THE National Government is eyeing Samar for engineered bamboo (E-bamboo) production, a livelihood activity that may lift the three provinces in the island from poverty.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) regional director Cynthia Nierras said there is an ongoing inventory of existing bamboo plants in Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar provinces to find out where to locate processing plants.
“The work is underway to identify bamboo plants location via satellite. The plan is to complete that within this year or early next year,” Nierras said.
She added that Samar has been identified for E-bamboo production since 2010, but the trade department recognizes the need to conduct a study on existing plants.
E-bamboo is any solidified tile or construction material made out of processed bamboo pieces that are glued and laminated together.
The DTI has allocated P300,000 this year to proceed with the inventory using the facility of University of the Philippines-Visayas Tacloban Campus.
The project is in coordination with other agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which would promote bamboo planting, and Department of Science and Technology, which is tasked to assist in upgrading the production process.
DENR regional technical director Manolito Ragub said there has been a significant reduction of bamboo plants in Samar Island since there is no regulation for non-timber forest products.
“We just leave it to the nature before. We have been pushing for bamboo planting but not massive. Since we have a market now, we can go for massive planting with a mandate to devote 20 percent of our reforestation program to bamboo,” Ragub added.
One of the major markets is the Department of Education (DepEd), considering that it was directed to use of bamboo for at least 25 percent of the desk and other furniture requirements in public schools.
Ragub said that in the region, the project was pioneered in Southern Leyte with a producer now supplying bamboo requirement of DepEd.
With this project, the government also hopes to reduce the cutting of trees and enhance jobs creation and business opportunities for bamboo growers.
Bamboo is a grass that grows to as high as 50 feet at a short period of time. It is being considered as an alternative to lumber, thus it can help reduce forest destruction. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)
