Social enterprise aims to open more bamboo plantations

BAMBUHAY, a social enterprise using bamboo farming and entrepreneurship, said it is working with a Canadian firm to ramp up bamboo planting in the Philippines to meet rising demand.

Mark Sultan Gersava, Bambuhay founder and chief executive farmer, said the sector is in the level of industrialization given the “very high” demand, according to a statement released by the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport).

He said Bambuhay and the Canadian firm are stepping up 40,000 hectares of plantations of bamboo across the country. Gersava did not identify the Canadian firm.

“Actually that is just one portion of the business and the focus of this project on industrialization for a large-scale plantation and large industrialization production (is) basically in Pangasinan and in Davao Region and of course in Bukidnon. So that’s our direction,” Gersava said.

He said Bambuhay aims to establish one production facility in every region to localize the supply chain, specifically the raw materials.

“Within that, we can decrease the carbon dioxide (CO2) that we are producing because it’s all locally-made.”

Gersava is encouraging more farmers to plant bamboo to earn more income, and for indigenous communities and illegal loggers to shift to a more sustainable livelihood program.

The social enterprise estimates it has eliminated 424,000 pounds of plastic, diminished 5.6 million pounds of CO2, and reforested 542 hectares of forest.

Bambuhay’s 2030 goal is to reforest one million hectares of deforested land, and plant one billion bamboo trees.

Meanwhile, Enrique Tacbad, provincial director at Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Zambales said the government supports businesses that take concrete steps to protect the environment through climate-friendly investments.

Tacbad said the DTI also spearheads the revitalization of the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council across the country, and co-leads the regional bamboo councils along with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

“We recognize bamboo as a sustainable raw material, a wood substitute, and a rising industry with the help of the passionate bamboo advocates all over the country,” he said.

Most bamboo species are fast growing, but its use has not been increasing at the same pace.

Lack of investment, weak institutional framework, and limited skilled people in the bamboo craft are just some of the reasons blamed for the slow growth of the bamboo industry.

The absence of reliable raw material sources also discourages investments in bamboo processing, according to Philexport.