97 / 311
[
] 98
also help to preserve our forests. Bamboo’s versatility, coupled with
its strength and durability, means it can provide an ideal substitute for
timber. Moreover, as bamboo can grow up to one metre per day, can be
harvested after just three to four years, and regenerates without needing
to be replanted, bamboo can provide a sustainable substitute for timber.
This can reduce the pressure on our forests and help avert deforestation.
In many parts of Africa, demand for household firewood is one of
the major drivers of deforestation. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more wood
is consumed per capita than in any other region in the world, with
up to 90 per cent of households relying on fuelwood and charcoal for
their household energy needs. The demand for wood as biomass energy
represents a major threat to forest resources and is projected to rise even
further as a result of rapid population growth and urbanization.
INBAR is working with local partners in Ethiopia and Ghana,
including the Ethiopian Federal Micro and Small Enterprises
Development Agency and the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana,
to promote the use of charcoal made out of bamboo as a way to
conserve diminishing forest resources. The project is supported by
the European Union.
As has been seen in India, a successful and sustainable project
intervention, especially one that straddles the complex interface
between conservation and development, is likely to require a multi-
pronged approach. It needs the right skills and technology to manage
the bamboo and produce the charcoal; it needs the right level of
awareness for consumers to accept the product; and it needs the
right policies and regulatory mechanisms to incentivize investment.
INBAR is working with local farmers to improve the sustainability
and productivity of their bamboo groves and plantations, with local
enterprises to introduce high quality charcoal briquettes, and with
local policymakers to address perverse incentives and prohibitive poli-
cies that support unsustainable wood charcoal production. INBAR is
using its platform for South-South collaboration to transfer technol-
ogy from China, where research and development and
bamboo charcoal-based industries are highly developed.
Just as bamboo can provide a renewable alternative for
timber production of furniture, handicrafts, construction
materials, household utensils, flooring and many other
products, bamboo charcoal can help reverse the unsus-
tainable reliance on timber for household energy in Africa.
Important precedents for formulating effective policy and
practice are currently underway in Ghana and Ethiopia,
with a view to replicating the approach across the region.
Not only will this help to preserve Africa’s forest resources
for future generations, it will reduce forest-based carbon
emissions that contribute to harmful climate change.
The challenges facing forests and people in the
21st century are greater and more complex than ever.
Overcoming these challenges will require political will,
sound research, innovative thinking and a certain amount
of trial and error. The notion of sustainable development
has been around for a quarter of a century, and we are
now in a position to evaluate, distil and share the models
and approaches that have proven to be effective. The
International Year of Forests provides an opportunity
for just this.
The ‘green’ credentials of bamboo have long been
acknowledged. Now, with organizations like INBAR
having tested and refined specific models for bamboo-
based development and conservation, we are in a position
to take these models, adapt them, and apply them else-
where. Bamboo is no silver bullet. But in many of the
poorest parts of the world, using bamboo as a sustain-
able source of timber can be part of a tailored, nuanced
approach to creating a pro-poor, green economy.
ìINBAR is working with partners in Ethiopia and Ghana to promote the use of bamboo charcoal as a source of household energy, to reduce deforestation in the region
Image: INBAR