Ethiopian bamboo resource, being represented by two native species: the highlander Arundinaria alpina and the lowlander Oxytenanthera abyssinica comprising 15 and 85% of the national coverage respectively was reported to account 67% of African total bamboo area coverage.
Bamboo is a fast growing, multipurpose and major income generating commodities for local community and recently medium to high level industries consuming bamboo as raw material are joining. Yet the current economic contribution of bamboo is less known.
Currently, mass flowering/seed setting and subsequent mass death of the plant has occurred simultaneously in both the lowlander and highlander type of bamboos. Mass flowering and death of lowland bamboo in particular is very dreadful as it has occurred over hundreds of thousands of hectares in the Benishangul Gumuz regions where the major lowland bamboo resource of the country is found. The situation does not only smash the current Ethiopian bamboo cover, but also it might result in total loss of the bamboo and associated other genetic resources. The situation might be more serious where fire setting and land use change are commonplace.
EIAR via forestry directorate and the regional agricultural bureau has prepared a draft strategic document for conservation and development of the regional bamboo resources. A dialogue on the Status, Challenges and Threats of Agro-biodiversity of Ethiopia will also be presented by the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (IBC). Therefore, EIAR, the regional agricultural bureau and IBC have organized a workshop to be held in regional capital, Assosa for discussion on the strategic document and Agro-biodiversity of Ethiopia and find urgently needed solutions for the prevailing threats.
The workshop will be held on 23 November 2011, starting at 8.30am, at regional council meeting hall (Assosa).
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[...] Lowland Bamboo & Agro-Biodiversity Policy Dialogue A dialogue on the Status, Challenges and Threats of Agro-biodiversity of Ethiopia will also be presented by the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (IBC). Therefore, EIAR, the regional agricultural bureau and IBC have … Source: http://www.ibc.gov.et [...]