Bamboo - the resource
Bamboo is a truly renewable, environmentally friendly material. It can help reduce the demand for wood from natural forests. It is adaptable to most climatic conditions and soil types, acting as an effective carbon sink and helping to counter the greenhouse effect. It is finding use in land stabilisation, to check erosion and conserve soil. It can be grown quickly and easily - even on degraded land - and harvested sustainably on 3 to 5 year rotation.
Bamboo is a well established cultural feature of many regions throughout the world - some 1250 species and 1500 traditional applications have been identified. Notably, the main users are the rural poor, and perhaps for this reason it has not received the mainstream recognition it deserves as a material resource.
Livelihoods
Partnerships between community and industry offer opportunities for livelihood creation and employment. Value-addition will begin at community level with activities such as cultivation, harvesting, preservation, processing and transportation. Utilisation will offer further opportunities, from handicrafts and furniture, produced in finished form or supplied as components to SMEs for further processing, to the supply of building components and `kit' houses.
The increasing industrial role for bamboo will also provide jobs and income for the poor. High value-added products requiring an industrial base include roofing sheets, plywood and particleboard, laminated components (for construction, joinery and furniture), high quality flooring, pulp and paper. Other possibilities for community-industry partnerships include the use of bamboo for reinforced roads, pedestrian bridges, culverts, retaining walls, dams, water tanks, fuelwood, briquettes, charcoal, food and food storage bins.
Housing
One billion people live in bamboo houses worldwide, but for the most part they are low grade, temporary buildings, which undermines the real potential of bamboo as a construction material. When issues of durability and strength are resolved, imaginative design and the use of other locally available materials within the cultural context can make the building desirable rather than just acceptable. Many examples of exclusive, architect designed bamboo houses can be found in Central and South America.
TRADA International and bamboo | Bamboo - the resource | Bamboo buildings
