A message from the INBAR Director General on World Bamboo Day
18 September 2018 – Today marks World Bamboo Day – a time for people to come together and reflect on the importance of these plants around the world.
Of course, at INBAR, every day is ‘World Bamboo Day’. For over 20 years, we have worked across continents, promoting the use of this fantastic plant for sustainable development. Whether creating jobs, preventing deforestation, storing carbon or creating low-carbon infrastructure – the potential of bamboo is enormous, particularly in the tropical and subtropical areas where it grows.
A key part of INBAR’s 2015 to 2030 Strategy is the need to raise awareness about the importance of bamboo. In 2018, we made a huge contribution to this aim, when we co-hosted the Global Bamboo and Rattan Congress, ‘BARC 2018’. In partnership with China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration, INBAR welcomed some 1200 participants from almost 70 countries, to take part in three days of discussions about nature-based solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals.
If INBAR is the ‘United Nations of Bamboo’, then this was our Conference of Parties: a results-focused, high-profile event with a number of very important outcomes. This World Bamboo Day, I am pleased to share our report of the Congress. The report maps out ‘the road from BARC 2018’, and the future policies, programmes and investments which will help us realise bamboo’s full potential. We saw the formation of new partnerships; we agreed on funding for new ground-based work and research; and we heard bamboo being endorsed from some of the world’s highest ranking policy makers.
Importantly, we also listened – to the experiences and innovations taking place across our 44 Member States. Although it has been used for thousands of years, one speaker was correct to observe that we have “come full circle”: combining traditional bamboo uses with innovative materials, making it even more resilient and useful for a wide range of purposes.
It is my fervent hope that in the years to come, we keep finding out more about nature-based solutions to sustainable development challenges. I urge you to read, download and share this report. I also encourage anyone working with bamboo or rattan to come and share their experiences with us at info@inbar.int. We are always listening!
Let me end by wishing all bamboo supporters around the world a Happy Bamboo Day.
– Hans Friederich, Director General, INBAR
The report ‘The road from the Global Bamboo and Rattan Congress 2018’ can be accessed here. The report can be cited as: International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR). 2018. The road from the Global Bamboo and Rattan Congress 2018. INBAR Policy Synthesis report 5. INBAR: Beijing, China.
