World Bamboo Day : Dream of Manipur cycle club

Salam Gunakanta Singh *

Environmentally friendly Cycles made from bamboo by Manipur Cycle Club in April 2012 :: Pix - Phurailatpam Banti

About World Bamboo Day

World Bamboo Day is a day of celebration to increase the awareness of bamboo globally. Where bamboo grows naturally, bamboo has been a daily element, but its utilization has not always been sustainable due to exploitation.

The world bamboo organization aims to bring the potential of bamboo to a more elevated exposure – to protect natural resources and the environment, to ensure sustainable utilization, to promote new cultivation of bamboo for new industries in regions around the world, as well as promote traditional uses locally for community economic development.

The genesis

World Bamboo Day official statement from the World Bamboo Organization(WBO) was announced by the Thai Royal Forest Department on 18 September, 2009 in Bangkok, during the 8th World Bamboo Congress held at the Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel when Mr Kamesh Salam of South Asia Bamboo Foundation, was International Director of the WBO.

This declaration is an effort to increase the awareness of bamboo globally. The 8th world bamboo congress in Thailand was attended by over 350 participants from over 41 countries including Mr Niphiu Rio, Chief Minister of Nagaland. A team from Manipur consisting of artisans, researchers and designers also attended the Congress.

To commemorate World Bamboo Day, a ceremonial bamboo planting took place nearby Bangkok where a representative from each country had the honour to plant a bamboo seedling as a symbolic gesture of our mission. The bamboo plants, grown and provided by the royal forest department, were planted in prachin buri at the khaohinsorn royal development study centre.

This year, next year, and every year, we hope you will remember bamboo on World Bamboo Day, 18 September, and do something good for the earth. Plant a bamboo! Talk bamboo! Build with bamboo! Sing with bamboo! Wear bamboo! Eat bamboo! Feed bamboo! Breathe bamboo! Walk among the bamboo, and feel good.

More about Bamboo

bamboo or simply (bambuseae) is a tribe of flowering perennial evergreen plants in the grass family poaceae, subfamily bambusoideae, tribe bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. In bamboos, the internodal regions of the stem are hollow and the vascular bundles in the cross section are scattered throughout the stem instead of in a cylindrical arrangement. The dicotyledonous woody xylem is also absent. The absence of secondary growth wood causes the stems of monocots, even of palms and large bamboos, to be columnar rather than tapering.

More than 10 genera are divided into about 1,450 species. Bamboo species are found in diverse climates, from cold mountains to hot tropical regions. They occur across East Asia, from 50°n latitude in Sakhalin through to northern Australia, and west to India and the Himalayas. They also occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and in the Americas from the mid-Atlantic united states south to Argentina and Chile, reaching their southernmost point anywhere, at 47°s latitude. Continental Europe is not known to have any native species of bamboo.

Recently, some attempts have been made to grow bamboo on a commercial basis in the great lakes region of east-central Africa, especially in Rwanda. Companies in the United States are growing, harvesting and distributing species such ashen on and moso.

there are two main forms: the economically and ecologically important woody bamboos (tribes arundinarieae and bambuseae) and the understory herbaceous bamboos (tribe olyreae). Molecular analysis of the plastids suggests that there are 3-5 major lineages of bamboo. Four major lineages are recognized: temperate woody, pale tropical woody, geotropically woody and herbaceous bamboos.

Our dream

The dream of Manipur cycle club is too introduced and to increase awareness about the bamboo in Manipur and its benefits to the human being. In the past year we have introduced a type of bicycle which is made from bamboo and we called it “Wa bike”. Our volunteers have now successfully undergone the requisite training held at China and Bangalore and started making this kind of bicycle in the year 2012 and we had successfully launched in “Sangai festival 2012”.

This venture will help the youth to find themselves the jobs to earn few amount of bucks without investment from this and the great economy boost to the state and lastly we have planted few sampling of bamboo plant in the Imphal area to make the air clean.

So please
love bamboo,
care for bamboo,
plant a bamboo!
Talk bamboo!
Build with bamboo!
Sing with bamboo!
Wear bamboo!
Eat bamboo!
Feed bamboo!
Breathe bamboo!
Walk among the bamboo,
and feel good.

And to top it all, we can grow our cycle in our front and back yards.

Different type of celebration of the day

On the eve of World Bamboo Day 2013 the different part of the world will celebrate WBD (World Bamboo Day) with various colourful programs. In Indonesia, there will be a drawing competition amongst the school students on the importance and uses of bamboo.

Selected potential bamboo growers and bamboo craft artisans will be recognized and prizes will be awarded. Additionally, there will be a song and music programme and presentations by many bamboo specialists, as well as by the forest officer. A newsletter on bamboo will be distributed.

In Manipur, Wa-Wari will be hosting the World Bamboo Day at Giving Tree, Sangaiprou with many activities in collaboration with many bamboo lovers :
1. Bamboo Plantation at Bahaii Home, Ghari
2. Bamboo Seminar
3. Construction Of Bamboo Gazebo
4. Bamboo Handicrafts Exhibition
5. Assembly and exhibition of Wa-bike by Manipur Cycle Club
6. Preparation of indigenous Bamboo Food Delicacies