003.

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based houses: Viviendas Del Hogar de Cristo, Guayaquil, Ecuador.

159

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Report No 20.

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introduction. Published by TRADA and INBAR

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Human Settlements (UNCHS). Statistics for Environment Policy 2000.

Murphy, R. J. Trujillo D. Londono X. (2004) ―Life Cycle Assessment of a

Guadua House‖. Paper presented to Simposio Internacional

Guadua, Pereira, Colombia 27 Sept – 2 Oct, 2004.

Oten Amaoko, A. A. (2003), ―Sustainable Development of Bamboo

Resource of Ghana: an indispensable option‖. Paper presented

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for low income group. Journal of Bamboo and Rattan, No. 2 Vol. 4,

2003.

Quintans, K. N. 1998. Ancient Grass, Future Natural Resource. INBAR

working paper No.16. The National Bamboo project of Costa Rica‖

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Roach, M. 1996. Bamboo solution. Discover, June 1996, 93-96pp.

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prospects‖ Bamboo, People, The environment (1995) Vol. 3. INBAR

Technical report No. 8. Editors: Ramanuja Rao I.V. and Sastry C.B.

(Ed.)

Sharma, Y.M.L 1980. Bamboo in Asia Pacific Region, In Bamboo Research

in Asia G. Lessard and A. Chouiard (Eds.) World Publications,

Singapore, pp 99-120.

Vries, S. de. 2002. Bamboo construction Technology for housing in

Bangladesh: Opportunities and constraints of applying Latin

American bamboo construction technologies for housing in

selected rural villages of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Bangladesh‖.

Thesis submitted to Technical University of Eindhoven, the

Netherlands.

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Bamboo Based Panels

Prof. Chen Xuhe

Email: chenxuhe@icbr.ac.cn

Doctoral Instructor, ICBR

Research Fellow, Chinese Academy of Forestry

INBAR Distinguished Fellow for Life

Fellow, International Academy of Wood Science

President, China Wood Industry Society

INTRODUCTION

Bamboo is a fast growing renewable resource. Compared with wood,

bamboo has a higher strength/weight ratio and it can be a good

substitute for wood.

Bamboo has long been used for both structural and decorative uses,

mainly as culms. Because bamboo properties vary among species,

between culms of same species, and between pieces of the same culm,

bamboo culms cannot match reconstituted bamboo regarding the

properties that can be controlled by processing. When the variables for

processing are properly selected, the end result can sometimes surpass

nature‘s best effort. Panels are a good example of this processing.

Bamboo based panels are made from bamboo-based materials through

a series of mechanical and/or chemical processes (including addition of

adhesives); they pressed at a certain temperature and pressure, and

featured in large standard sizes, with good and stable physical and

mechanical properties. There is a big potential for bamboo based

panels to be used as engineering materials for decorative and/or

structural purposes.

Major bamboo based panels include bamboo flooring, bamboo

laminated lumber, bamboo veneer, bamboo plywood, corrugated

bamboo roofing sheets, bamboo particleboard, bamboo medium

density fiberboard, bamboo parallel strand lumber, etc.

BAMBOO FLOORING

Bamboo flooring is made from large-sized bamboo, in China especially

from moso bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycla var. pubescens), and the

major product multilayer parallel long-strip flooring can be divided into

three types: side pressed flooring and platen pressed flooring, where all

strips of the two types flooring are arranged in longitudinal direction; and

the combination of the two, cross-structured flooring, where the grains of

the strips in adjacent layers are crossed.

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Manufacturing Processes. Selecting → cross-cutting → splitting →

foreplaning → boiling (anti-mold, anti- pest treatment and bleaching) →

drying → fine planing → grading → glue spreading → assembling → hot

pressing → longitudinal trimming → four-side planing → groove and

tenon making → sanding → painting → inspecting → grading → packing

→ storing. In the process, urea formaldehyde resin adhesive is used,

200g/m2. For producing flooring in a thickness of 18 mm, hot pressing

time is 10 minutes, temperature 110-1200C, vertical pressure 2 MPa, and

side pressure 0.2 MPa.

Bamboo flooring is suitable for interior decoration such as floor and wall

decoration in sitting room, bed room, gymnasium, conference room,

hotels and restaurants, scriptorium, etc.

Table 1 Physical and mechanical properties of bamboo flooring(LY/T

1573–2000)

Bending

strength

≥

Bonding

strength

≥

Hardness

≥

Moisture

content

Density

≥

90.0MPa 2.92 Mpa 55.0MPa 8-11% 0.67g/cm3

Normal sizes of bamboo flooring are: surface net lengths: 900, 915, 920

and 950 mm; widths: 90, 92, 95, 100, and 110 mm; thickness: 9, 12, 15 and

18 mm.

BAMBOO LAMINATED LUMBER

Bamboo laminated lumber is made of machined strips through

preservation, drying, gluing, assembling, hot-pressing, finger jointing, and

laminating in width or both width and thickness directions. According to

the direction of the tenons of the lumber, there are two types of bamboo

laminated lumbers: horizontal tenon(H) type and vertical tenon (V ) type .

H type V type

1 2 3 4

1.Natural colored platen pressed flooring; 2.Natural colored side pressed flooring

3.Carbonized platen pressed flooring 4. Carbonized side pressed flooring Fig. 1 Multilayer long-strip flooring

C

162

Fig.2 Bamboo laminated lumber

Manufacturing Process. Bamboo selecting → raw cutting → splitting →

fore-planing → bamboo strips → boiling (anti-mold, pest treatment and

bleaching) → drying → fine planing → grading → adhesive application

and aging → assembling → hot-pressing → trimming → finger jointing →

trimming → sanding → bamboo laminated lumber → inspecting →

grading → packing → storing

Boiling. Similar to the boiling process of bamboo long-strip flooring.

Fine planing. Removing the outer skin and the inner yellow part of

bamboo strips, making the thickness of the strips uniform with fine

surfaces. The deviation of the thickness of bamboo strips should be kept

within ± 0.2 mm. Hard alloy metal tools are required.

Hot-pressing. Because laminated bamboo lumber is composed of long

strips of bamboo, hot-pressing should be applied in both vertical and

horizontal directions. The commonly used hot-presses are steam-heated

or high frequency electricity heated presses. The hot-pressing

temperature used for bamboo laminated lumber is the same as for

wood plywood. The normal temperature is 110-130 °C when urea-

formaldehyde adhesive is applied, and 120-160 °C when phenol-

formaldehyde adhesive is applied. The pressure can vary according to

the leveling degree of the bamboo strips, and usually is larger than that

for making wood panels..

Bamboo laminated lumber with a density of 0.85 g/cm3 has the following

properties:hardness 32HB,bending strength along grain 140 MPa,elastic

modulus 15000MPa.

Bamboo laminated lumber can be easily processed, such as cutting,

planing, carving, milling, grooving, drilling, sanding and surface painting,

and can be used for furniture, indoor decoration and for structural

applications.

Table 2 Common standardized sizes in mm of bamboo laminated

lumber

Length Width Thickness

915 1220 1830 2135 2440 915 10, 12, 16,

18, 20, 28. 915 1220 1830 2135 2440 1220

BAMBOO VENEER

Bamboo Sliced Veneer

163

Bamboo sliced veneer, a new type of decorative material with a

thickness between 0.15-1.5 mm, is made by slicing a bamboo plank,

which is laminated out of bamboo strips.

1. True-colored side pressed sliced veneer 2 .True-colored platen-

pressed sliced veneer 3.Carbonized side pressed sliced veneer

4. Carbonized platen pressed sliced veneer

Fig.3 Bamboo sliced veneer

Sliced veneer can be strengthened by nonwoven cloth on the back,

which results in a better tensile strength in cross direction. The finger

jointed nonwoven backed veneer is flat, flexible and often supplied in

rolls, easy to be handled. The sizes of nonwoven strengthened sliced

veneer can be 2440 x 1220 x 0.4-2 mm.

Fig. 4 Nonwoven strengthened sliced veneer

Bamboo sliced veneer can be widely used as the facing material for

furniture and interior decoration.

The processing of bamboo sliced veneer mainly include three parts: hot

pressing bamboo strips into panels, laminating bamboo panels into thick

plank by cold pressing and slicing thick plank into sliced veneers. The

processing flow is as below:

1 2

3 4

164

Bamboo selecting → cross-cutting → splitting → fore-planing → bamboo

strips → boiling (anti-mold, anti-pest treatment and bleaching) → drying

→ fine-planing → matching → sanding → fine matching → adhesive

applying → assembling → hot-pressing → bamboo panels → sanding →

adhesive application → laminating (cold-pressing) → thick bamboo

plank → softening → slicing → sliced veneers → drying → trimming → final

product

Selection of adhesive. Bamboo material is hard and not easy to be sliced.

The selected adhesive should be pliable and hot water resistant, to

avoid delamination of bamboo planks by the softening and by the

cutting tool in the slicing process. Usually, urea formaldehyde resin

modified with melamine adhesive, or aqueous high molecular

isocyanate emulsion mixed with urea formaldehyde resin, is used.

Hot pressing. Spread the adhesive on bamboo strips after fine selection,

the spreading rate should be 130-250g/m2, and after adhesive spreading

the strips can be directly assembled. The width of the bamboo panel

assembled is usually 320 - 460 mm. If it is too wide, the panel may hump

up during side-pressing, which would reduce the yield of veneer. When

making side pressed panels, the horizontal pressure should be 2.0-3.0

MPa, the vertical pressure should be 1.5-2.5 MPa (Li Yanjun, 2003). When

melamine modified urea formaldehyde adhesive is applied, the hot pressing time should be 12~15min, under temperature 85-95 ℃; when

aqueous high molecular isocyanate emulsion mixed with urea

formaldehyde resin is applied, the hot pressing temperature should not exceed 85 ℃, the pressing time should be 8-12 min. During hot pressing,

a release agent may be applied to avoid sticking problem.

Cold laminating. Bamboo panels are pressure treated with hot water of

40 – 50 ℃, under a pressure of 0.2 - 0.3 MPa for 3 - 5 h to increase the

moisture content. After blowing away excess water from the surfaces,

panels are applied with modified urea formaldehyde resin with a glue

spread of 180 - 250 g/m2, and then cold laminated into bamboo planks

under a pressure of 1.0 - 2.0 MPa for 2 - 4 h. The laminated bamboo

planks are stored for one day for softening treatment; see below.

Softening of bamboo plank. This step can reduce the resistance against

slicing, which improves the slicing quality and further removes sugar, fat

and protein in the bamboo material. When softening, the water temperature is normally set at 40-60 ℃, the temperature increase speed

is controlled within 1.5-2 ℃/h, the time is set at 24-48h. In order to

increase the softening speed, sometimes softeners are applied, such as

sodium hydroxide solution or industrial waterglass; the pH degree of the

solution should be adjusted to the alkalescency.

165

Slicing. After softening, the bamboo plank should be sliced immediately,

or the resistance will increase when the bamboo plank cools off, resulting

in a big deviation in thickness and poor surface quality. The parameters of slicing can be: rear cutting angle l-2o, cutting angle (18±1)o,

edge obliquity 5 o.

Fig. 5 Cutting angle setting

Peeled Veneer

Peeled veneer is made by peeling bamboo culm sections. In China

moso bamboo is usually used for making peeled veneer.

Divided by colors, there are true-colored veneers, made from bamboo

sections in original color and carbonized veneers, made from

carbonized bamboo sections.

Peeled veneer can also be strengthened by nonwoven cloth on the

back, giving a better tensile strength in cross direction. The finger jointed

nonwoven backed veneer is flat, flexible and often supplied in rolls, easy

to be handled.

Fig.6 Nonwoven strengthened bamboo veneer

The bamboo peeled veneer, with its good abrasive resistance, good

longitudinal mechanical properties, clear beautiful natural grains,

elegant colors, and easy to bleach and dye, is an ideal decoration

material for furniture and interior decoration applications.

Manufacturing process. The processing flow of bamboo peeled veneer is

as follows: Bamboo selecting → cross cutting → inner node removing →

carbonizing (optional) → softening → peeling → drying → clipping →

grading → applying nonwoven cloth → finger-jointing → packing and

storing

Selecting. Usually Moso bamboo is used with a diameter of 8-16 cm and

a wall thickness of 0.5-1.5 cm. Bamboo culms are cross cut into sections

with length no more than 1m .

166

Softening. This is one of the key steps of veneer peeling, which would

improve the peeling performance of the bamboo materials and protect

the bamboo veneer from pest and mold attack. Insufficient boiling may

result in broken veneers or low peeling quality; while over-boiling may

damage the bonds among fibers, resulting in color aberration and loss of

light luster on the veneer surface. These would degrade the final

products. Usually the softening time is 8-12 h under a temperature of 90-

100 ℃, a water temperature increase speed within 4-5℃/h, a pH degree

of 9-11. In order to increase the softening speed and to prevent rotting

and mold, some preservatives of good thermal diffusion capacity are

added to the water during softening .

Peeling. At present, for clamping bamboo sections two types of chucks

are used: fine spur chucks and distendable chucks. The cutting knife

must be sharp with good abrasive resistance .

Drying. After peeling, the veneer should be immediately dried. If the

veneer needs to be bleached, hydrogen peroxide solution needs to be

applied. Drying can be carried out after bleaching and washing. As

peeled bamboo veneer has a low tensile strength and a high shrinkage,

air drying is usually applied under temperature of 15-40 °C. Veneer

cannot be directly exposed to sunlight for drying. In order to increase

productivity, bamboo veneers can be dried at a higher temperature

with hot air flow. Clipping, grading and packing are carried out 20-30 h

later after drying to avoid damage of the veneer. The packed veneer

should be stored in dry and ventilated locations to avoid molding .

BAMBOO PLYWOOD

Bamboo plywood, one of the most important bamboo based panels, is

a flat panel built up of sheets of bamboo curtains and/or mats, united

under pressure by a bonding agent to create a panel with an adhesive

bond between plies.

Based on the differences in composition and assembling bamboo

plywood could be grouped into the following categories:

Bamboo mat plywood. Composed of bamboo mats as the basic

1 2 3 4 5 3 6

1. Spindle; 2. Nut; 3.Sleeve; 4. Clamp; 5.Spring; 6. Bamboo section

Fig. 7 Distendable chuck

167

elements.

Bamboo curtain plywood. Composed of bamboo curtain as the

basic elements, with the grain direction of adjacent layers oriented

perpendicular to one another.

Bamboo mat-curtain plywood: Composed of bamboo mats and

curtains, with mats for the faces and curtains as the core.

Bamboo curtain laminated lumber. Bamboo curtains are laminated

along grain direction, sometimes faced with bamboo mats. This kind

of laminated lumber has high strength, stiffness and rigidity, and is a

good engineering material for structural applications.

Table 3 Physical-mechanical properties of two bamboo mat-curtain

panels

Speci

es

Grain

directi

on of

adjac

ent

curtain

layers

Density

(g/cm3

)

Thickness

swelling

(TS)/ (%) MOR

/MPa

MOE

/GPa

Compre

ssive

strength

parallel

to grain

(CS)/

MPa

24

hours

in cold

water

2 hours

in

boiling

water

P.

Heteroc

ycla

pubesc

ens

Paralle

l 0.96 2.4 17.8 174.70 13.68 85.47

Crosse

d 1.00 2.5 17.1 135.78 10.50 71.99

D.

Yunnani

cus

Hsueh

Paralle

l 0.88 3.5 23.5 210.23 23.48 89.42

Crosse

d 1.03 3.6 26.7 194.96 19.72 82.42

Due to its good physical mechanical properties, bamboo plywood is

widely used as concrete formwork, and packing and building materials.

The manufacturing process of bamboo mat-curtain plywood is as follows:

Bamboo selecting → cross cutting → splitting → bamboo strips → remove

outer & inner nodes → splitting strips into slivers → curtain/mat weaving →

drying → adhesive application → drying → assembling → hot-pressing →

trimming → inspecting → grading → packing → storing

Bamboo selecting. Usually large size thick wall bamboo species are used

such as Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycla) and Dragon bamboo

(D.Yunnanicus Hsueh), etc. The age of the bamboo should be 4-6 years

old, and freshly cut straight bamboo culms are preferred.

Bamboo mat and curtain preparation. Split bamboo sections; remove

outer and inner nodes to make bamboo strips with width of 15-20mm.

After removing outer skin and inner yellow part, split bamboo strips into

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slivers with thickness of 0.8-1.4 mm. The thickness deviation within one

single sliver should be less than 1mm.

Slivers are weaved into mats and parallel curtains .

Bamboo sliver

Thread

dd

Fig 8 Bamboo mat (L) and curtain (R)

Fig 9 Bamboo mat-curtain plywood

Drying. The moisture content of bamboo mat and curtain should be

controlled to be between 10-15%, after drying.

Glue application and drying. As bamboo plywood is mainly used as

construction material, such as concrete form works, phenol-

formaldehyde resin adhesive is usually applied by impregnating. The

glued bamboo curtain/mat is then dried to reduce the moisture content

to 10-15%.

Assembling. With the glued bamboo mats as face and bottom layers,

the glued bamboo curtains are assembled with the grain direction of

adjacent layers oriented perpendicular to one another. The number of

layers of curtains is determined by the thickness and density of the final

product. (Figure 13)

Hot pressing. Due to the use of Phenol-resin adhesive, the hot pressing

temperature is set at 130-140C. The hot pressing temperature should not

be too high to prevent the bamboo material from carbonization. ―Cold-

in, cold-out‖ pressing method is applied. The assembled panels are

conveyed from the lay-up area to the pressing area when the

temperature of platens of the press is about 50C. The assembled panels

are pressed for about 2 minutes/mm thickness under a pressure of 2.5-4

MPa with a temperature of 130-140C. The pressed panels are

discharged from the hot press when the temperature of platens is cooled

to about 50C.

Bamboo mat

Bamboo curtain

169

CORRUGATED BAMBOO ROOFING SHEETS

Corrugated bamboo roofing sheets are produced by pressing firmly

together woven bamboo mats, that have been impregnated with an

adhesive resin, between corrugated pressing molds.

Manufacturing Process

The process of producing corrugated bamboo roofing sheets is identical

to the production of bamboo mat board, except that the sheets are

formed by pressing the mats between corrugated molds rather than flat

pressing plates. The main materials are bamboo slivers to produce the

bamboo mats and adhesive resin in which the mats are soaked. A resin

applicator is needed, and a drying chamber is optional. Corrugated

pressing plates for the hot press are, of course, essential.

Figure 10 Pressing of corrugated bamboo roofing sheet

The process for producing corrugated bamboo roofing sheets includes

the following steps:

Bamboos are split into thin slivers of 0.5~0.8 mm thickness and 12-15

mm width;

Weaving slivers into mats;

Drying mats to 12~14% moisture content (m.c.);

Dipping into 37% PF glue at a rate about 350-400g/m2;

Drying the glued mats to 10-15% m.c;

3-5 layers of glued mats are pressed together under 140-1500C and

pressure 2.5-4Mpa for 10-15min, using corrugated pressing plates

( stainless steel, 0.5 mm thickness);

Sheets are trimmed to shape;

Brushing with acrylic latex paint.

Table 4. Physical and mechanical properties of bamboo corrugated

roofing sheet

Properties Wide corrugation Medium corrugation

Bending strength

(MPa)

38.4 33.2

Density (g/cm3) 0.86 0.76

Moisture content (%) 13.5 13.2

170

Water absorptivity (%) 41.77 46.94

Boiling test (24h) No delamination No delamination

Corrugated bamboo roofing sheets are environmentally friendly and a

safe alternative to corrugated asbestos, iron, plastic, and zinc roofing

panels. They are produced from natural materials and are durable and

resilient to adverse weather conditions (if a proper coating is added)

and pest attack. They can be produced in a range of standard sizes and

can be used to roof dwellings, stores, animal pens and other buildings.

They are quieter in the rain and cooler in the sun than metal sheets.

Besides as roofing material, corrugated bamboo roofing sheet has

several other potential uses like walling, container/packaging, sandwich

construction, prefabricated houses, flooring and structural components

like stressed skin panel, and web beams.

BAMBOO PARTICLEBOARD

Bamboo particleboard is an engineered bamboo composite made from

compressed and bonded bamboo particles.Compared to bamboo

plywood, one of the advantages of bamboo particleboard production is

the abundant material resource. Various materials not suitable for

bamboo plywood, such as small diameter bamboo culms, branches,

bamboo harvesting and processing residues can be used for bamboo

particleboard making.

Manufacturing Process

Bamboo contains rich sugar and starch substances, and is easily

attacked by insects and molds; much attention should be given to the

storage of raw material. In the production of bamboo particleboard to

be used in a humid environment, anti-insect and anti-mold preservatives

may need to be added. The green part and yellow part of bamboo are

not good for gluing. Needle type bamboo particles are preferred in

preparation of particles to improve the adhesion among particles.

Bamboo particleboard for general use like furniture and interior

decoration usually uses UF adhesive. Similar to wood particleboard, the

manufacturing process for bamboo particleboard mainly includes

particle preparation, sifting, drying, glue spreading, forming, hot pressing

and finishing.

The bamboo is first cut into chips of 20-30 mm, and then processed into

needle type particles of 1-4 mm wide and 0.2-0.5 mm thick by a knife

ring flaker. After sifting the particles are dried under a temperature of 80-

100C to a moisture content of 4-6%. UF resin is applied to particles at a

rate of 6-8%. The moisture content of glued particles is 10-14%.

The glued particles are laid into an even and consistent mat to be

pressed into a panel. Surface properties are of concern when the boards

171

are used in furniture manufacture or are to be overlaid or painted. Small

fiber-like particles are best for the surface layer if a smooth surface is

needed. For this reason, boards are often made from three- layered

mats or graduated mats with fine particles for the surface and coarse

particles for the core. The weight ratio of surface/core of a mat is about

40/60. The resin content of the outer layers is usually higher (about 8 to

15%) than that of the core (about 4 to 8%). Mats are formed by a

mechanical forming machine or an air forming machine .

After pre-pressing, mats are hot pressed into particleboard. For making

17 mm UF bamboo particleboard, the hot pressing time is 3-4 minutes

under a pressure of 2.5 MPa, and a temperature of 155-165 C.

Bamboo particleboard can be surfaced with bamboo mat,

impregnated paper, wood or bamboo veneers, etc.

After proper surface finishing, bamboo particleboard can be used for

various purposes including furniture and interior decoration.

BAMBOO MEDIUM DENSITY FIBERBOARD

Bamboo medium density fiberboard (Bamboo MDF) is an engineered

bamboo composite made from compressed and bonded bamboo

fibers.

In China, the major bamboo species used for MDF are small sized

bamboo such as Bambusa textilis, Neosinocalamus affinis, Pseudosasa

amabilis and tops and processing residuals from moso bamboo.

According to their applications, bamboo MDF can be classified into MDF

for interior use, for interior wet use and for exterior use.

The physical and mechanical properties of bamboo MDF made in China

are:

density 0.700-0.880 g/cm3,

moisture content 4-13 %,

thickness swelling 8-14%,

bending strength 18-30 MPa,

MOE 1700-2700 MPa,

internal bond 0.50-0.65 MPa.

Bamboo MDF is a good engineered bamboo composite, can be widely

utilized in furniture, vehicles, boat making, interior decoration and

packaging, etc.

1 . Single layer (homogenous);

2. 3-layered ；3. Graduated

Fig. 11 Structure of particle mats

172

Manufacturing Process

Bamboo is a good raw material for making MDF. The length-width ratio

of Moso bamboo fiber is double of that of coniferous wood fiber. The

main components of bamboo are cellulose (40-60 %), hemicellulose (14-

25 %) and lignin (16-34 %), which are between those of coniferous and

broad- leaved wood species.

On the other hand, the relatively high contents of non-fiber cells, like ash,

SiO2 and wax in the outer skin may cause negative effects to the

bonding among fibers. Also, the relatively high level of polysaccharide,

fats and proteins in bamboo may cause a high moisture absorption and

pest and mold attack in the final product. Although MDF can be made

of 100% bamboo, in practice a certain amount of wood fiber is added,

depending on the local raw material situation. Besides resin, and paraffin,

sometimes preservatives may be applied.

The processing flow is as follows:

Bamboo → chipping → pulping → drying → adhesive applying → felting

→ pre-pressing → hot pressing → cooling → trimming → sanding →

inspecting → grading → packing → storing.

Pulping. Usually the defibrating method is used. Preheating time is 6-7

minutes, under a steam pressure of 0.6-0.8 MPa, the freeness of pulp is

controlled at about 16 seconds.

Adhesive applying. For making MDF for interior use and interior wet use,

UF resin or melamine modified UF resin is applied. Based on the weight of

dry resin solids and overndry weight of the fibers, the resin content can

range between 8 and 14%. For exterior type MDF, PF resin is applied with

a resin content of 6-10%. Paraffin and sometimes preservatives such as

CCB or ACA are applied with a dosage of 0.5-2% .

Hot-pressing. Major hot-pressing parameters are: moisture content of mat

before hot-pressing 10-12%; hot pressing time 35-45 seconds/mm under

temperature 170-200 °C, pressure 0.4 Mpa.

BAMBOO PARALLEL STRAND LUMBER

Bamboo parallel strand lumber (BPSL) is a new type of engineered

bamboo composite made from compressed and bonded bamboo

strands in parallel direction.

Regarding colors, there is true colored BPSL, made of bamboo strands of

the original color, and carbonized BPSL, made of carbonized bamboo

strands which are puce after high temperature treatment.

173

True colored BPSL Carbonized BPSL

Fig. 12 Bamboo parallel strand lumber

BPSL can be surfaced with wood veneers or bamboo veneers.

Compared with other bamboo composite products, BPSL has wider raw

material sources including small-sized bamboo culms; therefore, the raw

material utilization rate is comparatively higher. BPSL has a beautiful

texture, high hardness and longitudinal strength properties, and can be

used for furniture and interior and external decoration and structural

applications.

Table 5 Physical and mechanical properties of BPSL

Species

Dens

ity

g/c

m3

Bendi

ng

stren

gth

MPa

elasti

c

mod

ulus

MPa

Inter

nal

bon

d 1

MPa

Inter

nal

bon

d 2

MPa

Inter

nal

Bond

3

MPa

Moistur

e

absorp

tion

2 %

Moistur

e

absorp

tion

3 %

Phyllostac

hys

Heterocycl

a

var.

pubescens 0.89 160 13770 - - -

- -

Phyllostac

hys

glauca 0.91 105 15442 1.07 0.24 0.19

25.1 35.6

Phyllostac

hys

prominens 0.91 150 11960 - - -

- -

Bambusa

emeiensis 0.90 126 14105 1.10 0.29 0.29

25.2 34.2

Phyllostac

hys

praecox 0.90 115 12971 1.24 0.51 0.37

21.3 31.5

Note: the internal bond 1 is non-boiled sample; internal bond 2 and

moisture absorption 2 used samples after boiling for 1h; Internal bond 3

and moisture absorption 3 used samples after boiling for 3h. All the

samples are made of raw materials with outer skin.

174

Manufacturing Process

The processing flow of BPSL is as the following:

Selecting → cross cutting → crushing → scattering →

carbonizing(optional) → soaking in adhesives → drying → assembling →

hot pressing → trimming → sanding → inspecting → grading → packing

→ storing

Preparing bamboo strands. Moso bamboo and/or small-sized bamboo

can be used. For Moso bamboo, process bamboo culms into long

bamboo strips of 10-20 mm wide, and about 100 mm longer than the

required final length of the product, remove the inner and outer nodes

and the green and yellow parts on both sides of the strips by planing,

grind the strips into curtain like strands with width and thickness of 1-3 mm.

Fig. 13 Bamboo strands

For small-sized bamboo, first the bamboo is processed into a loose

structure under pressure, then scattered in longitudinal direction into

strands of 1-3 mm wide and 1-3 mm thick by a bamboo strands making

machine.

For small-sized bamboo, first the bamboo is processed into a loose

structure under pressure, then scattered in longitudinal direction into

strands of 1-3 mm wide and 1-3 mm thick by a bamboo strands making

machine.

Drying. The drying process is very important for the quality of the final

product. If the drying temperature is too high, color change of bamboo

and precure of resin would happen. If drying temperature is too low, the

production efficiency would be low too. Usually accelerated air drying is

applied with a temperature not higher than 70 °C, the moisture content

of bamboo strands after drying should be 7-9% .

Table 6 The influence of drying temperature on the physical properties of

the BPSL

Temperature Density

g/cm3

Bending

strength

Elasticity

modulus

Internal

bond 1

Internal

bond 2

Internal

bond 3

Moisture

absorption

Moisture

absorption

1 2 1

3 → 4

1. Feeding roller; 2. Crushing roller 3. Bamboo; 4. Bamboo strands

Fig.14 Bamboo strands making machine

175

MPa MPa MPa MPa MPa 2

%

3

%

30 °C 0.91 139.3 11497 1.29 0.80 0.70 22.3 29.9

50 °C 0.90 124.2 11726 0.98 0.82 0.56 26.2 35.3

70 °C 0.91 105.1 11627 0.69 0.39 0.29 30.9 38.1

Note: the internal bond 1 is non-boiled sample; internal bond 2 and

moisture absorption 2 used samples after boiling for 1h; internal bond 3

and moisture absorption 3 used samples after boiling for 3h. All the

samples are made of bamboo materials with green skin.

Assembling. It can be done by machine or by hand. Careful assembling

is important to make the products with an even structure and even

properties.

STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS OF BAMBOO BASED PANELS

The Chinese Academy of Forestry ( CAF), International Network for

Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) and the International Centre for Bamboo

and Rattan (ICBR) have conducted a series of R and D on the properties,

the technologies, the manufacture and the application of bamboo and

bamboo based panels.

Pingbian School Project

INBAR, CAF and WWF China jointly launched a Green Building Project in

2002 to integrate energy efficient building design with the use of

bamboo panels as engineered building materials.

Fig 15. Bamboo laminated roof truss Fig 16. Bamboo plywood wall

panel

176

With technical support of CAF, BEAR Architecten (Holland), Yunan Urban

& Rural Planning & Design Institute, and financial support of Japanese

Embassy in Beijing, the Pingbian Primary School buildings were

constructed in 2004, where bamboo plywood panels and bamboo

laminated beams were used for roof trusses, sheathing boards and wall

panels. This is the first time that bamboo-based panels are used for

structural applications in China.

Bamboo Based Panels for Prefabricated Housing

In 2005, INBAR, CAF, ICBR, Fustar Co., and Beijing Chengdong Co. jointly

launched a prefabricated bamboo panel housing project to explore the

potential of the use of bamboo panels as a valuable construction

material (both for developing and developed construction markets) and

to demonstrate a module house from bamboo-based panels primarily

for global emergency relief. Its main structure is made of a light steel

frame, while roofing and wall panels are bamboo based panels. All the

components of this kind of houses are prefabricated in the factory and

standardized produced. Their features are a fast erection, and easy

storage and transportation, which can meet the need of a large amount

of houses in a short time.

A demonstration pack-flat bamboo panel prefabricated module house

was completed in late Oct. 2005. The building area of the demonstration

bamboo panel house is 30 m2, the total area of bamboo panels used for

both roof and walls is 220 m2.

Fig 18 Prototype bamboo panel prefabricated house

Fig 17 The completed Pingbian

Primary School

177

The structure of bamboo panel components for walls and roof are basic

the same, as shown in Fig 19. All bamboo panel walls and roof

components were made at Fustar Company.

Fig 19 Structure of bamboo panel components for walls and roof

Fig 20 Prototype Bamboo panel prefabricated house

According to relevant Chinese National standards, sound insulation,

thermal transmission and fire-resistance properties of the panel

components were tested at the National Center for Quality Supervision

and Test of Building Engineering. The testing results show that the sound

insulation of the bamboo panel component reaches Class III, and the

thermal insulation reaches Class IV, and both have met the requirements

of performance for building wall materials. The fire resistance

performance of the bamboo panel component is higher than Class IV

for non loading wall, partitions for escape passage and rooms.

From this study it is concluded that bamboo panel wall and roof

components can be used for pack-flat prefabricated module houses for

178

emergency relief and temporary use. They are feasible in technical,

economical and environmental aspects, in a fast erection, and easiness

for assembly, storage and transportation.

Prefabricated Bamboo Panel House for Disaster Relief

In 2008, in cooperation with CAF and Fustar Bamboo Company, ICBR

constructed 1400m2 prefabricated bamboo panel houses in Sichuan

earthquake affected areas Wolong and Du Jiangyan, providing about

70 families with comfortable residential houses.

Characteristics of prefabricated modular bamboo panel houses

Fig.21 Prefabricated modular bamboo panel houses（Left：exterior；

Right：interior）

The prefabricated modular bamboo panel houses use light steel frames

as load-bearing components and bamboo-based panels as building

enclosures, including as wall and roof components. Meanwhile, eforts

have been made for improving water-proof and comfort for residence.

Walls: the walls are characterized with a sandwiched structure that uses

bamboo mat laminated panels and bamboo strip decorative panels as

exterior and interior faces respectively. The middle layer between the

two panels is filled with polystyrene for sound and heat insulation. The

designed structure not only ensures the performance of sound and heart

insulation, but also gives attractive appearance and comfort for the

residents.

Roofs: the structures of roofs are nearly the same as those of walls except

that the interior faces are replaced with bamboo-mat laminated panels.

The outer surface of roofs is further covered with colour steel sheets for

better performance in water proof. Inside the house, suspended ceilings

with mineral wool boards (60cm * 60cm) are used for both better

appearance and heat insulation

179

Fig. 22 Diagram of bamboo-based sandwiched walls (up) and roofs

(below)

Performance evaluation of prefabricated modular bamboo houses

Indoor air quality

Four days after construction, indoor air quality test was conducted

according to China ―Indoor Air Quality Standard‖ (GB/T18883-2002).

Table 7 Indoor air quality

Items（mg/m3)

formaldehyd

e

benzen

e

methylbenze

ne

xylen

e TVOC

Kitchen 0.035 ﹤0.01 ﹤0.01 ﹤

0.01 0.07

Living room 0.04 ﹤0.01 ﹤0.01 ﹤

0.01 0.08

Standards

value(GB/T1888

3-2002)

0.10 0.11 0.20 0.20 0.6

Note: The walls of kitchen are characterized with bamboo mat

laminated panel/ polystyrene/fire-retardant sandwiched structure, and

the roofs is with bamboo mat laminated panel/polystyrene/ bamboo

mat laminated panel sandwiched structure.

The walls of living room are characterized with bamboo mat laminated

panel/polystyrene/ bamboo strip decorative panel sandwiched

structure; and the roofs is with bamboo mat laminated

panel/polystyrene/ bamboo mat laminated panel sandwiched structure.

Bamboo strip decorative panels

Bamboo mat laminated

panels Insulation layer Wood frame

180

It can be found all the test items of the prefabricated modular bamboo

houses meet the requirements of the Chinese national standard. The

concentration of formaldehyde is less than half of the national standard

value, and the concentration of benzene, methylbenzene and xylene

are all far below the corresponding standard value. Thus, it is safe to live

in the prefabricated modular bamboo houses for long time as to the air

quality.

Heat insulation performance

Table 8 Heat transfer coefficient of bamboo based walls and roofs

Type A ： Bamboo mat laminated panel/polystyrene/bamboo strip

decorative panel sandwiched structure.

Type B: Bamboo mat laminated panel/polystyrene/ bamboo mat

laminated panel sandwiched structure.

National Construction Materials Test Center is commissioned to examine

the heat insulation performance of walls and roofs of the prefabricated

modular bamboo houses. The test standard is ―Building element--

Determination of steady-state thermal transmission properties—

Calibrated and guarded hot box‖ (GB/T 13475-1992). The length and

width of samples are both 1 meter, and the thickness is 5.3 cm. To reduce

the influence of moisture content during the test, the sample has been

conditioned to relative dry state. Heat transfer coefficient is calculated

based on environmental temperature.

The test result indicates that the heat transfer coefficient of walls (type A)

and roofs (type B) is 0.79 W/m2·K and 0.78 W/m2·K respectively. Both of

the values meet the requirements of ―Design standard for energy

efficiency of residential buildings in hot summer and warm winter zone‖

(JCJ134-2001) issued by Ministry of Construction of China.

The heat transfer coefficient of colored steel sheet-polystyrene-colored

steel sheet sandwiched wall is only about 0.66 W/(m2·K), a bit superior

than the two bamboo based sandwiched structures. One reason is the

thickness of polystyrene filled between two bamboo boards is less than

that of traditional scolored steel sheet-polystyrene sandwich structure.

Items Heat transfer coefficient（W/m2 ·K）

Standard （W/m2 ·K）

Walls (type

A) 0.79 ≤1

Roofs (type

B) 0.78 ≤0.8

181

Sound insulation performance

Fig.23 Sound insulation Curve of bamboo mat panel/polystyrene/

bamboo strip decorative panel sandwiched structure wall

Fig.24 Curve of Sound insulation of bamboo mat veneer board-

polystyrene-bamboo mat veneer board sandwiched structure wall

The sound insulation performance of walls and roofs was also tested in

National Construction Materials Test Center in terms of the ―Rating

standard of sound insulation in buildings‖ of China (GB/T 50121-2005). The

sample is 2 m in length, 1 m in width and 5.3 cm in thickness. The sample

is installed between the holes connecting the sound lab and receiver lab,

and the sound source can launch stable sound wave. The center

frequencies tested are 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 315, 400, 500, 630, 800,

1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3150, 4000 and 5000 Hz. The average sound

insulation is the average value measured at the above frequency.

Figure 23 is the sound insulation curve of bamboo mat

panle/polystyrene/bamboo strip decorativeg panel sandwiched

structure wall. The maximum value of sound insulation is 51.5dB when the

One-third Octave frequency is 160Hz, and the minimum is 38.3dB when

the frequency is 315Hz. The average value of sound insulation in the

scale of test frequency (100-5000Hz) is 46dB.

As for the bamboo mat panel/polystyrene/bamboo mat panel

sandwiched structure wall, its sound insulation curve is similar to that of

bamboo mat panel/polystyrene/bamboo strip decorative panel

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

1/3倍频程频率（Hz）

隔声量（

dB）

One-third Octave frequency

So

un

d in

sulatio

n lo

ss

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

1/3倍频程频率（Hz）

隔声量（

dB）

Sound in

sulatio

n lo

ss

One-third Octave frequency

182

sandwiched structure wall, but the maximum value and minimum value

appear differently at 49.7dB with frequency of 2500Hz and at 38.7dB with

center frequency of 200 Hz. The average sound insulation value is 45dB in

the scale of test frequency 100 to 5000Hz.

The above results demonstrates that the capacity of sound insulation of

the two kinds of bamboo based walls is similar to each other and better

than the sound insulation of steel board-polystyrene wall, which is only 22-

26dB. The sound insulation capacity of bamboo walls meets the second

level requirements on building enclosure (division walls) in ―Acoustics-

specifications for the design of sound insulation in civilian structure‖

(GBJ118-88).

Table 9. Sound insulation of walls and roofs of prefabricated modular

houses

Note ： walls ： Bamboo mat panel/polystyrene/bamboo mat panel

sandwiched structure roofs：Bamboo mat panel/ polystyrene/bamboo mat panel sandwiched

structure

*―Acoustics-specifications for the design of sound insulation in civilian structure‖（GBJ118—88）

CONCLUSIONS

The air quality, heat insulation and sound insulation of prefabricated

modular bamboo panel houses all meet the relevant requirements of the

Chinese national standards on civil buildings. Further studies need to be

done on fire-resistant and weather durability.

The structure and appearance design of prefabricated modular

bamboo panel houses need to be improved to meet different

applications from temporary disaster relief houses to permanent

residential houses.

Items Sound insulation（dB） Standards *（dB）

Wall 46 ≥45*

Ceiling 45 ≥45*

183

MANAGEMENT AND UTILIZATION OF RATTAN

RESOURCES IN THE WORLD

Huang Shineng, PhD

Research Institute of Tropical Forestry

Chinese Academy of Forestry

No. 682, Guangshan Yilu, Tianhe District

Guangzhou 510520, P R China

Tel: (8620) 8702 8675 Fax: (8620) 8703 8675/8703 1622

Email: hsn@ritf.ac.cn, snhuang@126.com

1. INTRODUCTION

Rattan is a spiny climbing or trailing palm with some 600 species. Its

distribution is limited to tropical and subtropical Asia and the Pacific,

where ten of the l3 known genera are endemic, and equatorial Africa,

where four genera occur, of which three are endemic (Sastry, 2002).

Human beings have used rattans for their livelihoods and subsistence for

many centuries. In particular in Asia, rattan canes have been utilized by

forest dwellers where they occur. "Rattan is so invaluable to village life

that one could speak of a rattan civilization in the Asian Region". This

quote reflects the importance of rattan in cottage industries which

provide livelihood to over half a billion people (Bhat, 1996).

Dated back to the mid-nineteenth century, trading of rattan has grown

rapidly into a multimillion-dollar business. Worldwide raw rattan trading is

valued at 50 million US Dollars. Rattan finished products, by the time it

reaches the customer, has increased its worth to 1.2 billion US Dollars.

Overall global trading value is estimated at 4 billion US Dollars while

domestic trade is 2.5 million US Dollars (PT Rattanland Furniture, 2009).

According to the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) 2005

annual report, cane, a term used interchangeably with rattan, and

bamboo furniture‘s export value reached 1.22 billion US Dollars in 2005

(ITTO, 2006). Statistics by the International Network for Bamboo and

Rattan (INBAR, 2009) showed that in 2007 the export value of the rattan-

based basketwork, mats, screens, plaits and plaited pods only reached

around 288 million US Dollars (Table 1).

The world‘s rattan industry seems to be still in a booming stage as the

rattan sector in Africa has become more and more active while that in

Asia is achieving steady development, leading all the other regions of

the world by far in the production and export of rattan and rattan

products. This paper is an attempt to summarize the important issues and

184

problems related to management and utilization of rattan resources in

the world.

Table 1. World trade of some selected rattan products in 2007

HS

Codes*

Product

Import Export

Value

(USD

1000)

Quantity

( tons)

Value

(USD1000)

Quantity

(tons)

460212 Basketwork, etc 202,761 46,807 273,750 63,029

460122 Mats & screens 10,066 2,699 8,047 1,423

460193 Plaits, plaited

prods

6,001 1,580 5,922 2,217

940151 Seats of B&R 315,979 50,796 319,546 50,165

940381 Furniture of B&R 347,896 88,187 333,339 69,247

Source: INBAR (2009).

* World Customs Organization‘s Harmonised Commodity Description and

Coding System (HS).

2. WORLD’S RATTAN RESOURCE BASE

Ninety percent of raw rattan comes from the wild. It is a well established

fact that these natural stands now face rapid depletion because of

rampant timber harvesting, conversion of forest areas into other land

uses and the unregulated cutting of rattan which reduces regeneration

in Southeast Asia (SEA) with a few exceptions (Lapis, 1998; Renuka, 2002

and 2004). In Africa, the increased demand for rattan has also led to a

significant decline in wild stocks, but the commercial species are at

present considered ―not threatened‖ on a continent-wide basis

(Sunderland and Dransfield, 2002). Although numerous studies have

shown the importance of rattan in the local economies of rattan-

growing countries and in the international markets, very few have

attempted to adequately define the resource base, leading to that the

basic knowledge of the resource is somewhat limited and the rattan

floras of Africa and much of Southeast Asia remains poorly known

(Sunderland and Dransfield, 2002; Renuka, 2004). This is further backed by

Tesoro (2004) by stating that ―not all the rattan species in SEA region

have been properly identified‖.

2.1 Natural stands

Until now, there exist no data showing the exact amount of wild stocks of

rattans across the world, and numerous studies usually use the taxa data

(numbers of genera and species) and their roughly geographical ranges

of distribution to represent the ―resource base‖. This is because most of

the rattan growing countries have not conducted a resource inventory

for rattans (Table 2). With this understanding, Table 3 is perhaps an

acceptable description of the world‘s rattan resource base. A more

detailed description of African rattan resource base is presented by

Sunderland and Dransfield (2002) by providing the data of geographical

185

ranges of the all 20 species identified before the year 2000. However, it

remains unknown whether or not the boundary of distribution areas of

each species was fairly determined. Indonesia, the world‘s largest rattan

producer, seems to be an exception to a certain extent. According to

the PT Rattanland Furniture (2009), some 9 million ha of forests and

plantation areas scattered all over the country are registered with an

average production of more than 300,000 tons per annum. Based on

studies and observations conducted recently in 16 provinces, the

production potential could be increased to around 600,000 tons per

annum in the country.

Table 2. Current status of knowledge on rattan in various Asian countries

Area

Taxonomic

knowledge

Status of

resource

Inventory

Cultivation/ Plantation

India Good Depleted Not done Forest dept. have

raised large scale

plantations

China Good Depleted Not done Large scale cultivation

exists

Banglades

h

Poor Data not

available

Not done Data not available

Nepal Poor Small

diameter

cane plenty,

large ones

scarce

Not done No large scale

cultivation

Sri Lanka Good Depleted Not done No large scale

cultivation

Cambodia Poor Depleted Not done No large scale

plantation

Indonesia Good Stock

available

Available

for certain

areas

Large scale plantation

exists

Lao PDR Good Data not

available

Not done Large scale plantation

exists for producing

edible shoots

Malaysia Good Stock

available

Not done Large scale plantation

exists

Myanmar Poor Data not

available

Not done Data not available

Philippines Good Stock

available

Done in

1988

Large scale plantation

exists

Thailand Good Available Not done Small scale plantations

for can production;

Large scale plantation

exists for producing

edible shoots

Vietnam Good Depleted Not done No large scale

plantation

Note: Largely simplified from Renuka (2004).

186

While there are no data available, experts familiar with the field situation

in Asia agree that in Vietnam, the wild stocks of rattan are probably

almost exhausted; in Lao PDR, wild stocks are substantial but declining; in

Cambodia, over-harvesting of wild stocks is probably underway. The

more pessimistic viewpoint is that the wild stocks of rattan in SEA region

are probably not far from exhaustion unless intervention is immediately

implemented (ARC, 2006).

Table 3. Distribution and ecology of rattan species in the world

Genus

No. of

species

Distribution

Ecology

Calamus ca.

370-400

Tropical Africa, India and Sri

Lanka, China, south and

east to Fiji, Vanuatu and

eastern Australia

No species in semi-

arid habitats. From

sea level to 3000 m

Calospatha 1 Endemic to Peninsular

Malaysia

Ceratolobus 6 Malay Peninsula, Sumatra,

Borneo, Java

Daemonorops ca. 115 India and China to

westernmost New Guinea

Primary tropical rain

forest on great

variety of soils

Eremospatha 10 Humid tropical Africa Rain forest, swampy

soil

Korthalsia ca. 26 Indo-China and Burma to

New Guinea

Lowland and hill

tropical rain forest,

absent in montane

forest

Laccosperma 5 Humid tropical Africa Rain forest, swampy

soil

Myrialepis 1 Indo-China, Thailand,

Burma, Peninsular Malaysia

and Sumatra

From sea level to

1000 m, prefer

disturbed sites in

primary forest.

Oncocalamus 4 Humid tropical Africa Lowland tropical

rain forest

Plectocomia ca. 16 Himalayas and south China

to western Malaysia

From sea level to

2000 m in the

mountains.

Plectocomiopsis ca. 5 Laos, Thailand, Peninsular

Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra

Wide range of forest

types, up to 1200 m

altitude

Pogonotium 3 Two species endemic to

Borneo, one species in both

Peninsular Malaysia and

Borneo

700-1000 m altitude,

transition between

lowland and

montane forest

Retispatha 1 Endemic to Borneo Hill dipterocarp

forest, absent from

montane and

187

heath forest

Source: Dransfield and Manokaran (1994); Bystriakova, Dransfield, Kapos,

et al. (2004).

2.2 Plantation resources

In terms of availability of data on stocking, the picture of plantations

does not look better than the wild stands. Although most rattan-growing

countries in Asia have rattan plantations and some countries have

studied the growth rates of different species at different ages

(Sunderland and Dransfield, 2002; Barizan and Rivera, 2004), data on

stocking and/or potential productivity are still not available.

Table 4 presents the plantations established in different countries in Asia.

As expected, Indonesia covers the largest area of rattan plantations,

112,802 ha; Vietnam has the 2nd largest rattan plantation area

according to Tesoro (2004) and Malaysia with 41,000 ha ranks 3rd.

However, we also see that in the last decade no new large-scale rattan

plantations have been established, and the remaining large scale

commercial plantations of rattan in Sarawak of Malaysia are in the final

throes of being converted into an oil palm plantation (Dransfield, 2002).

Indeed, our visit to Malaysia in 2006 saw that all the hundreds of

thousands hectares of rattan plantation in Sabah had been converted

into oil palm plantations.

There is no remarkable rattan plantation program in Africa. Planting of

rattans is being tried; Sunderland et al. (1999) established a one-hectare

trial plantation of Laccosperma secundiflorum under an obsolete rubber

plantation in Cameroon.

Table 4. Rattan plantations established in Asian countries

Country Area

(ha)

Location Description Source

Brunei

Darussalam

900 Andulao Forest

Reserve, Labi Hills

Forest Reserve,

Ladan Hills Forest

Reserve

Interplanted in

timber

plantations

Tesoro (2004),

ARC (2006)

China 20,000 Secondary natural

forests in Hainan

province; timber

plantations in

Guangdong and

Guangxi

provinces.

Enrichment

planting in

natural forests;

Interplanting in

tree plantations

or small

woodlots.

Zhang et al.

(2007)

Indonesia 118,802 Central

Kalimantan, East

Kalimantan, Java,

Dipterocarp

forest and

logged over

Wiyono &

Santos (2004)

188

Country Area

(ha)

Location Description Source

Berau areas

Lao PDR 150 Unknown Edible shoot

plantations

mostly by local

people

Evans (2001)

Malaysia 41,000 Sabah and

peninsular

Malaysia

Interplanted

with palms and

trees

Tesoro (2004)

Philippines 17,395 DENR, 15 regions,

Surigao, Mindoro

Oriental, Agusan

del Sur

In timber

concessions,

logged over,

tree plantation

forest.

ARC (2004)

Sri Lanka 142,6 Unknown Interplanted

with Pine and

Mahogany

plantations

Thailand 10,140 Northern,

Northeastern,

Central and

Southern regions

In the after-

care plantation

or natural

forests

Vietnam 60,000 Most provinces in

North Vietnam

Household

gardens or

interplanted

with agriculture

tress.

Tesoro (2004)

3. MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION OF RATTAN RESOURCES

3.1 An overview of the conservation status

Reviews of rattan utilization and conservation status have been

published in Palms for Human Needs in Asia (Johnson, 1991) and the

IUCN Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for Palms (Johnson,

1996).

Of the approximately 600 species of rattan, 117 are recorded as being

threatened to some degree (Walter & Gillet, 1998); of these, 21 are

endangered, 38 are regarded as vulnerable, 28 as being rare and 30 as

indeterminate (IUCN Red List Categories). While this listing may give some

indication of the global threats to rattan species, very few of the listed

species are known in any detail (Dransfield, 2002). In fact, according to

Sunderland and Dransfield (2002) even for those species that have been

identified as the major commercial ones, the conservation status of most

of them is largely unknown (Table 5).

Table 5. Conservation status of the major commercial species of rattan

189

Species

Distribution

Conservation

status

Calamus caesius. Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra,

Borneo, Philippines and Thailand.

Also introduced to China and south

Pacific for planting

Unknown

C. egregius. Endemic to Hainan island, China,

but introduced to southern China

for cultivation

Unknown

C. exilis Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra Not

threatened

C. javensis Widespread in Southeast Asia Not

threatened

C. manan Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra Threatened

C. merrillii Philippines Threatened

C. mindorensis Philippines Unknown

C. optimus Borneo and Sumatra. Cultivated in

Kalimantan

Unknown

C. ornatus. Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Borneo,

Sulawesi, to the Philippines

Unknown

C. ovoideus Western Sri Lanka Threatened

C. palustris Burma, southern China, to Malaysia

and the Andaman Islands

Unknown

C. pogonacanthus Borneo Unknown

C. scipionum Burma, Thailand, Peninsular

Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo to

Palawan

Unknown

C. simplicifolius Endemic to Hainan island, China,

but introduced to southern China

for cultivation

Unknown

C. subinermis Sabah, Sarawak, East Kalimantan

and Palawan

Unknown

C. tetradactylus Southern China. Introduced to

Malaysia

Unknown

C. trachycoleus South and Central Kalimantan.

Introduced into Malaysia for

cultivation

Not

threatened

C. tumidus Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra Unknown

C. wailong Southern China Unknown

C. zollingeri Sulawesi and the Moluccas Unknown

Daemonorops

jenkinsiana

Southern China Unknown

D. robusta Warb. Indonesia, Sulawesi and the

Moluccas

Unknown

D. sabut Becc. Peninsula Malaysia and Borneo Unknown

Eremospatha

macrocarpa

Tropical Africa from Sierra Leone to

Angola

Not

threatened

E. haullevilleana Congo Basin to East Africa

Laccosperma

robustum

Cameroon to Congo Basin

190

Species

Distribution

Conservation

status

L. secundiflorum Tropical Africa from Sierra Leone to

Angola

Not

threatened

Source: Sunderland and Dransfield (2002).

3.2 Conservation and generation of rattan resources

A central problem for sustainable management is reaching a balance

between resource use and conservation so that high levels of

development can be ensured. The problems related to the conservation

and uses of rattan resources are particularly difficult since on one hand

the resource base worldwide remains unknown, and on the other hand

in many cases harvesting of rattan canes is unplanned. Nevertheless, it

appears strategic that both conservation and generation of rattan

resources should be considered if the development of rattan industry is

to be sustained.

Tesoro (2004) argued that conservation and generation of the rattan

resources include taxonomic identification of species, inventory of

resources, establishment of germplasm and gene banks, plantation

development and establishment of rattan gardens. The following

presents a brief introduction to approaches to the conservation and

generation of the rattan resources in the world.

3.2.1 Taxonomic identification of species. It is said that the taxonomic

identification of rattans has been uncertain (Hong et al., 2002). Yet there

exists the possibility of discovering new species or records while field work

continues. For example, in West and Central Africa, two further new

species, Eremospatha dransfieldii from the forests of Upper Guinea and

Laccosperma korupensis from Cameroon, were identified only one year

after the two new taxa, Eremospatha barendii and Oncocalamus tuleyi

were described and illustrated in 2002 (Sunderland, 2003).

Table 6 shows the number of species and the distribution of rattan

genera across the world. It is suspected that in all the countries there are

more species than those already identified. There is also a tendency for

unidentified species to be described as new local endemics when they

may be species well described and well known in neighboring areas

because of language barriers and the difficulty of exchanging materials

(Dransfield, 2002). Resolving the related taxonomic and nomenclatural

problems stresses the need for taking regional approaches in the

identification of rattan species, especially in the Asian region.

According to Dransfield (2002), there are obvious gaps in our knowledge

of rattan taxonomy. While there exist some problems of over-description

in China, priorities for further survey work need to be set for Myanmar,

Sulawesi and New Guinea (Table 6).

191

Table 6. State of rattan taxonomic knowledge

Country/

Region

Genera/approx.

no. of species

Representation

in herbaria

State of

taxonomic

knowledge

Identification

Aids

Africa 4/22 Moderate Good Manual (in

press), CD-

ROM (in

preparation)

India -

Subcontinent

4/c.50 Good Good Manual

India -

Andamans &

Nicobars

3/17 Good Good -

There is a

possibility of

further new

records

Manual

Sri Lanka 1/10 Good Very good Manual

Bangladesh 2/7 (likely to be

several more)

Poor Poor - There

are likely to

be many

more taxa

than the 7

recorded

Manual

Myanmar 5/25 Very poor Very poor No recent

account

China 3/45 (but

probably fewer)

Moderate Good, but

there will be

many name

changes as

the

taxonomies

of the

different

parts of

Indochina

and China

are

integrated

Flora

Vietnam 3/21 (probably

more)

Moderate Quite good,

but there will

be name

changes

and new

records as

the

taxonomies

of the

different

parts of

Indochina

and China

Field guide

and

interactive

CD-ROM

192

Country/

Region

Genera/approx.

no. of species

Representation

in herbaria

State of

taxonomic

knowledge

Identification

Aids

are

integrated

Laos 6/32 Good Very good Field guide

and

interactive

CD-ROM

Cambodia 5/11 Poor Poor Field guide

and

interactive

CD-ROM

Thailand 6/62 Good Very good Popular

palm book

(but several

major flaws

and missing

species)

Malay

Peninsula

9/105 Very good Very good Manual

Borneo

(whole)

8/150 Good Good Interactive

CD-ROM in

preparation

Country/

Region

Genera/approx.

no. of species

Representation

in herbaria

State of

taxonomic

knowledge

Identification

Aids

Brunei

Darussalam

8/80 Very good Very good Manual,

interactive

CD-ROM

Sabah 7/82 Very good Very good Manual

Sarawak 8/107 Good Good Manual

Kalimantan 8/c.90 Moderate Quite good None

available

Sumatra 7/90 Good Quite good None

available

Java and

Bali

5/27 Very good Very good Flora (but

several major

flaws and

missing

species)

Philippines 4/80 Good Good Checklist

Sulawesi 3/33 (but likely

to be more)

Moderate Poor None

available

Maluku 3/18 Poor Poor None

available

New

Guinea

3/55 (but likely

to be more)

Moderate Poor, but

currently

under

intensive

Field guide

and full

monograph

in

193

study preparation

Western

Pacific

1/3 Moderate Moderate Palm field

guide

Australia 1/8 Very good Very good Popular local

floras

Source: Dransfield (2002).

3.2.2 Inventory of rattan resources. Rattan inventory has proved to be a

somewhat imperfect science though studies have been carried out on

rattan genetic resources and identification of commercially important

species in many Asian countries (Rao & Rao, 1999; Vivekanandan et al.,

1998; Xu et al., 2000; Sunderland, 2002). In most countries, rattan

resources have not undergone an inventory. The Philippines undertook

an inventory of forest resources, including rattan resources, starting in

1983 and the results were published in 1988 (Tesoro, 2004). In Peninsular

Malaysia, a national forest inventory aimed at assessing and determining

the status of the various natural forest resources, including tree stocking,

non-wood forest products such as rattan, bamboo and palm resources

was jointly carried out by the Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia

and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations

under the UNDP in 1991-1992 (Barizan and Rivera, 2004). Worldwide,

there was no inventory of rattan resources in the past 15 years. Indeed,

without reference to an adequate taxonomy and defining the resource

base, inventories are of little or no use in providing information for

management decisions.

3.2.3 Assessment of silvicultural potential. Worldwide, there is no record

on silvicultural practices of natural rattan stands. The current knowledge

of silviculture and management of rattans such as raising seedlings, site

selection, intercropping mode, soil preparation, planting density, fertilizer

application, growth and yield model, and harvesting technique across

the world are mostly based on plantation trials, which have been fully

discussed by Yang et al (2003).

It is well known that silvicultural trials have concentrated on the

incorporation of rattan into tree-based plantation-type systems and/or

into traditional swidden fallow systems in some areas of Southeast Asia. In

general, achievements in silvicultural research on rattans are rare

although studies on phenology, seed technology, vegetative

propagation, plantation and nursery techniques, growth, pests and

diseases, genetic diversity, ecology, and biotechnology of rattan species

for some commercially important species have been documented (Xu,

Zhong and Fu, 2000c; Yusoff and Manokaran, 1985; Ahmad and Hamzah,

1985; Ahimad, Tho and Hong, 1985; Rao, A. N. and V. R. Rao, 1997).

Examples of long-term in situ management of rattans in the wild are rare

(Belcher, 1999). However, based on experimental work in Southeast Asia,

194

four production and management systems of rattan resources can be

identified.

1) Natural regeneration in high forest

This level of management requires the development and

implementation of management plans based on sound inventory data

and an understanding of the population dynamics of the species

concerned. This is particularly appropriate for forest reserves, community

forests and other low-level protected areas. These "extractive reserve"

models are highly appropriate for rattan: a high value, high yielding

product that relies on the forest milieu for its survival.

2) Enhanced natural regeneration

This is carried out through enrichment planting and canopy manipulation

in natural forest. It is especially appropriate where forest has been

selectively logged. Management inputs are fairly high, with the

clearance of competing undergrowth vegetation and subsequent

selective felling to create "artificial" gaps has been practiced in India,

with some success for the rattan resource. Rattan planting in forest in East

Kalimantan has also proved successful. The Forest Research Institute of

Malaysia (FRIM) suggests that enrichment planting is perhaps the most

beneficial form of cultivation, both in terms of productivity and the

maintenance of ecological integrity (Manokaran, 1985).

3) Rattan cultivation as part of shifting cultivation or in formal agroforestry

systems

The incorporation of rattan into traditional swidden fallow systems in

some areas of Southeast Asia is well known (Siebert and Belsky, 1985;

Weinstock, 1983; Kiew, 1991). The general principle is that, on harvesting

ephemeral or annual crops, rattan is planted and the land is then left

fallow. When the rotation is repeated, usually on a 7-15 year cycle, the

farmer first harvests the rattan and then clears the plot again to plant

food crops. The income generated from the harvesting of rattan in this

way is significant.

The ―Sangpabawa‖ system, a method for growing and protecting

rattans practiced by the indigenous Hani (Akha) communities of

Mengsong, Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province of China, is a good

example. It is reported that the practice related to the Sangpabawa or

protected rattan forest originated about 100 years ago and has been

maintained and developed ever since.

The diagnosed depletion of rattan in the wild and protection of rattan in

the Sangpabawa led to indigenous innovations by some Hani farmers for

cultivating rattan in the swidden-fallow fields. While they left swidden

fields fallow, they immediately cultivated rattan seeds in them.

195

The practice occupies much of the year. The Hani farmers prepare the

land in early February, in the middle of the relatively dry season. Rattan

seeds are then sown in swidden fields, seedbeds or other protected

areas. In March-April, when the seedlings are strong enough and 20-30

cm high, they are transplanted to spots beneath strong trees on which

the rattan can climb. Additional planting takes place in July, but at this

time cut stems are planted rather than seedlings. The forest is cleared

regularly and managed in order to allow good rattan growth. The rattan

growing period was well matched with the 7-13 years of swidden-fallow

cycle.

The practice is still in use because it provides long-term benefits to the

Mengsong Hani and has a multiple function within the society. It has an

economic value as it provides an income through the manufacture of

traditional rattan furniture and other daily utensils, an ecological function

as cultivating rattan in swidden-fallow field results in improved fallow

management and enhanced biodiversity, and a social and cultural

value through the exchange of rattan handicrafts between communities.

4) Silvicultural trials

These have concentrated on the incorporation of rattan into tree-based

plantation-type systems. The need for a framework for the rattan to grow

on is imperative and the planting of rattan in association with tree cash

crops was begun in the 1980s. In particular, planting under rubber

(Hevea brasiliensis) and other fast-growing tree crops has proven

relatively successful and both silvicultural trials and commercial

operations are commonly encountered throughout Southeast Asia.

3.2.4 Plantations and rattan gardens. An obvious strategy in the

sustainable development of rattan resources is the establishment of

plantations. Many examples exist of rattans being cultivated in

agroforestry systems in forest lands controlled by local communities

(Sunderland and Dransfield, 2002) and in home gardens owned by

households. Across the world, in particular in Southeast Asia, many

commercial-scale plantations and trials (Table 7) were established and

plantation technologies for many commercially important species were

documented (Jiang, 2007). However, major problems that have been

faced in rattan plantation management are maintenance of the

optimal right regime, control of pests and diseases and problems of

harvesting (Dransfield, 2002). As mentioned above, many large scale

rattan plantations in Malaysia have been converted into oil palm

plantations in the recent past due to the gain in value of palm oil and

the easier silvicultural practices. Taking into account these problems,

Dransfield (2002) deemed if the rattan resources is to be safeguarded for

the future of the industry then an important part of its future must surely

be in cultivation on a small scale, by smallholders, rather than in large

estates.

196

While large-scale cultivation of rattans for cane production tends to be

less attractive recently in Malaysia, successful methods have been

developed for cultivation of the edible shoots of C. tenuis in Lao PDR

(Evans 2001), C. viminalis and C. siamensis in Thailand (Jarenrattawong,

1997), and Daemonorops margaritae in China. According to Evans

(2001), the outlook for expanding edible shoot production is much better

than that for cane production and the edible shoot sub-sector seems to

be the most promising area for support of rattan development.

Table 7. Commercial-scale rattan trials and plantations

Country Cultivation

Bangladesh Trials of Daemonorops jenkinsiana established in early 1980s.

Brunei 900 ha of trial plantations (mostly C. manan & C. caesius) had

been established by the mid 1990.

Cameroon 1 ha trial plot of Laccosperma secundiflorum under obsolete

rubber near Limbe.

China 1970s - 30,000 ha of enrichment planting of forest on Hainan

Island with C. tetradactylus and D. margaritae;

Plantations of C. egregius & C. simplicifolius in Guangdong

Province;

Cultivation trials of many species have been initiated since

1985;

Cultivation trials of D. margaritae and C. simplicifolius for edible

shoot production initiated in 2004.

Cuba Four rattan species were introduced from Vietnam in 1993 and

trial plot of Daemonorops pierei Becc established in 2002.

India A small trial plot of Calamus thwaitesii Becc. & Hook. f., C. rivalis

Thw. ex. Trim. and C. hookerianus Becc. for edible shoots

production was established in recent years.

Indonesia Trials of C. manan begun in the 1980s in Java;

1988-1993 several thousand hectares of C. caesius planted by

forestry department, and to a lesser extent C. tetradactylus, in

Java and East Kalimantan. The area of rattan plantations

totaled 118,800 ha.

Lao PDR 150 ha of rattan plantation for shoot production (mostly C.

tenius) have been established.

Kenya Trial plot of C. latifolius under Gmelina arborea near Lake

Victoria.

Malaysia 1960 - C. manan planted in Ulu Langat Forest Reserve;

1972 - Cultivation trial of C. manan initiated in Pehang;

1975 - FRIM cultivation trials of C. scipionum and C. caesius

planted under rubber, 1,100 ha in total;

1980-81, Sandakan area - 4,000 ha plantation in logged forest

planted with C. caesius and C. tetradactylus and C.

tetradactylus and 2,000 ha of abandoned rubber, Acacia

mangium and logged forest planted with C. manan, C.

caesius and C. merrillii;

1982-1983 - Two trial plots of C. optimus established in Sarawak;

1990 - large scale planting in Sarawak with C. manan, C.

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Country Cultivation

caesius, C. optimus and C. tetradactylus.

The

Philippines

Cultivation trials of C. merrillii and C. ornatus var. philippinensis

established in Quezon in 1977;

5,000 ha plantation of C. merrillii established in Mindanao;

Early 1990, 500 ha of C. merrillii and C. ornatus var.

philippinensis planted under Endospermum peltatum

(matchwood tree plantation) in Mindanao.

Sri Lanka C. ovoideus and C. thwaitesii trials established in recent years.

Thailand 213 ha of C. caesius in Narathiwat Province, established by

1968;

C. caesius trials established in 1979 in Ranong, Surathani and

Chuporn Provinces;

1980-1987, C. caesius and C. manan trials established - 930 ha

in Narathiwat Province

Vietnam C. tetradactylus was planted at plantation scale in Thai Binh

and Ninh Binh Provinces more than a hundred years ago, and

expanded elsewhere recently with an estimated yield of 2500 -

3000 tons per year. A total of 60,000 ha of rattan plantations is

reported.

Note: Based on Sunderland & Dransfield, 2002 and Tesoro, 2004.

3.2.5 Germplasm and gene banks Another important effort on rattan

conservation and resource development is the establishment of

germplasm and gene banks, an effective sort of ex situ conservation

approaches that has been taken in many Asian countries (Table 8).

Malaysia made the greatest achievements in this regard with the largest

number of germplasm conserved in the world.

Table 8. Collection plots of germplasm and/or gene banks established in

Asia

Country Collection plots of germplasm and/or gene banks

Malaysia 33 genetic trials covering 478 different genetic origins of 4 major

commercial species;

Living collections of 45 species in arboreta;

Progeny and provenance trials including 160 genetic origins of C.

subinermis;

Progeny trials of C. manan and C. palustris.

Indonesia >20 species planted at the Bogor Botanical Garden.

Lao PDR A germplasm garden with 8 species in Naunxuang Province.

Philippines A gene bank in Los Baños, Laguna consisting of 45 species;

A gene bank in Malaybalay, Bukidnon consisting of 25 species

India A live collection consisting of about 45 species at Kerala Forest

Research Institute;

Seed stands of 12 species in Thrissur Forest Division.

China Living collections consisting of 49 species and 6 varieties and

provenance trials and progeny tests of 4 species in Guangzhou,

Hainan and Guangxi;

Two collection plots of rattan germplasm at Tropical Botanical

Garden and South China Botanical Garden of Chinese Academy

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Country Collection plots of germplasm and/or gene banks

of Sciences in Yunnan and Guangzhou.

Sri Lanka A total area of 148 ha of species trials.

Vietnam Genetic stocks conserved in 10 national parks and 53 special-use

forests.

4. HARVESTING, PROCESSING AND UTILIZATION OF RATTAN RESOURCES

4.1 Harvesting of rattans

So far, harvesting of rattan harvesting is almost done manually and there

is no scientific method of harvesting rattan (Siebert, 2002). Rattan cane

gatherers need to pull the canes down from the forest canopy and

remove the spiny sheaths, leaves and whips. Cane-harvesting is thus a

labor intensive and dangerous business - dead branches can be

dislodged as the rattan is pulled and ants and wasps can often be

disturbed in the process. Preliminary studies have been conducted by

Dutch, Malaysians and Indonesians on harvesting rattan mechanically,

and new harvesting tools made and tried with little success (Nur Supardi,

1992, Chong et al., 1999).

4.1.1 Season of Harvesting. Harvesting of rattan canes may be year

round or anytime of the year, however, harvesting in dry season is

recommended. Shoot harvesting can be done any time around the year.

4.1.2 Harvesting methods and tools. Canes are cut as close to the base

as possible with native tools such as big knife, axe or bolo. Shoots can be

harvested with big knife or special scissors.

4.1.3 Age of harvesting. The rattan stems are mature and ready for

harvesting when the stem are exposed after the leaf sheaths of rattans

have dislodged from the stem and dropped on the ground, or the thorns

are blackish, or leaves dry or yellowish green. Small-diameter canes are

harvested at 6 to 10 years while large- diameter canes are harvested at

ages of more than 10 years.

Shoots are harvested when they reach harvestable size. In Thailand, the

most popular and commercialized species planted for shoot production

is Calamus viminalis. The first harvest can be done as early as 10 months

after planting. In China, the species tested for shoot production is D.

margaritae. The first harvest can be done after 12 months of planting in

fertile soil and around 18 months in infertile soils.

4.1.4 Drying or treatment of cane. Once the canes are harvested, they

must immediately be dried or treated in such manner that they meet the

moisture content level that is low enough to prevent the invasion of

staining fungi.

5. PROCESSING OF RATTANS

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5.1 Processing of rattan canes

5.1.1 Primary processing. Primary processing or post-harvest treatment

process involves seasoning, curing and deglazing (Liese, 2001).

Seasoning: Proper drying of canes is necessary to maintain the high

quality of rattan products. Seasoning has to start in the forest.

Traditionally, bundles of 20 to 30 cane pieces are kept in erect

position against a tree for about a week to drain off the sap and

water. During the drying process curved parts can be straightened

by placing weights over horizontally stacked poles.

Curing: Curing means the immersion of canes in a hot oil bath to

prevent deterioration. In general, a treatment with kerosene oil at 100

to 105ºC for 20 to 45 minutes (depending on the stem diameter)

appears to be best for improvement of skin colour.

Deglazing: In highly silicated species, species that have the outer part

of the stem, the epidermis, heavily encrusted with amorphous silica,

the silica layer must be flaked away (deglazed).

5.1.2 Grading. The grading of rattan stems is a very important step in

processing. Canes are usually divided into two categories: large and

small; 18 mm is the most widely used cutoff. Grading rules and

procedures differ widely from country to country. This could be due to

the variation in the species of rattan found in each country. For example,

Malaysia has many different grading systems, some are established for

raw canes, round and peeled canes, some are according to dimension

and color of canes, and trade manes as well.

Grading is crucial to trade and influences producers, processors,

exporters and importers, as well as the end users. In most producing

countries the rattan grading rules are not precisely formulated. The

Philippines formulated rattan cane grading rules early in 1976 (Table 9).

Indonesia also has formal criteria to grade rattan cane.

5.1.3 Secondary processing. Secondary processing involves peeling,

splitting, steaming, treatment or preservation of canes, bending and

moulding, dyeing, sanding and finishing (Liese, 2001).

Peeling (removal of the outer layers to obtain the inner core) and

splitting are often done by hand with traditional knives or by using

simple machines.

Steaming: At processing plants, steam chambers are used to soften

the stems so that they can be bent; if the rattan is not steamed,

bending can cause damage to the cane. At the village level, a

blowtorch is frequently used to soften the stems for bending and

shaping.

Treatment or preservation of canes: two methods are used -

nonchemical and chemical. The most common nonchemical

treatment is air-drying of canes under the shade before processing.

The others include smoking, Kiln drying and boiling in oil. Chemical

200

treatment is less applied nowadays as the market needs

environmentally friendly products of rattans.

Bending and Moulding: Rattan poles are heated with the use of a

steaming chest for 20 min to 30 min and blow torches are sometime

used to preheat rattan parts.

Sanding and finishing: Sanding and scraping are then required to

remove, at least partly, the burn marks left by the blowtorch.

Drilling and/or grooving: Holes are drilled for inserting small rattan

poles or cores or grooved for inserting rattan webbing. These

processing methods are applied according to what kind of finished

products are to be produced.

Table 9. Classification of rattan canes in the Philippines

Grade Specification

Unsplit

rattan

Grade

A

Mature, well seasoned, very slightly blemished and

100% of the standard length free from fungal

discoloration, pinholes, bruises, checks and cracks.

Grade

B

Mature, well seasoned, slightly blemished and 85% of

the standard length free from fungal discoloration,

pinholes, bruises, checks and cracks.

Grade

C

Mature, well seasoned, blemished and 50% of the

standard length free from fungal discoloration,

pinholes, bruises, checks and cracks.

Grade

D

Well seasoned, dark brown to black, heavily stained

with numberous pinholes, bruises, checks and cracks.

Rattan

derivatives

Grade

A

Whitish to light yellow, no natural and manufacturing

defects, uniform thickness and width, and minimum

length of 3m.

Grade

B

Light cream to light brown or grey, allowable defects

in aggregate size of fungal stains and discoloration

does not exceed 15%, free from pinholes and

manufacturing defects, and minimum length of 3m.

Grade

C

Light brown to brown or dark grey, stains and

discoloration are acceptable while manufacturing

defects such as uneven width and thickness are

acceptable up to 25% and minimum length of 3m.

Source: Jiang (2007).

5.2 Processing of rattan shoots

5.2.1 Processing of shoots for fresh food. Processing of rattan shoots for

consumption as fresh food/vegetable is rather simple. It only needs to

remove the leaves and thorns on the sheaths, and cut the shoots into a

marketable length. The Thai experiences showed that the shoots with

sheaths can keep fresh for a week without price reduction.

5.2.2 Processing of dried shoots. Processing of dried shoots involves the

following steps: 1) removal of spiny leaves and leaf-sheaths, 2) cutting of

201

shoots into pieces of about 4cm long, 3) longitudinally slicing of the

shoots into thin pieces, 4) boiling the shoot pieces for about 10 minutes

and 5) cooling in 0.1% sodium metabisulphite solution. The cooled shoot

pieces were then spread on the mats or trays and kept under the sun

light. Generally, it took about 3-4 days for the shoots to be dried.

Dehydration of the cooled shoot pieces at 70 oC in the oven would take

only 10 hours and the products were better in texture and color.

5.2.3 Processing of canned/bottled shoots. Processing of canned/

bottled shoots employs the following procedures: 1) removal of spiny

leaves and leaf-sheaths, 2) cutting of shoots into pieces of length that

meets the inerheight of the can/bottle with or without slicing depending

on the required product specifications, 3) immerging the cut

shoots/pieces in a solution of clean water and 0.1 % sodium

metabisulphite for a while, 4) immerging the cut shoots/pieces in

blanching solution of 0.1% sodium metabisulphite and 0.2% citric acid, 4)

boiling the shoots/pieces for about 10 minutes, and 5) cooling the

shoots/pieces in 0.1% sodium metabisulphite solution.

There are two types of canned/bottled shoot products. One is that the

treated shoots/pieces are canned/bottled in brine solution consisting of

2% of salt, 0.5% of citric acid and 0.1% of calcium chloride, and the other

is that the treated shoots/pieces are canned/bottled in syrup solution

consisting of 30% of sugar, 0.5% of citric acid and 0.1% of calcium

chloride.

The treated shoots/pieces were passed to exhausting process by

steaming the cans/bottles for 15 minutes before tightly closed the lids,

then starting sterilizing process by putting the cans/bottles into boiling

water for about 30 minutes. The water is kept boiling during the entire

process. Sterilized shoots/pieces were stored under room temperature.

6. UTILIZATION OF RATTANS

6.1 Utilization of canes

6.1.2 Primary products. The primary rattan products can be generalized

as raw or whole canes which may be treated or polished rattan.

6.1.2 Secondary products. In general, the secondary rattan-based

products are mostly splits, wickers, and cores. The small canes are the

ones usually split; the length depends on the market requirements.

6.1.3 Finished products. The list of products include furniture items such as

chairs, tables, cabinets, and dividers, backpacks, hand fans, mats, canes

picture frames, jewel boxes, vanity cases, handbags, cloth hangers,

flower bases, and lampshades.

202

6.2 Utilization of shoots

Shoots are mainly consumed as vegetables. Thailand is the biggest

producer of rattan shoots, followed by Lao PDR. The fresh and/or

canned/bottled shoots are locally consumed while the dried shoots are

exported to Southeast Asian communities in France, the United States

and elsewhere. While a kilo of fresh rattan shoots is sold locally in

Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR, at a price of 0.5 US Dollars, the dried

shoots can be sold at a price of 50 US Dollars per kilo in North America

(Evans, 2001). In Northeast Thailand, fresh rattan shoots are locally

consumed, and a fresh shoot is worth a kilo of rice.

6.3 Potential use as food and/or drink additives

Our studies on bio-active substances of water- and ethanol-extracts of

the fresh and dried shoots of D. margaritae and their antioxidant

activities showed that Shoots of D. margaritae are a kind of vegetable

with high antioxidant capacity, even higher than asparagus, the best

vegetable containing the highest antioxidant capacity ever known. The

free radical scavenging capacity of margaritae shoots neared zero

(0.33%, Table 10) with 3200 times of dilution, which implies that

margaritae shoots are more efficient if they are used for producing new

rattan-based products. Further determination of antioxidant activities of

water- and ethanol-extracts of fresh and dried leaves and fruits of D.

margaritae had proved that utilization of extracts of the whole plant as

food and/or drink additives is possible.

6.4 Other uses

Rattan plant can be used for a variety of purposes. Its fruits and roots are

used as traditional medicine. The fruit is a source of colorant for the

ceramic and pharmaceutical industries. Small amounts of skin waste are

used as filler for car jock or chair. Other uses of rattan include cordage,

construction, thatching, broom handles, and walking sticks (Table 11).

7. CONCLUDING REMARKS

The world‘s rattan sector, in spite of its socio-economic importance, has

faced many difficulties in sustaining its development. The most crucial

constraint is that the world‘s rattan resource base is unknown, which

make the management for its sustainable development impossible.

Taking into account the majority of raw material supply comes from the

wild and the large-scale plantation development programs in Asia, the

world‘s leading rattan producing area, have not yet been proved

successful, the only possible way out is to sustainably manage the forests

where the rattans inhabit.

203

Table 10. The inhibition of free radical by DPPH in percent (I %) of different

shoots after dilution

Times of

dilution

Test material

DM AO ZC LS DL

1 92.29±1.44 72.91±0.24 42.82±1.15 2.87±0.49 0.78±0.28

2 89.44±0.19 61.62±0.52 16.51±0.24 0

4 87.97±0.09 22.85±0.74 2.74±0.64

6 87.73±0.25 7.70±0.24 0 -

8 87.49±0.23 1.74±1.18 - -

10 87.20±0.10 0 - -

40 82.74±0.43 - - - -

100 44.15±1.72 - - - -

200 24.70±0.69 - - - -

400 11.77±0.43 - - - -

800 4.51±0.30 - - - -

1600 2.24±0.27 - - - -

3200 0.33±0.14 - - - -

Table 11. Some traditional uses of rattans, excluding cane

Product / Use Species

Fruit eaten Calamus conirostris;; C. longisetus; C. manillensis;

C. merrillii; C. ornatus; C. paspalanthus;; C.

subinermis; C. viminalis; Calospatha scortechinii;

Daemonorops ingens; D. periacantha; D. ruptilis

Palm heart eaten Calamus deerratus; C. egregius; C. javensis; C.

muricatus; C. paspalanthus; C. siamensis; C.

simplicifolius; C. subinermis; C. tenuis; C. viminalis;

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

DM AO ZC LS DL

Distilled water 25% ethanol 50% ethanol 75% ethanol 100% ethanolFig. 1. Comparison of free radical scavenging capacities (%) of different test

materials with different extracting solutions

Note: DM-D. margaritae (rattan), AO-Asparagus officinalis, ZC-Zizania caduciflora

(water bamboo), LC-Lactuca sativa L. var. crispa (curled lettuce) and a kind of DL-

Dendrocalamus latiflorus (sweet Ma bamboo)

204

Daemonorops fissa; D. longispatha; D. margaritae;

D. melanochaetes; D. periacantha; D. scapigera;

D. schmidtiana; D. sparsiflora; Laccosperma

secundiflorum; Plectocompiopsis geminiflora

Fruit used in traditional

medicine

Calamus castaneus; C. longispathus;

Daemonorops didymophylla

Palm heart in traditional

medicine

Calamus exilis; C. javensis; C. ornatus;

Daemonorops grandis; Korthalsia rigida

Fruit as source of red resin

exuded between scales,

used medicinally and as a

dye (one source of

"dragon's blood")

Daemonorops didymophylla; D. draco; D.

maculata; D. micrantha; D. propinqua; D. rubra

Leaves for thatching Calamus andamanicus; C. castaneus;; C.

longisetus; Daemonorops calicarpa; D. elongata;

D. grandis; D. ingens; D. manii

Leaflet as cigarette paper Calamus longispathus; Daemonorops leptopus

Leaves chewed as

vermifuge

Laccosperma secundiflorum

Roots used as treatment

for syphilis

Eremospatha macrocarpa

Leaf sheath used as

toothbrush

Eremospatha wendlandiana; Oncocalamus sp.

Leaf sheath/petiole as

grater

Calamus sp (undescribed, from Bali);

Rachis for fishing pole Daemonorops grandis; Laccosperma

secundiflorum

Source: Sunderland and John Dransfield (2002).

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