WBC-VIII-Vol.4 – Resources – Forestry, Plantations and ... - BambuSC

The Preservation of Bamboo Forests undertaken by NPO
Kitakyushu Biotope Network Group in Kitakyushu, Japan
Abstract
Bart DEWANCKER 1 , Toshiichi KUSABA 2
1 Associate Professor, The University of Kitakyushu, Faculty of Environmental Engineering
2 Engineering Advisor, The University of Kitakyushu Faculty of Environmental Engineering
In Japan, nearly all the bamboo forests are not maintained any longer, and because bamboos are very fast
growing, this result in a rapid expanding spread of large bamboo forests. There are now devastating problems
occurring for the bamboo forests, which are invading the adjacent forests and surrounding areas. Bamboo forest
thinning had always been the solution to prevent damage of such spread of bamboo forests to other tree varieties
and the surrounding fields. Especially since there is no longer a large demand for bamboo material, as well as
the high loan costs in Japan, bamboo forest thinning is quite difficult to undertake. In Kitakyushu (Japan), the
NPO Kitakyushu Biotope Network Group undertakes thinning of bamboo forests through participation of
citizens, company employees, all of them are volunteers. Since November 2001, several environmental
preservation activities were organized with the goal of preserving the bamboo forests in danger. Some of the
main purposes of these activities were to make the citizens and the local government aware of the aggravating
and severe problems and try to find also ways for the use of bamboo material. Already more than 2000 citizens
have participated in these activities, and several hectares of bamboo forest are being maintained. Most of the
bamboo material was chipped and the chipped bamboo material had been used for making of soil products.
Introduction - Problems which are facing the bamboo forests
In former times, bamboo has played a crucial role in the daily life of many Japanese people. Bamboo was used
as building material, in fishery and agriculture, and as a basic material for making daily life tools and utensils.
Moreover, bamboo sprouts were and still are a much loved food in Japan. Most probably, bamboo charcoal was
used as energy resource as well. The change from an agricultural society into an industrial society, which means
changes in life style, resulted in the fact that there was less need for bamboo material. Above that, the very high
loan costs in Japan are another main reason for the import of cheaper bamboo sprouts and with bamboo
prefabricated building material and other tools, mainly from China and other Asian countries, resulting in less
demand for local bamboo. Since there is no longer any market for the local bamboo material, the bamboo forests
cannot be maintained any longer (figure 1 and figure 2).
VIII World Bamboo Congress Proceedings Vol 4-105