6 benefits of using bamboo for restoring ecosystems

Photo by Eleonora Albasi from Unsplash.

by Jerome Sagcal, Manila Bulletin

More countries have been recognizing the potential of bamboo in restoring damaged ecosystems. Among these countries is the Philippines which as part of the country’s enhanced National Greening Program, included bamboo planting as a tool to rehabilitate degraded watersheds. 

Bamboos have a lot to offer for their environment, so here are six benefits of using them for ecological restoration.

Fast-growing

Bamboos are considered the “Ferraris” of all woody plants. This is because of the speed at which they grow, as developing bamboos can add up to 1.2 meters to their height each day. Because of this, cutting down bamboo is not that damaging to the environment as they are easily replaceable. They can even complete their growth cycle in just three to four years and can even be harvested in a way that if only a third or sixth of the bamboo culms — the woody stem of the bamboo — are harvested per year, then more culms will actually grow in the following years.

Resilience

Bamboos forests have an underground network of fibrous roots called rhizomes which can extend up to 100km per hectare of bamboo. This biomass allows bamboo to survive and regenerate in locations that would otherwise be impossible to survive on. This makes bamboo resistant to the damaging effects of fire, flood, and drought on the environment. 

Improves soil quality

This underground root system also allows bamboo to grow in loose soil and steep slopes, which is often incompatible for other plants. It does this while counteracting soil erosion and improving soil quality. This is why bamboos are considered pioneer species as they can be introduced to an environment with poor soil quality and help improve it. 

A study in India showed how soil damaged by the local brickmaking industry successfully recovered after bamboos were planted in the area. Bamboos also raised the groundwater table level of the area.

Improves water regulation

In Colombia, planting of guadua bamboo (Guadua angustifolia) improved degraded soil by decreasing soil compaction. This enabled the return of ecological functions like water regulation and nutrient recycling. This was proven again in China, where a study comparing bamboo and sweetpotato plantations revealed that bamboo plantations exhibited 25% less water runoff compared to the sweetpotato plantations. 

Reduce coastal erosion

Bamboos are also used to reduce coastal erosion such as in the case in Thailand where bamboo poles were used as a fence to protect coastal mangroves. The bamboo fence received the full force of waves, reducing the strength of the waves by 70% and their height by 87%. After three years of using the bamboo fence alongside the mangrove trees, coastal erosion was averted with coastal sediments even increasing by 56cm.

Economic boon

Part of making people see how bamboos help restore ecosystems is to make them realize how the plant could directly help their lives. The bamboo industry is worth around US $60 billion and benefits over a third of the human population. Because of how fast they grow, people have been using bamboo to create a wide range of products. There are around 10,000 documented uses of bamboo. Among these include modern applications of bamboo in the field of construction and bioenergy.

Going the extra mile!

The employees of the provincial government of Davao de Oro as the trained enumerators and geo taggers braved the mountains and remote areas, walked long miles, crossed rivers using bamboo raft just to help establish a concrete, accurate and reliable baseline data as point of reference that serves as basis for the decision makers and development planners to come up with an evidence-based quality, doable and implementable plans, policies programs and projects to be prioritized.

Through the Provincial Household Profiling and Needs Assessment (PHPNA), the government will get new, accurate and correct data in terms of health, demographics characteristics, building/house structural characteristics, climate change and disaster information, and accessibility and communication.

This activity is set to be completed until November this year and shall be conducted in all municipalities of the province as part of steeping up data collection, and improving DDO through Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity. The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. There's no greater challenge and there is no greater honor than to be in public service. (Rey Antibo, ID DDO)

(Photo credits taken from various enumerators, geo-taggers)

15 Minutes Grand Fireworks Display

... ug Musical Concert nila Bamboo ug Eumee Capile

Compostela Valley Province-Puno sa nag lanog-lanog nga hugyaw sa kalipay, katawa, ug hudyaka ang tibuok kapitolyo sa  kapin 30 mil nga misaksi sa Grand Fireworks Display ug sa dakong Concert nila ni Bamboo ug Eumee Capile niadtong milabayng Biyernes (Marso 8,2019) sa gabii nga maoy nagsira sa usa ka semanang selebrasyon sa 12th Bulawan Festival ug 21st Founding Anniversary nga gipanguluhan nila ni Gov. Jayvee Tyron Uy; Cong. Maricar Zamora; Cong. Atty. Ruwell Peter Gonzaga; ug SP Members sa pagpanguna nila ni Vice Gov. Manuel “Way Kurat” Zamora ug Senior Board Member Arturo “Chiongkee” Uy.

Ang usa ka semanang selebrasyon sa 12^th Bulawan Festival gitapos sa usa ka adlawng Foundation Day Celebration sa milabayng Biyernes ug unang hunat ang pag turn-over ni Cong. Maricar Zamora sa bag-o nahumang Phase-1 Construction sa sa P179 Milyones nga Legislative Building nga nahitabo human ang Pontifical Mass nga giselebrar ni Bishop Medel S. Aseo kauban ang kapin kon kulang 30 ka mga kaparian sa Diocese of Tagum nga na assign sa Davao Del Norte, Compostela Valley, ug sa Queen of Apostles College Seminary.

Dungan niini ang “Bulawanong Ani ug Parada sa Bulawan” diin Highlight sa kalihokan ang Prosperity Float, Music Pool and Headress Parade” nga nagsugod sa Poblacion Nabunturan paingon sa kapitolyo ug samtang kini nagapadayon gihimo sad diha sa kapitolyo human sa Ceremonial Turn-over ang Opening Program nga gitambongan ni Sen. Bong Revilla nga maoy mihatag og Keynote Message atol sa maong okasyon.

Unang hunat sa mga paglingaw gidalit sa mga inilang artista nga sila Glydel Mercado, Pauline Mendoza, Tonton Gutierrez, ug Shyr Valdez ngadto sa liboang mga kababayen-an nga nagtapok atol sa selebrasyon sa “Kasumaran sa Kababayen-an” nga gipanguluhan ni Bulawan Festival Director PWDC Chair Madam Sholai sa ala 1:00-5:00 sa hapon.

Apan  sa pagkagabii dala nila Cong. Maricar Zamora ug Gov. Tyron Uy pinaagi ni Bulawan Festival Director PWDC Chair Madam Sholai sila Bamboo, Yumi Capile, ug ang Local Davao Comedians nga milingaw pinaagi sa nindot nga mga awit ug pakatawa sa kapin kon kulang 30,000 mga katawhan nga misaksi sa giusang Prosperity and Unity Concert ug sa 15 minutos nga Grand Fireworks Display nga maoy nagtapos sa usa ka semanang selebrasyon sa 12^th Bulawan Festival ug 21^st Founding Anniversary sa Compostela Valley. (Gilbert M. Cabahug, IDS-Comval)