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2007 International
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The International Bamboo Foundation
Report to Donors International Bamboo Foundation • POB 790716, Paia, Hawaii 96779
The International Bamboo Foundation a, 501(c)3 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 agricultural
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. CURRENT PROJECTS
NATIONAL BUILDING CODE RESEARCH AND STANDARDS
In 2001 the IBF has received over $20,000 in matching funds for the approval
process of bamboo for use in construction. GROW YOUR OWN HOME Education
is essential for bamboo to become a commonplace building material. With
over 100,000 visitors every day Maui, Kauai, or the Island of Hawaii can
provide an excellent location for an educational facility. The IBF has sent several proposals this year for a “Bamboo Plantation” in conjunction with the building code research, to demonstrate here on Maui the potential for “growing your own home”. The Plantation project has been proposed in conjunction with the University of Hawaii and is pending. We project a bamboo plantation on 5-10 acres of ag land adjacent to a tourist artery which will highlight biodiversity and permaculture integrating native plant species. The park should contain roughly one hundred bamboo species with emphasis on the four main species used in construction.. Park structures would be built of bamboo highlighting the history and diversity of bamboo used throughout the world. A variety of beautiful, fascinating and high quality crafts and objects would be available for sale. A similar attraction in France has 300,000 visitors a year. The Park can open in three years as bamboo matures quickly. A production nursery will be developed to raise bamboo plants for sale to tourists for export and to develop nursery stock for planting shoot and timber acreage. INDONESIA AND THE EBF 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.
In 1995, immediately following the bamboo congress in Indonesia, the EBF
received a $25,000 grant from the Earth Love Fund, a private foundation
in the UK and a $25,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation for institutional
development. Also in 1995, $75,000 was awarded from the Threshold Foundation
to complete a videotape for the first Bamboo training course conducted
at the worlds first training center. The training center and production
facility, was funded by a $250,000 grant from USAID to the EBF. A total of $35,000 in grants have been awarded to the IBF from a single donor since 1997 for completing the preservation process for structural bamboo and funding ongoing agroforestry and watershed development in Indonesia. Also awarded in 1997, from the Foundation for Deep Ecology was an $8000 grant for a nursery seed project and forest development. DESIGNERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT– RISD AND EAST TIMOR DESIGNERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN EAST TIMOR PROJECT We have recently completed GIS aerial surveys of the bamboo resources available to develop plantations for the production of furniture at Dili. This project has created jobs and will eventually lead to the development of a bamboo industry. Our team organizer, Hector Hill of Austrailia reported last November: "East Timor is only in the earliest stages of recovery... the people who are making the furniture in the mountains, are still now after 12 months since the destruction building their homes, re-establishing their communities and subsistence food production. We are providing as many as we can with vegetable seeds now as the rains break to help them along, it is not much but it enough... treating rattan is something they would love to do, but for the moment, we seem to be lucky, I have seen borers in only one set, and they have been exposed to borers for a while. The designs and quality are very basic, but then there is so little furniture in East Timor after 85,000 houses were burned amongst everything else... phone, power, water systems destroyed, that where we have started now is enough... as much information as you or others can send us, particularly relevant for people with little or no resources will be most welcome... Nearly every family is missing a father or mother and the present situation is very troubling, in particular the situation regarding the street children orphaned during the coup. There is a great need for basic infrastructure, trucks, buildings, plumbing, electricity.“
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