The Forestry Development Authority Development has brought in sharp focus, the importance of bamboo and rattan markets in Liberia. This was evidenced by a one-day meeting hosted by FDA and its development partners and donors at D’Calabash in Oldest Congo Town on the usage of bamboo and rattan.
Project Focal Person Jarsa Varnie Okai welcomed participants and gave an overview of the bamboo and rattan market. She said Liberia is the 41st member of INBAR since July 28, 2015.
According to her, the objective of the meeting was to raise awareness on the potential of bamboo and rattan enforcement regulations 118.0, predicated on their(bamboo and rattan) usage in Liberia.
Another objective points at community provisions of tools and equipment to improve productive and quality community institutions’ development formulation of producer group operatives, collaboration, and capacity.
The FDA is to support the industry, ensuring awareness meetings because more people don’t know the importance of bamboo and rattan in Liberia.
Raising this awareness is paramount because the FDA knows that there are lots of pressure on the forest, as Madam Okai referenced Non-Timber Forest Products that FDA can tap into as commercialized corporative in the community, especially with people that live around forest communities so that they can watch over bamboo and rattan in their various communities.
She also noted that FDA has to find a market for the bamboo and rattan products, as well as keeps awareness for donors and governmental partners. Madam Okai hoped that participants would acquire more understanding during the meeting regarding the bamboo and rattan usage in Liberia in order to make them marketable in the country.
FDA Managing Director, Rudolph J. Merab, Sir., said FDA is to help manage the bamboo and rattan in the forest. According to him, bamboo is more significant; adding, “Because if we work positively, we will gain from the production of bamboo in Liberia. Bamboo helps to protect the forest; it helps to provide alternative income for our people.”
MD Merab welcomed this initiative and hoped that discussions regarding the meeting would be fruitful. He told the participants that there is much more in “our forest we can do, most especially the bamboo and rattan usage in Liberia’s forest.”
He appreciated the NGOs for bringing the ideas on such production and intervention, emphasizing the need to help improve the livelihood of Liberians in the forest. This, he noted, will exist inside the main forest, hoping that bamboo farming will be established in four to five years from now, and will be productive.
Mr. Michael Kwaku from the International Bamboo Rattan Organization made presentation on the Importance of the Usage of Bamboo and Rattan. According to him, bamboo has become mainstream and customized for many institutions often.“Bamboo and rattan are neglected species which must be looked at and given support for development,” he said.
He revealed that the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization was established in 1997, indicating that it is an intra-government organization, even though they are not working with the government but with the private sector and other development partners. Basically, he said they promote bamboo by way of environmental sustainability in the area of construction and utility energy restoring ecosystem.
According to him, Bamboo and Rattan Organization promotes research, they get data to know how many bamboos it has in their respective countries. By this data; it makes them to have proper planning.
Mr. Kwaku disclosed that they have five regional offices across the Global, with Ghana representing West Africa, Cameroon representing Central Africa, and other countries like East Africa, India and others around the Global, but the heads are based in Beijing, China.
“Bamboo and Rattan project focuses on policy, capacity building, knowledge transferring and management,” Mr. Kwaku noted.
For her part, Deputy Managing Director for Community, Conservation and Carbon, Nora G. Bowier, thanked all partners, donors, participants, and the presenter for their participations during the meeting.
She said the dialogue was successful and expectations were met per the discussion and it was rich in acknowledging participants.
The meeting was attended by Forestry Development Authority Managing Director, Rudolph J. Merab, Sir, along with other staffers of the FDA, as well as international partners from the European Union, British Embassy, World Bank, NGOs and other key related institutions in the forest sector.