journal of renewable natural resources bhutan - Ministry of Agriculture

was assessed at an overall rank of 22 and 32, indicating moderate andhigh vulnerability. Further studies and policy and managementdecisions are needed to conserve and utilize these resources andsustain the local enterprise ecologically and economically.KEYWORDS:Poverty reduction, Non-Wood Forest Products, TraditionalKnowledge, Forest Conservation, Vulnerability, Commercialisation,INTRODUCTIONM. R. Moktan et alLittle qualitative and virtually no quantitative information on thebamboo and cane resources is available including ecology andmanagement. MoA (1997) reports harvesting of bamboo, in particular,Neomicrocalamus andropogonifolius, taking place on a substantialscale fuelled by spiralling commercialisation thereby exertingconsiderable pressure on the supply side with significant impact on thespecies' and surrounding natural forest ecosystems around Bjoka,Zhemgang District. As a result, the National Women Association ofBhutan (NWAB) points out the irregular supplies of raw material as thecause for abrupt ending of the earlier Panbang based local enterprise.Aprecautionary principle needs to be exercised with an economicactivity based on only one species of bamboo. Flowering and fruitingbehaviour of the species and indigenous knowledge for properplanning, domestication and management are unknown. Withincreased commercialisation, domestication through rhizome andstem offshoots of this bamboo needs to be adapted. Stapleton (1994c)states this bamboo as a climber and requires shade and support of treesand grows in often dense clumps in limited localities characterised byhighly fertile soils and abundant rainfalls. This species thereforeappears highly vulnerable necessitating understanding of its ecologicalrequirements if domestication is to success. Local artisans reportedlytravel long distances in search of harvesting adequate quantities of thisbamboo, which indicates its likely vulnerable (MoA, 1997). However,conservation status of Neomicrocalamus andropogonifolius and thecane ( Calamus acanthospathus) used for bangchung-making hasnever been studied.39