Hyderabad: Every year on September 18, World Bamboo Day raises awareness about this fast-growing plant. The day recognises the importance of bamboo on a global scale. Bamboo is the most sustainable – ecofriendly - renewable natural resource used for various purposes. It is used to make small products, furniture and to construct houses and structures.
World Bamboo Day is a day of celebration to increase the awareness of bamboo globally to promote cultivation and usages of bamboo as well as traditional uses locally for community and economic development.
Is bamboo tree or grass?
Scientifically bamboo is not a tree but grass. But the Indian Forest Act, 1927 considered it a tree. Accordingly, cutting bamboo from outside forests and transporting it was made unlawful. In 2017 an amendment was made to Indian Forest Act, 1927 and bamboo has been removed from the category of tree. Now there is no prohibition on growing or cutting bamboo trees even outside the forests.
History of World Bamboo Day
The World Bamboo Organization (WBO) proclaimed September 18 as World Bamboo Day in 2009, during the eighth World Bamboo Congress in Bangkok. It was decided upon with the unanimous consent of delegates from almost 100 nations. This celebration was initiated by Kamesh Salam, former President of WBO. Since then, this day is a world-wide event gathering hundreds of thousands of people to manifest the importance of bamboo as a plant companion for humanity.
The day was unanimously declared on September 18th to coincide with Royal Thai Forestry Day of Royal Govt of Thailand. The aim of World Bamboo Day is to raise public awareness of the benefits that bamboo has to offer economically and the importance of growing it for emerging industries.
Significance of World Bamboo Day
In Southeast Asia, East Asia, and South Asia, bamboo is extremely valuable from an economic and cultural standpoint. The significance of World Bamboo Day lies in its promotion of the benefits of utilising and protecting bamboo. On this day, people become more conscious of the plant's many uses in both personal and professional settings.
Bamboo is useful for making musical instruments, art, and building materials because of its extraordinary strength.
The Uses Of Bamboo
Houses, schools and other buildings: Today, over one billion people in the world live in bamboo houses. According to UNESCO, 70 hectares of bamboo produces enough material to build 1000 houses. If timber was used instead, it could require the felling of trees from an already diminishing forest.
Roads and bridges: It is being used in road reinforcements in India and it is also used in bridges built in China and is capable of supporting trucks that weigh as much as 16 tons.
Medicines: In China, ingredients from the black bamboo shoot help treat kidney diseases. Roots and leaves have also been used to treat venereal diseases and cancer.
Bamboo Clothes: It’s the new hemp, it can be made into a strong and durable fabric a bit like canvas and can be made into all sorts of clothes. Additionally, bamboo fabric is breathable, thermal regulating, wicks moisture better than polyester performance fabrics, will resist odour and is absorbent and fast drying keeping you dryer and more comfortable than any cotton or polyester fabrics. Beware though: it is also made into Rayon in a chemical process that is unsustainable.
Accessories: It is also used to make necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and other types of jewellery.
Food: Shoots are used mainly in Asian food preparations. In Japan, the antioxidant properties of the bamboo’s skin prevent bacterial growth, and are used as natural food preservatives.
Fuel: Charcoal made from this plant has been used for centuries as cooking fuel in China and Japan. The Bamboo vinegar or pyroligneous acid is extracted when making charcoal and is used for hundreds of treatments in almost all fields. This liquid contains 400 different chemical compounds and can be applied for many purposes including cosmetics, insecticides, deodorants, food processing, and agriculture.
