This paper lays out a framework for assessing the opportunities to make improvements in existing bamboo and rattan production-to-consumption systems. It considers the dynamics of such systems, as groups of people move from the most elementary “hunting and gathering” systems to more intensive production and processing systems that result in increased incomes and value added […]

Bamboo, the fastest growing woody plant, has attracted the attention of not only biologists but also engineers and architects. Strength data are lacking for most species. Even available data are difficult to compare because different testing procedures have been used by different authors. Standardizing the testing procedures is essential to eventually arrive at a Bamboo […]

This paper provides socio-economic information on Indonesia’s rattan sector. Indonesia has the largest rattan reserve in the world, with approximately 80% of the world’s rattan, mainly in Kalimantan, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya. Studies indicate that there are at least 300 species of rattan growing in Indonesia. Rattan stems are generally used for producing […]

In 2003, INBAR and Utthan took the initiative to review progress of a project which used bamboo for the environmental and socio-economic rehabilitation of villages devastated by brick mining, and presented it in a report entitled “Greening Red Earth”. Ten years on, and with land degradation seemingly an even more pressing concern, INBAR and Utthan […]

Until recently, quantification methodologies and bamboo-specific examples in climate change mitigation were limited. To harness the untapped potential of bamboo for mitigation, INBAR and partners have made significant progress in developing methodologies for bamboo carbon accounting in an afforestation projects. In this publication, INBAR builds on previous work by introducing some of the latest developments […]

This study forms part of INBAR’s efforts to develop the bamboo sector in Africa and the Central African subregion in particular, in partnership with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and local partners. The study’s main objective is to conduct and analyse the production to consumption system of Cameroon’s bamboo sector and identify potential […]

This report examines in depth the situation China is facing through the loss of biodiversity in commercial bamboo forests in China.

This profile on bamboo, created as a part of the “Specialty Crops for Pacific Island Agroforestry”, describes bamboo’s uses, characteristics, propagation, cultivation, pests, disadvantages, commercial and small-scale production, yields, and markets.

This publication examines the effect that the introduction of bamboo incense stick production as a livelihood option has had in the employment and income levels of women in the rural subsistence economy of Tripura, India. The interventions by TRIBAC have resulted in: employment generation, enhanced income, increased production, and growths in opportunity.