As bamboo production levels have risen, the amounts of raw materials needed to facilitate the production have simultaneously increased. The bamboo industry in Anji predominantly harvests bamboo from plantations, as it primarily grows a fast growing and easily cultivated, bamboo species, locally known as "maozhu" or "moso bamboo" (phyllostachys heterocycla) (Binnquist, Lopez, and Shanley). .
Currently in Anji, the cultivation of moso bamboo encompasses 60% of the forest area, with the percentage rising as plantations expand. Along with the hefty production of bamboo, the intense cultivation bamboo industry uses mammoth amounts of fertilizers and pesticides; which contributes to negative environmental effects. In reference to the bamboo production in Anji being eco-friendly:
The use of chemicals and mono-cultures, along with moso bamboo's tendency to rapidly and vigorously spread out, is stripping natural forest areas and local biodiversity. On the other hand, bamboo plantations can also have some positive ecological effects, for example when established on eroded or degraded lands, and they can contribute to soil and water conservation. Today, an increasing level of attention is being paid to addressing the environmental damage associated with bamboo plantations and also, to conserving biodiversity. (Binnquist, Lopez, and Shanley, p. 48).
The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), an international organization established by treaty in November 1997, purports that it aims to improve the economic, social, and environmental benefits of bamboo and rattan. According to the article, "Environmental Sustainability," published on the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan website, bamboo can provide numerous services in local ecosystems and to the global environment. Significant ecological services bamboo provides include "rehabilitation of degraded land and slowing soil erosion" (Environmental Sustainability, ¶ 1). The following reflects goals INBAR includes in its Environmental Sustainability Programme:
1. Demonstrating and documenting the benefits bamboo and rattan provide for environmental conservation, as well as how these "products" may contribute to implementing agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). INBAR aims "to have at least three demonstration projects under way in the three regions by 2011 in which best practices for soil, water and biodiversity conservation, rehabilitation of degraded lands and carbon sequestration…"(Environmental Sustainability, ¶ 2). INBAR plans to document the efforts it demonstrates.
2. Identifying endangered bamboo and rattan species; developing management methods and conservation demonstration sites; promoting the combination of conservation principles and practices into field projects and stimulating action research on bamboo and rattan habitats of endangered animals (Environmental Sustainability).
3. Demonstrating the role of bamboo and rattan in plantations and sustainably managed forests in providing economically viable environmental services. Developing resource inventory methods and technical manuals. In combination with income generation for local people, particularly the poor, INBAR also develops criteria and indicators for sustainable resource management. To accomplish this, INBAR plans to provide relevant training and capacity building (Environmental Sustainability).
Commercialization of New Materials
In the Web article, Bamboo Engineered Housing, Ujjwal Raj Pokhrel reports that each year, Nepal produces 3.01 million culms of bamboo, with production from 62,891 hectors of land. Nepal has approximately "23 genera (24% of the world) and 81 species of bamboo (5.2% of the world) found in 73 of the 75 districts of Nepal" (Pokhrel, Background section, ¶ 1). From the total annual production of bamboo culms in Nepal:
[Approximately] 600,000 -- 700,000 culms of bamboo are traded over the commercial domestic market in a year. Out of the remaining 2.4 millions culms, 1.9 millions culms are consumed locally and rest (0.5 million culms) are traded to India. An estimated 102 metric tons of bamboo shoots are also produced and sold in Nepal annually, all of which are consumed locally. (Pokhrel, Background section, ¶ 1)
Pokhrel asserts that bamboo, one of the most environmental friendly construction materials, constitutes one of the fastest growing plants in the world, with a growth rate that varies from 30 cm to 100 cm per day. After 60-90 days following shoot sprouting, bamboo reaches its maximum size. It may be commercially harvested after growing three to six years. Bamboo readily multiplies and grows easily in soil, not typically suitable for a number of agricultural crops. Bamboo, Pokhrel stresses, possesses significant potential to immensely contribute to the human and natural ecosystem, as well as...
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