Every year on September 18th we celebrates the World Bamboo Day which aims to raise awareness regarding the conservation of bamboos and the promotion of the bamboo industry.
Very few people actually knows that bamboo has a lot of contribution in our world than we think as it is used for different purposes like for producing many daily use products like paper, furniture, etc. And among many communities especially tribal it has a very large religious significance too.
The days also aims to bring the potential of bamboo to protect the natural resources and the environment and to ensure sustainable utilization of bamboo. As if used properly bamboos has a capacity to bring so much required changes in the world.
| Event | World Bamboo Day |
|---|---|
| Date | September 18, 2022 |
| Day | Sunday |
| Significance | Increases public awareness of the need to protect bamboos and to advance the bamboo industry |
| Observed by | World wide |
World Bamboo Day History:
World Bamboo Day was founded by Kamesh Salam as former president of the World Bamboo Organisation in 2009 at the 8th World Bamboo Congress held in Bangkok. Delegates from almost 100 countries attended the event and agreed to designate September 18 as World Bamboo Day, which was unanimously supported by all attendees.
In addition, the day is also marked as the Royal Thai Forestry Day. In 2009 on this day, the Deputy Governor of Bangkok as a representative of the Royal Thai Government, Ms Susanne Lucus, Executive Director of WBO, and Mr Kamesh Salam, President of WBO, along with others named this day as the World Bamboo Day.
According to the Thai Royal Forestry Department, the day is dedicated for gaining traction across the world. The day is all about bamboo: sustainability, environment, ecology, science, architecture, art, music, food, housing, habitat, restoration, aesthetics, economy, usage, and everything else.
World Bamboo Day Significance:
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family found in the world.
Bamboo is versatile and has notable economic and cultural significance in major parts of Asia like South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, where it is being used for building materials, as a food source, and as a raw product, and depicted often in arts, such as in bamboo paintings and bambooworking so forms a large part of culture as well.
And Bamboo also plays a very major role in livelihood of many tribal communities around as their earnings are dependent on bamboos. Bamboo is used for a variety of purposes in the rural economy, including housing, shelter, medicine, fencing, food, basketry, granaries, bridges, boats, market sheds, and fodders.
The World Bamboo Organization seeks to raise awareness about the potential of bamboo. They do so by encouraging protecting of natural resources and the environment, achieving sustainable utilisation, promoting new bamboo cultivation for new industries around the world, and promoting traditional uses of bamboo and bamboo products locally for community economic development.
World Bamboo Day Facts:
Now let's learn some very fascinating facts about bamboo that you might not know:
- Bamboo can tolerate extreme conditions that most plants cannot. It was actually the first plant to re-green after the atomic blast in Hiroshima in 1945.
- Bamboo is a great soil conservation tool. It greatly reduces erosion with a sum of stem flow rate and canopy intercept of 25%.
- Bamboo is a viable replacement for wood. As it can be harvested in 3-5 years versus 10-20 for most softwoods.
- Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on this planet. It has been recorded growing at an amazing 47.6 inches in a 24 hour period.
- Bamboo plays a crucial role in balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. A grove of bamboo release 35% more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees.
Most Searched FAQs on World Bamboo Day:
1. When is World Bamboo Day is celebrated?
World Bamboo Day is celebrated annually on 18th September.
2. When was World Bamboo Day was created?
World Bamboo Day was created in 2009 by the World Bamboo Organization.
3. How quickly does bamboo grow?
Bamboo can grow very quickly even at 35 inches a day.