In addition to being known as a source of food, fiber, firewood and construction material, bamboo can also play a role in land restoration. The fast-growing perennial can be grown on degraded land with poor and shallow soil and minimal water and fertilizer. CIFOR explores the restoration aspects of bamboo with a curated collection of publications, stories and multimedia.

Forest News

Turning on the lights in eastern Indonesia

Looking at a nighttime satellite photograph of the entire Indonesia archipelago, there are absolutely no lights switched on throughout almost all of Eastern Indonesia, as if it were unpopulated. But we know people are living there.

So, how can we expect those ‘have-nots’ to aid in the development of their communities, without something as basic as electricity?

‘Smart man’s timber’ offers ‘opportunity’ in the face of climate change

Bamboo and rattan present an “enormous opportunity” for both mitigating and adapting to climate change, said Rajendra K. Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to panelists at a recent conference.

Bamboo: a sustainable alternative for bioenergy production in Indonesia?

For thousands of years, people in Indonesia have used bamboo for a huge range of purposes. It is a ready source of food, fibre, firewood and construction material, and its abundance and availability has earned it the moniker of “timber of the poor.”