Here is a list of links to other sites having bamboo information. We'll try to keep these up-to-date and add to them as time allows.
For it's first project, BOTA is working with interested parties in Mexico. See the BOTA Web site for more information (en español también).
[If you are no better than I am at reading Spanish, then you can try the Babelfish automated translation by clicking here - Ed.]
"Latin America is the richest region of the Americas in terms of the diversity and number of woody bamboo species. Twenty genera and 429 species of woody bamboos are distributed from approximately 27° North (Otate acuminata found in the north-western part of Mexico) to 47° South (Chusquea culeou in Chile) (Judziewicz et al. 1999). Of the woody bamboos found in the Americas, only Arundinaria gigantea of North America is not found in Latin America. Of the total 1,100 species and 65 genera of woody bamboos known in the world (Judziewicz et al. 1999), Latin America has 39% of the species and 31% of the genera. Brazil has the greatest bamboo diversity (137 species) followed by Colombia (70), Venezuela (60), Ecuador (42) Costa Rica (39), Mexico (37) and Peru (37). A listing of native woody bamboo species by country is provided in this work.
"In general, the exploitation of native bamboo in Latin America is limited to the local use of species found close by. It is only in Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil that bamboo plays a more conspicuous role in the local economy.
"It is estimated that bamboo in Latin America covers close to 11 million hectares, and that approximately 11% of every square kilometer of Andean forest is occupied by bamboo.”
You are invited to subscribe to the bamboo-plantations group, a description of which is provided below. Subscription is FREE. To subscribe to the group please send a blank email message to the following address: bamboo-plantations-subscribe@egroups.com
Best regards, Dr. Victor Brias, Moderator,
Bamboo-Plantations
Web site: http://www.egroups.com/group/bamboo-plantations
DESCRIPTION: This group is a forum for exchanging information, ideas, and opinions about the use of bamboo in plantations. Whilst bamboo has been exploited from natural stands from time immemorial, only recently have we seen the over-exploitation of bamboo forests to provide raw material for bamboo industries. The growth of industries utilizing bamboo requires the sustainable cultivation and management of bamboo resources.
Bamboo is increasingly being cultivated like other agricultural crops, that is, in large-scale, professionally managed plantations. The aim of the group is to learn more about, and contribute to, our knowledge of bamboo plantations. The topics of interest to the group include:
This group is interested in knowing more about the issues that are directly or indirectly related to bamboo plantations. The group is thus an open platform for disseminating information related to bamboo plantations. This group is open to all individuals: farmers, environmentalists, agronomists, entrepreneurs, industrialists, or anyone with a special interest in bamboo cultivation.
This mailing list is not sponsored by the ABS.
The Bamboo Discussion Group (BDG) mailing list is now online and taking subscriptions.
The list is being made available as a free service by TheUs Group and McKenzie Valley Bamboo. It is not sponsored by the ABS or any of it's chapters.
To subscribe to the list do one of the following:
or
At the above web address you can also manage your subscription and access the list archive.
The Bamboo Hobbyist Mailing List is a free service to the bamboo community. This is a place to discuss growing, propagating, containing and identifying bamboo. This Web page describes the purpose of the list and the rules for participating.
INBAR was created by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada, in 1993 to consolidate the informal bamboo and rattan research network operating for over a decade through various individual projects funded by the Centre in Asia.
In 1994, the UN agency the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) joined hands with a grant to strengthen the socio-economics and post-harvest technology programs.
The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) supports the activities of INBAR’s Biodiversity, Genetic Resources and Conservation program under a Japanese Government grant.
Dr. Fu Jinhe says that INBAR will help foreign businesses locate Chinese businesses that sell bamboo and bamboo products. He says:
"In INBAR most of the questions on bamboo sent to info@inbar.int have been forwarded to me by the INBAR computer specialist and I have answered about 95% of the questions. The other 5% I cannot answer have been forwarded by me to other experts/persons in the world to reply."
INBAR has a collection of publications about bamboo and rattan available. They now have an on-line order page for their publications.
There are a number of World Wide Web sites that attempt to catalog all the public Web pages on the Internet. The ABS Web page can’t possibly keep up to date with the millions of servers out there so I’m including these links. Now you can go exploring for yourself, whether you are interested in bamboo or butterflies.
Ted Meredith has passed on the address of a Smithsonian Web site for New World grass genera and species. You can download genera listings by name and search SI’s database. Most of it is listings of research publications (done with the support of SI, I imagine.) It is reportedly 98% complete for New World grasses. Emmet Judziewicz is listed as the principal for the subfamily Bambusoideae.
The International Bamboo Foundation a, 501(c)3 and the Environmental Bamboo Foundation of Indonesia were both founded by Linda Garland, an international designer and environmentalist who has made her home in Indonesia for over 20 years.
Ms. Garland has focused her energy solely upon finding a solution to environmental concerns regarding the worlds diminishing tropical forest resources. Her efforts were to first create the EBF in 1991 in order to incorporate a multidisciplinary approach to developing bamboo as an environmentally renewable non-wood forest resource. In January,1995, the IBF was granted non-profit status and received its first funding for educational programs introduced at the IVth International Bamboo Congress held in Bali that year.
The World Bamboo Organization's mission is to promote and support the use of bamboo as a sustainable and alternative natural resource through the development of partnerships and alliances, and the creation of mechanisms for global communication, information exchange, and technology transfer.
Originally founded as the International Bamboo Association (IBA), the idea for an international coordinating body for bamboo practitioners was born out of discussions at the 1991 International Bamboo Workshop in Chiangmai , Thailand . The IBA was consequently established at the 1992 International Bamboo Congress in Japan . Through 1998, the IBA had been the coordinating platform for bamboo people around the world, with its primary responsibility being the International Bamboo Congress & International Bamboo Workshop. A union of these two distinct gatherings is today called the World Bamboo Congress, and is led by the re-birth of the IBA into the World Bamboo Organization.
The Bamboo of the Americas project is committed to accomplish the following:
The Pacific Bamboo Council is a nonprofit group of growers, artists and craftspeople who promote the use and awareness of bamboo in the U.S. They can be contacted via:
Milo G. ClarkThe Internet Directory for Botany (Finland). There is a “mirror” site in the U.S.A. at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/