“Not all bamboo is grown or harvested in an environmentally friendly way”
Whilst this statement is true in some cases, it is really a “throw the baby out with the bathwater” type statement. In practice this statement is not nearly as far reaching as it implies. This statement is usually referring to practices such as strip harvesting and cutting down natural forests to make way for bamboo plantations (“…’cos that’s were the money is”). Also, this statement is largely untrue for Phyllostachys pubescens, (also known as Mao-Zhu or [mis-pronounced & marketed in the West as Moso] the species mostly used for architectural bamboo products and mostly refers to bamboo species grown for food.
In the late 1990′s (29th April 1998) the Chinese government reformed their forestry policies, largely putting paid to many of the bad practices.
In fact, the opposite is true; China’s National Forest Restoration Program has a planned afforestation of 4 million hectares annually. In 2007 the forest area in China grew by 5.196 million hectares. During 2008, they planted more than 2.5 billion trees covering 5.29 million hectares. In 2009, this program has seen an additional 2.6 billion trees planted, covering about 5.412 million hectares. As you can see that they are exceeding their target every year.
As you know environmental projects should include local communities to be really effective. China partly achieves these goals by including their local population by requiring the active practice of a compulsory tree-planting as part of their program. In 1981, the National People’s congress decided that every citizen above 11 years old, except the weak, old, sick and disabled, should plant 3-5 trees every year, or participate in the cultivation of seedling and seeds, tree maintenance, or other afforestation tasks. A very practical way of getting people involved.
Harvested bamboo poles
The way bamboo is mostly harvested is intrinsically green. Most of the bamboo, Phyllostachys pubescens — known as Mao Zhu in China & Moso in Japan, used in bamboo flooring and board products, occurs in forests on the mountains of South East China. Due to the mountainous nature, mass or mechanical harvesting is largely impractical. Also, bamboo has a rhizome root system – this means that trees of varying ages occur right next to each other – so the bad practise of strip harvesting is generally not practical. Bamboo trees are selected according to maturity and then cut down using a machete.
The use of fertilizers & pesticides is not an issue in the case of Eco-Logic Bamboo products, as our forests are certified FSC Pure. If you are buying from another supplier, this issue is a major a factor to consider.
Another “negative” often quoted, is that natural forests are cleared and replaced with bamboo. As stated above, the Chinese government reformed its forestry policy, essentially preventing this practise. The argument is therefore a mute point.
Eco-Logic Bamboo products are sourced in FSC Pure: Product groups manufactured with 100 % FSC-certified material, sourced in certified forests & sustainably managed according to certified ISO 14001 Environmental Standards. You can read more about Eco-Logic Bamboo’s green credential on this page.
Wow! My brain hurts with all this, so cut to the chase … well then read on … [Next page ...]
