China Green Carbon Foundation

TheRoles of Bamboo Forests in Tackling Climate Changes Attracts Attention of theDohaClimate ChangeConference

Media:ChinaGreenTimes   Author: Hongmei Ding, Tomas Li

Translator: ZhefangYang Editor: Jinhong Yuan

November 30^th,2012

On November 27^th,2012, the side event themed with “China-Africa Partnership: Climate ChangeMitigation and Adaption through Bamboo Development” was held in theNationalConvention CenterinDoha, the capital ofQatar. The sideevent was jointly hosted by the China Green Carbon Foundation (CGCF) and theInternational Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR).

Li Nuyun,Secretary-General of CGCF,YannickKuehl, an expert on climate changes of INBAR and Louis, Director of theForestand Environment Program of the Center for InternationalForestry Research (CIFOR), made theme speeches at the event. They believe thatbamboos are of great importance in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Intropical and subtropical zones, it is appropriate to plant bamboos in the largetracts of degraded lands, because bamboos can not only bring farmersconsiderable economic incomes but also give full play to their ecologicalbenefits. Besides bamboos can quickly absorb carbon dioxide and bamboo productshave carbon storage and sequestration functions. The greatcarbon sinks capacityof bamboos, combined with the carbon market, break new ground for tacklingclimate changes.

Chinais knownas“abamboo ‘kingdom’”, as more than 500 bamboo species out of about1,200 intotal in theworld grow inChina.To bring into full play economic, social and ecological benefits of bambooforests, especially the roles in combating climate changes, an expert teamorganized by CGCF, INBAR and Zhejiang A&F University under the leadershipof the State Forestry Administration, P.R.China, has developed China’s first BambooAfforestation Methodology for CarbonProject andplacedit into trial implementationin bamboo production areas in China. Toverify adaptability of the methodology in foreign bamboo production areas, CGCF,INBAR andZhejiangA&FUniversityjointly launched pilot programs of the methodology inKenyaand Ethiopia of Africa uponthe invitation of the member countries of INBAR. As development of the bambooforests as carbon sink programs can help facilitate climate change mitigationand improve adaptation capacities of the most impoverished countries in theworld, these pilot programs were greatly welcomed by climate change departmentsof the two countries.