(Excerpts from) The International Bamboo Foundation website: http://www.bamboocentral.org (Excerpts from) The International Bamboo Foundation website: http://www.bamboocentral.org
The International Bamboo Foundation and the Environmental Bamboo Foundation of Indonesia were both founded by Linda Garland, Ph.D., (honorary), an internationally renowned designer and environmentalist who has made her home in Indonesia for over 20 years. Ms. Garland has focused her energy solely upon finding a solution to environmental concerns regarding the worlds diminishing tropical forest resources.
Her efforts were to first create the EBF in 1991 in order to incorporate a multidisciplinary approach to developing bamboo as an environmentally renewable non-wood forest resource. In January,1995, the IBF was granted non-profit status and received its first funding for educational programs introduced at the IVth International Bamboo Congress held in Bali that year.
Under the guidance of Linda Garland and Dr Walter Liese, of the University of Hamburg, a 2 year research project was conducted to develop the modified Boucherie treatment against the powder post beetle. This has had a significant impact on extending the life of bamboo in the place of timber. By obtaining a grant from USAID and the Earth Love Fund (UK), the world’s first bamboo training center was established in Bali to educate participants in bamboo agroforestry and the sustainable commercialization of bamboo. In 1995 the EBF and IBF was host to the IVth International Bamboo Congress, architectural forum, trade show and music festival in Bali, Indonesia. This four day world class environmental event drew over 2000 attendees from 37 countries. For the first time, the world’s leading scientists, business representatives, engineers, architects, environmentalists and politicians participated together to promote bamboo as an environmental solution.
This event was covered in Indonesia by CNN’s Elsa Klench.. It was a landmark event when Indonesian Minister of the Environment, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, who officiated at the opening of the Congress, committed Indonesia to the “Zero Emissions” policy, after meeting with Gunter Pauli, co-author with Fritjof Capra of “Steering Business Towards Sustainability”. In partnership with the IBF and EBF, Mr Pauli, has since gone on to found ZERI (Zero Emissions Research Initiative). This effort has now created standards for industrial reform worldwide of the recycling of waste and reduction of CO2 emissions. This event was one example of the diverse range of environmental solutions explored and launched at the conference.
STATEMENT OF NEED Deforestation and increased CO2 emissions threaten the earth’s biodiversity and the very air we breathe. By promoting the widespread responsible use of bamboo and its products in construction within the US and internationally, an increase in demand will generate the need for agroforestry and biodiversity programs using sustainable propagation and harvesting methods. Bamboo produces over 35% more oxygen than trees generating a significant increase in carbon sequestration (12 tons per hectare annually), which can repair and sustain our rapidly diminishing atmosphere.
Bamboo is a pioneering plant and can be grown in soil damaged by overgrazing and poor techniques. Bamboo has been used for centuries for windbreaks and erosion control. Unlike with most trees proper harvesting does not kill the bamboo plant so topsoil is held in place. Bamboo reaches structural maturity in four years and generates a crop every year. Structural bamboos are ten times as strong in tension as the Douglas Fir commonly used for construction in the US and having a tensile strength equal to mild steel. As a result much less material can be used to perform the same structural task.
Given the opportunity bamboo can take some of the tremendous pressure off of our precious forests and reduce the environmental damage brought on by cutting them. Marginalized lands can be brought back into production and their soil improved over time with the cultivation of bamboo. Until there are building code standards in place for bamboo and the public is educated to the potential of bamboo as a structural material this will not happen.
Since 1995, the IBF has provided ongoing support for environmental programs in southeast Asia. In Bali, preservation research, agroforestry projects, watershed reclamation, plantation development and weekly educational workshops under the guidance of Linda Garland and the staff of the Environmental Bamboo Foundation in Indonesia. EBF maintains a paid staff of three in Bali to conduct these programs. To date, Linda and all IBF board members have volunteered their time and resources for these last five years to promote bamboo as an environmental solution.
The IBF works in closely with the Environmental Bamboo Foundation, the Zeri Foundation and an international network of bamboo associations, scientists, universities and governments
EAST TIMOR PROJECT Funds continue to be raised at a yearly benefit held in Aspen Colorado to provide humanitarian aid through the Designers For the Environment for the women of East Timor. The beautiful and sophisticated weavings are now being manufactured and preserved through the efforts of many volunteers directed by Linda Garland and Jane Hawkins in Bali. Woven mattress covers and duvets and now being manufactured and can be purchased through the website.
Over $18,000 have been awarded through donors to the IBF in 2001 to complete a bamboo resource survey and to begin providing an economic base of support to the plantation, housing, orphanage, furniture and crafts industries there. By bringing in funds to repair water systems and supplying dye and thread to the women of East Timor, the culture of these indigenous tribes can begin to recover and find new markets for arts. This insures their survival, culturally and literally as they begin to completely rebuild their lives after total destruction of their communities.