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Nigeria, 41 others to conserve 30 million hectares of bamboo

By Chinedum Uwaegbulam who was in Marrakech
21 November 2016   |   3:29 am
Following the fact that bamboo is a sustainable replacement for higher carbon emissions materials and serves as an excellent carbon sink, Nigeria and 41 other countries ...
President Muhammadu Buhari(middle); President, African Development Bank (AFDB, Akinwunmi Adesina (left) and Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, shortly after a billateral meeting with AFDB at the sidelines of COP 22 in Marakkech, Morocco

President Muhammadu Buhari(middle); President, African Development Bank (AFDB, Akinwunmi Adesina (left) and Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, shortly after a billateral meeting with AFDB at the sidelines of COP 22 in Marakkech, Morocco

Following the fact that bamboo is a sustainable replacement for higher carbon emissions materials and serves as an excellent carbon sink, Nigeria and 41 other countries have move to conserve at least 30 million hectares of the fast growing and highly renewable resource.

The move comes as part of the South-South and trilateral collaboration on climate change and sustainable development under the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR). The group is partnering with United Nations Office of South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), China Green Carbon Foundation (CGCF), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Kingdom of the Netherlands, Government of Canada on the project.

Bamboo is a climate-smart approach that adds value to forestry and agriculture strategies via mitigation, adaptation, and landscape restoration. Bamboo housing and structures help with disaster resilience, and bamboo’s 10,000 documented uses for products that create jobs (and replacement as a material for wood, plastics, and metals) contribute to sustainable livelihoods.

To drive the collaboration, INBAR member state ministers from China, India, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Madagascar, and Cameroon met at COP 22 side event organized by INBAR, China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China State Forestry Administration (SFA), to launch a ministerial statement highlighting  the opportunities bamboo plays in addressing climate change and promoting sustainable development.

In a statement read by Nigerian Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, the countries agreed to develop appropriate policy frameworks that support the sustainable management of bamboo resources, the development of local industry and the production and trade of bamboo goods. INBAR pledged to launch a political commitment and a practical, detailed South-South and trilateral action plan during the 2017 global bamboo and rattan congress.

Represented by Director, Climate Change Department, Nigerian Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr. Peter Tarfa, the group resolved to jointly mobilize resources, including through Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility and China’ South-South Cooperation Fund on climate change  funding mechanisms, to support reaching these targets.

They also want governments and international community to strengthen the role of bamboo in national, regional, and global policies to assist countries reach Paris agreement and 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development Goals targets. INBAR ministers acknowledged that most countries have yet to realize the full potential of these resources due to a lack of awareness, technical capacity, and supportive policy and finance environments.

“We call for investment and the establishment of value chains with access to local, regional and international markets via standards setting, implementation of sustainable forest management and quality control. We call for easily scalable and replicable projects to can be spread among INBAR member  states as best practices using bamboo.

“We pledged to do natural capital accounting so that we know where our main bamboo forests are, which bamboo species are present, what ecosystem services they provide, and where there are opportunities for use in reafforestation and landscape restoration,”  Mohammed added.

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