Bamboo’s Big Picture: Use, Forest Management and Sustainable Economic Development. See what’s in store in the coming weeks here.

Moso’s quick growth and versatility have brought it into the international spotlight. Within the last decade, international agencies put Moso as a “high priority” plant for research after acknowledgement of its commercial value and that resources for scientific study are severely limited.

Hailed as the most important bamboo species in China as well as the third most important plant species for timber production, Moso has become big business. The Chinese government has moved to increase the acreage of the plant to address both consumer demand and timber resource deficiency.

The increase in forest area is not necessarily ecologically benign. Mixed Moso forests are often converted to pure Moso plantations (homogenous stands of bamboo). Compared to a pure Moso plantation, traditionally mixed forest trees grown on sloping mountain areas where felling (cutting of trees) results in soil erosion. Standard management techniques for plantations consist of two brush cuttings per year to clear the forest floor and topsoil tillage every one or two years. This can result in both soil erosion and a rapid depletion of soil nutrients in which the area must be eventually fertilized to avoid deterioration, though that is not at all ecologically or economically feasible. Plantations that employ better sustainable management and harvesting techniques to maximize efficiency and minimize eventual ecological degradation should be encouraged.

Moso’s “eco-friendly” positioning in the market has been centered on its properties as:

- A natural (nonsynthetic) fiber

- A quick growth plant (it is a grass after all), and

- A “renewable” plant after its three to five year harvesting period.

(Oh So Moso – Series 1.3 will discuss Moso’s eco-friendly positioning in the market).

The China-India Entente

Trade in bamboo-based products in developing nations like China and India is being positioned as a sustainable development strategy for rural communities. The Philippines, Republic of Korea, Malaysia and even some African nations have also begun looking to bamboo as both a cash crop and a means to alleviate areas that have been overlogged.

Whether this becomes a viable tactic is highly questionable. Poor management will result in degradation. Fair labor standards and practices while harvesting the plant are largely undisclosed or at least not entirely transparent. Much of the bamboo currently used is harvested by those living at or below subsistence level and mainly by women and children.

Bamboo is the single most important forest product used by the rural communities in several countries of the Asia-Pacific region. It is also an important source of cash income for the rural poor. Bamboo is a labor-intensive, multipurpose commodity. This is particularly why bamboo-based development can lead to the creation of new jobs and income generation, especially for women in rural communities.

China is by far the largest supplier, producer and manufacturer of bamboo-based products, a vertically-integrated system that has been building steam for nearly two decades. In a research report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, China is predicted to close the gap in economic size with the U.S. by 2020. Labor-intensive production, such as bamboo extraction and manufacturing, will continue to shift to low cost labor, though average wages are not expected to rise dramatically.

With the second largest reserve of bamboo after China, India has also recently become interested in the plant’s economic promise, referring to it as the new “green gold.” The Indian government has plans for implementation of a $115 million project that will promote bamboo cultivation and trade through a National Mission on Bamboo Trade and Technology Development. Currently India takes advantage of only 1/10 of its bamboo producing potential. Maximizing production of bamboo in India was expected to create eight million jobs and lift five million families out of poverty and earn $3.6 billion in 2007, though recent numbers have not been found to be verified. Projections are expected to reach $5.7 billion by 2015.

These numbers remain optimistic reports and the reference to “green” gold is speculative. The vital method to channel the raw material to a finished product and into an end user market is still considered largely absent. Current reports show the person extracting the plant only gets 20% of the cost, 19% is given to the trade commission, and 61% goes directly to transportation. Additionally, most bamboo in India is being extracted from at least 60-70% of protected forest areas.

Tune in next Friday, April 22nd for Oh So MOSO Series 1.2: The Textile – Challenges, Quality, Processing, and Technical Properties. See what’s in store in the coming weeks here.