Can’t See the (Bamboo) Forest for the Trees: Examining Bamboo’s Fit Within International Forestry Institutions

• Published in: Ambio 2014-10, Vol.43 (6), p.770-778
• Main Authors: Buckingham, Kathleen Carmel, Wu, Liangru, Lou, Yiping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Atmospheric Sciences; Bamboo; Bamboos; Biological and medical sciences; case studies; Certification; cognition; Commercial forests; Conservation of Natural Resources - legislation & jurisprudence; Deforestation; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Emission standards; emissions; Emissions control; Environment; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Environmental Management; Forest degradation; Forest management; Forest products; Forest resources; forest trees; Forestry; Forestry - standards; Forestry development; Forestry policy; Forests; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General forest ecology; Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology; governance; Governments; Institutional constraints; Institutions; International Agencies; Natural resources; PERSPECTIVE; Physical Geography; Plantation forestry; Poaceae; Sustainable development; Sustainable forest management; Timber; Timber industry; Timber management; Timber supply; Trees
• ISSN: 0044-7447; 1654-7209
• DOI: 10.1007/s13280-013-0466-7

Over the centuries, governments and international agencies have developed a wide range of institutions to manage timber resources and conserve values provided by treed lands. Concerns regarding the sustainable supply of timber have provided opportunities for the development of substitute resources; however, bamboo and other non-timber forest resources have not been a part of the development of these institutions. Bamboo is a unique Non-Timber Forest Product, as it is often classified as forest or timber, and therefore must adhere to the same regulations as timber. Given the recent global expansion of bamboo, it is timely to examine the interplay between bamboo and the traditional institutions of forest governance. This paper aims to contribute to debates regarding cognitive institutional constraints on the development of substitute natural resources using bamboo as a case study, with specific focus on the applicability of Forest Stewardship Council certification, timber legality verification and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation to bamboos.