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| Philippine Bamboo Foundation president, Edgardo Manda |
It is a well-known fact that watershed areas in the
Philippines are already in great danger. The situation is even more serious in
the case of island-provinces such as Marinduque that has, over time, seen the
degradation of watersheds. Land degradation from old mine operations also
compound this problem. The situation has lead to almost uncontrolled soil
erosion in many areas and flooding, the seriousness of which may have finally dawned
upon the local populace.
A recent visitor to Marinduque is Edgardo Manda, president
of the Philippine Bamboo Foundation, Inc. who has been promoting in various parts
of the Philippines, the planting of bamboo as an alternative to reforestation
in watershed, including abandoned mine sites.The Philippine Bamboo
Foundation, Manda said, has already set up big nurseries in Dumaguete, Benguet,
La Union, Pangasinan, and Palawan, among others. Bamboo is capable of providing
sufficient forest cover, soil erosion control, generate income and as source of
food for the people.
Upon the invitation of Congressman Lord Allan Velasco, Manda
recently conducted a seminar on bamboo for students of Marinduque State College in
Torrijos taking up courses in Agriculture and Entrepreneurship. Other
interested farmers also came to listen.
Manda stressed that not only is the bamboo grass capable of
re-greening degraded lands for a short period of time, that it releases 35%
more oxygen than equivalent stands of trees, and has high water retention
capacity. It turns out that hundreds of
products could actually be made from bamboo. Use of bamboo for furniture and as
building material is not new as this are common practices in Marinduque, but
bamboo products like charcoal brickets, fabrics, alcohol, umbrellas,
deodorizers, cutting boards, paper products, artworks, and engineered bamboo
(called lamboo) designed as replacement for wood, are some of the new products
out of this true “grass of hope”.
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| The seminar was undertaken in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) |
For his part, Cong. Velasco shared plans for a 6-year
program for bamboo propagation and livelihood, which he hopes would serve as a
new window of opportunity for the MSC Torrijos students, including farmers, where they could
apply their continuous learning. Certain areas in Torrijos, Mogpog, Boac and
Gasan have been identified, he said, as ideal for bamboo propagation, and eventually the setting-up of techno-demo areas there for this and for bamboo
processing.
Manda also shared that in Japan, many localities planted to
bamboo are also turned into popular eco-tourism areas, traditional belief holding
that being in a bamboo grove restores calmness and are perfect places for meditation.
Such places also stimulate one’s creativity that many visitors pay a good price
for just being there, he said.
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| Manda was former general manager of Laguna Lake Development Authority, MIAA and former DENR Undersecretary |
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| Manda interacting with some local farmers. |
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| Visiting central Marinduque. |
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| Manda holds a bamboo artwork, part of an exhibit on bamboo art recently held in Baguio City, photo by anghelgab. |
