As the closest substitute to wood, not only in the country but worldwide, bamboo has made significant contribution in generating foreign exchange and rural employment.
However, the bamboo industry is beset with problems and challenges. There is great possibility that the haste in replacing wood with bamboo can lead to overharvesting, material wastage, and other unsustainable practices.
To counteract these negative effects, the Forestry and Environment Research Division (FERD) of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) recently conducted a five-day training-workshop on sustainable small and medium-scale bamboo enterprises for the green economy.
The workshop aims to improve the participants’ ability to operate the whole business of producing, harvesting, processing, and marketing bamboo and its derived products while sustaining both resources and the concerned enterprise.
Serving as the overall training coordinator, Dr. Ramon A. Razal of the College of Forestry and Natural Resources of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (CFNR-UPLB) conceptualized and facilitated the training-workshop.
Prof. Rosalie C. Mendoza of CFNR-UPLB, on the other hand, assisted Dr. Razal in facilitating the training-workshop with over 33 participants from different state universities and colleges (SUCs) and government agencies nationwide.
According to Dr. Razal, every function in the bamboo value chain must operate like a business to ensure that investments made are recovered and the actors engaged in them benefit economically.