Are Traditional Bamboo Products Green?

Bamboo is an important wood substitute and agroforestry plant¹ occupying about 37 million hectares of total forest area of the world² . There are about 1250–1500 species of bamboo worldwide³ . It is estimated that almost 11.4 million hectares of land in India is under bamboos and India is a major bamboo-producing country in Asia⁴ . It is one of the most environmentally and economically sustainable resources⁵ and has a major contribution to the diverse economic needs of the rural community of the country⁵ . North-east India occupies about 28% of the total bamboo area of the country and sustains about 70% of rural work force in the region⁶ . Therefore, bamboo forms an important component of rural economy of north-east India⁵ . There are many potential uses of bamboo including food, medicine, fencing, roofing, construction material, furniture, shelter, traditional crafts which plays a significant role as an income generator for the rural poor⁵ . It has been observed that bamboo has a high potential to sequester large amount of carbon and has a crucial role in the climate change mitigation by carbon balance in the ecosystem^1,3–5 . The high standing carbon stock of bamboo thus makes it a vital sink of the terrestrial ecosystem 7 .