Bamboo is one of the most successful plants on earth. With more than 1,500 species colonising a multitude of habitats from sea level to 12,000 feet, bamboo is a phenomenon of the vegetable kingdom. It can also add significant solutions to environmental problems to its list of successes.

After the Hiroshima bomb in 1945, bamboo survived the atomic blast closer to ground zero better than any other flora or fauna. It can also be used to “repair” soil damaged by overgrazing and poor agricultural techniques, while its complex network of roots are ideal for preventing soil erosion and flooding. Unlike most tree species, harvesting does not kill the bamboo, so topsoil erosion and other adverse effects of tree-felling are kept to a minimum.

Perhaps even more importantly, given the carbon dioxide emissions thought to be responsible for global warming and the threat to biodiversity, bamboo produces more than 35% more oxygen than trees. Research in Japan and elsewhere has demonstrated that bamboo can absorb as much as 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare per year, giving the plant a potentially crucial role in stabilising our planet’s atmosphere. More bamboo would undoubtedly help the environment.

For more than 4,000 years people have used bamboo in an astonishing variety of ways: paper, construction, food, weaponry, medicine and even as aphrodisiacs. However, most bamboo consumption is confined to South East Asia and Central America, where the most economically valuable species flourish. Except for garden canes, fishing rods and conservatory furniture, it seems that bamboo’s niche in the western market might just come from privacy screening. 

Article adapted from www.theguardian.com