GUWAHATI, April 30 – Northeast India, being situated in the transition zone of Indian, Indo-Malayan and Indo-Chinese biogeographic regions, harbour a rich biological diversity, which is a well known fact. This is also a transition zone between the low-lying Indian peninsula and highlands of Himalayan mountain which also makes it an abode of diverse flora and fauna. A wide range of physiographic and ecoclimatic conditions have contributed to the region being recognised as an integral part of the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot.

Bamboo is a dominant species among the spectacular floral diversity of the region and is also a part and parcel of the region’s culture. Out of 136 species of bamboos found in India, 63 species in 22 genera are found in Northeast India of which 25 species of bamboo are considered to be rare. The different species of bamboo available in the region are mainly from the genera Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Dinocloa, Phyllostachys, Schizostachyum etc. The most familiar species includes Bhaluka, Jati, Kolia, Mokal, Nol, Dolo, Bijuli, Deo, Betua, Nangal, Bhaluki Mokal, Beji, Kako, Rupahi, Bajal, Lota and many others.

Bamboo is known to have an unrivalled utility with its use in hundreds of different purposes. People in the region heavily depend on bamboos for various domestic and agricultural purposes. A range of handicraft materials are prepared from specific bamboos usually cultivated by the people. In recent times bamboos have been identified as a valuable industrial raw material substituting wood products and having potential for augmenting the economy. Their utility as edible shoots is also being exploited for setting up industrial ventures. But, what is most important about this species is its environmental benignness, being a potentially renewable resource. This species can rightly be termed as ‘green gold’ owing to some tremendous potential which is yet to be discovered completely and used.

Being one of the most productive and fastest growing species, bamboo can grow sometimes up to 1.2 m a day and thus is a good storage of carbon dioxide. Its biomass production and carbon assimilation may be 7-30% higher than that of fast growing woody species according to researches conducted. This fast growing character can also be exploited to a large extent by using the species for re-greening of degradable lands. The typical root system of the plant also makes it an agent of erosion control and watershed protection. It also reduces heavy run-off of rain water via its high litter fall and thus adds to recharge of ground water table. Extensive use of bamboo for construction purposes may result in saving our gradually declining forest resources which is of utmost importance.

Climate change being the most talked subject of growing concern across the world, certainly needs particular attention for its mitigation. One of the basic causes of increasing atmospheric temperature of the globe is the ever rising concentration of green house gases of which carbon dioxide is an important one. A world-wide campaign has been started lately after the ‘Kyoto Protocol’ to reduce the emission of this gas in order to reduce the global warming and associated climate change. And the astonishing and yet less discussed fact is that bamboo is a good sink of this gas. It can also release 35% more oxygen. Reports have also suggested that bamboo can sequester up to 12 tonnes of carbon from air per hectare which is definitely a huge potential. Again, more than 90% of bamboo carbon can be sequestered in a range of durable products which are obviously long lasting and can store carbon for a long term. It can also be used as an alternative of fossil fuel which is another ‘green factor’ associated with this miracle plant.

With the concept of ‘carbon credit’ getting importance across the world day by day, it has become important that we discover newer means of reducing carbon dioxide emission. And in this case, Northeast has a good potential to earn carbon credit, if at all we can utilise the underlying ability of species like bamboo in order to sequester carbon. However, research is yet to gain momentum to discover ways of using the species for the same. So, a great responsibility lies on the part of the scientific community of the region as well as the government in this regard so that our green gold can be converted to a more golden resource for the region.