Former minister wants more use of bamboo in the future

JAKARTA (JP): Former environmental minister Emil Salim says Indonesia should change the image of bamboo, which it has in abundance, so it can be marketed as a wood and rattan substitute.

"Experts can build earthquake-resistant houses using bamboo. Bamboo can also be used to re-green barren areas instead of timber," Emil said at a seminar to discuss the future of bamboo.

It is the main task of experts and artists to erase poor image of bamboo, he said.

Bamboo has been used for a variety of products such as furniture, household utensils and decorative items such as beds, settees, baskets and lamp shades, chop sticks, paper, and plybamboo. It is also the main material for Indonesia's traditional musical instrument angklung.

Its popularity however has declined with the increasing availability of new plastic based materials and is considered an inferior substitute to wood and rattan.

Emil said experts should draw up a program for an integrated bamboo industry. "We can, for example, draw up a strategy of how to hike people's income through an integrated program linking cultivation with industry."

The two day seminar which opened yesterday is jointly organized by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the Bali-based Environmental Bamboo Foundation, and the Bogor-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

A speaker at the seminar proposed the establishment of a bamboo association to functions as a clearinghouse for information about bamboo.

"Such an association will help the development of the bamboo industry in this country," Mien Rifai, LIPI's senior bamboo researcher said.

The seminar is the first of its kind, bringing in some 70 scientists from government, universities and industries and craftsmen, architects, designers and technologist.

They explored the use and the future of bamboo as an alternative forest timber resource.

Indonesia enjoys a yearly income of US$ 150 million in foreign exchange earnings from bamboo products. Some 60,000 people in Indonesia depends on bamboo for their livelihood.

Indonesia will host fourth world bamboo congress, festival and international bamboo research workshop in Ubud, Bali next year. (prs)