Course:FRST370/2022/PingShang Bamboo Enterprise, Hushi Township, Chishui County, Guizhou Province, China: history, successes and challenges

Summary of Case Study

PingShang’s bamboo enterprise will be analyzed to better understand the successes and challenges faced when harvesting bamboo for chopstick production. The case study provides an insight into the history of bamboo production in China, its growth and relative impact of policy interventions on the communities’ land ownership rights and economic prosperity. Unique to Guizhou province, the PingShang Bamboo Group is a well established organization  of 72 families from the Mao ethnic group that seeks to collectivize bamboo harvesting. Recommendations for sustainable production and building resilience in community bamboo harvesting include educating community members in forest conservation, increasing responsibility and leadership, equitable distribution of revenues, and preserving the cultural integrity of the local community.

Keywords

PingShang Bamboo Group, bamboo forestry enterprise, community forestry, China, Hushi Township, tenure, management rights, stakeholders

Introduction

Collective forestry in China dates back to the 1950s. Failure of the Soviet based model resulted in severe famine from 1959 to 1961. Agriculture and forestry reforms began in the 1980s primarily with the goal of attaining self sufficiency in food and grain production. The “Three Fixes” Policy of 1981 recognised individual user rights of farmers by transfer of benefits, management and responsibility. It recognised the farmer household as the legal and basic management unit under collective village forestry. By 1986, 76% of the collectively wonder forestland had been transferred to individual households (Xu, n.d). Currently, forestlands are categorized by two types of ownerships: state ownership and collective ownership. Under collective ownership, administrative villages or a group of villages are recognised as legal owners of a defined communal forestland.

The PingShang Bamboo Group is located close to the PingShang Village on the Northern border of Chishui National Nature Reserve, in Hushi Township, Chishui County of Guizhou Province. It was established in July 2004 on the recommendation of Guizhou Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) Network as a response to exploitation from buyers of unfinished bamboo chopsticks. The system relies on a donor based model (West & Aldridge, n.d). PingShang village is home to 72 families from the Miao ethnic group who participate in all aspects of enterprise such as harvesting, production and governance (West & Aldridge, n.d). This case study aims to learn about the challenges and existing structures of production and governance of the PingShang Bamboo group, identify potential weaknesses and provide recommendations. It also seeks to gain a holistic understanding of the bamboo industry and its history in China.

Description

History of Bamboo Forestry in China

Cultural history

Bamboo has been a part of Chinese culture since Neolithic times. The Sympodial Genera of bamboo is indigenous to many parts of China. Its first utilization can be traced back to 4000-5000 years ago as arrowheads. It gained particular prominence during the Song dynasty in A.D 960 (Dlamini, 2021). Its diverse uses include edible shoots, building construction, bamboo baskets for storing food stuff, bamboo firewood for cooking, bamboo hats for protection from severe weather, bamboo scrolls for writing, bamboo pulp for making paper, bamboo skin for making clothes and shoes (Dlamini, 2021). Due to its high nutritional value, bamboo shoots were served as special dishes in exquisite banquets during the period of Tang dynasty (618-906 A.D). Miao people of PingShang have cultural and spiritual ties to the surrounding bamboo forests (Dlamini, 2021). As of today, the bamboo products have been largely categorized into two main types: Socio economic value and Environmental value.

Economic history

Forestry is a vital industry for China’s rural economy as opportunities have shifted from the agricultural industry to the forest sector with more incentives for expanding forests and producing forest-related exports. This has created a reformation and movement around 1979 that has led to greater investment and stimulating policies that encourage the exportation of these high-value forest products. It took four stages to reform the rural communities of China to substitute their industries for developing forest expansion and wood processing (Rui-Perez et al., 2001).

1979 to 1984 was a time when the Household Responsibility System (HRS) hosted individual land contracts throughout China that gave private management rights to rural families’ farmland. These contracts also included the rights to the surrounding forested land, which gave the HRS greater privilege in their reformation initiations (Rui-Perez et al., 2001).

1985 to 1991 had begun the change in the resource allocation system. This occurred because of the monopoly formed by state companies that imposed restrictions on forest management practices. Had these restrictions stayed in place, they would interfere with the economy of forest management by limiting opportunities for local communities and businesses to purchase forest resources (Rui-Perez et al., 2001).

1992 to 1998 incurred forest contracts to be extended to 30 to 50 years in length as forest activities tend to take a long time due to the forest cycles having slower generation growth of flora. This helped macroeconomic conditions as the market was able to remain more consistent. Alternative forms of forested area tenure and management were also being surveyed at this time, such as auctioning management rights to rural, bare or wasted landscapes in order to explore forestry potential (Rui-Perez et al., 2001).

1998 to 2001 saw that the bamboo forests of the forestry sector provided insight into the potential of a fast-growing and valuable non-timber forest product. Since bamboo requires a shorter period to mature, it is considered to change the dynamics of the forestry sector and environmental functions if China chooses to further invest into this more sustainable product to harvest (Rui-Perez et al., 2001).

Goals of PBG

During its establishment, cultivation of local knowledge of the inhabitants and self-reliance was heavily emphasized upon. The Management committee is responsible for establishing periodic short term and long term goals for PBG. Furthermore, PingShang Village is affected by poverty and lack of educational opportunities for children (West & Aldridge, n.d). Initial actions were directed towards empowering local initiative and creating employment opportunities. The long term goal is poverty reduction for the community (West & Aldridge, n.d). Some of the production goals include:

1. Mechanizing chopstick production
2. Packaging the finished products in the village
3. Investigating means of more intensive bamboo propagation, and
4. Using all parts of the bamboo culm more efficiently (West & Aldridge, n.d)

Tenure arrangements

The bamboo forest sector was not heavily impacted by harvesting regulations as they are not always strictly governed like traditional timber forests, due to bamboo’s faster regeneration rate that allows them to be harvested annually or biennially, and versatility in product processing (West & Aldridge, n.d.). The shifts in tenure have been occurring since 1949 as more rapid policy changes in tenure and management occurred to provide rural communities more opportunity to become decision-makers in the forest sector (Dachang, 2001). In 1956, the dominant management regime in China was collectivization as its goal was to integrate collectivity into state-controlled land (Dachang, 2001). By the 1970s, agricultural reforms shifted to forested area reforms, and land, management and rights were given back to rural and local communities, though they were now under the implementation of the Contract Responsibility System (CRS) (West & Aldridge, n.d.). Around 1979, the HRS implemented private contracts to communities around the country. The purpose of these contracts were to give more autonomy over the land use decisions for rural households (Rui-Perez et al., 2001). As of 2012, rights for land use and land cover type contracts varied in length. They could be between 30 to 70 years long, with the potential to be extended for operation even after expiration (Kram et al., 2012). There are benefits and disadvantages to this arrangement as it would allow for more long term sustainable mindsets to be incurred by landowners as they are responsible and held accountable for the security of the land, which will limit overexploitation and overharvesting. In addition, the quality and value of their culms increases after seven years of growth, therefore groups with long tenure rights over bamboo forests will be able to be patient to optimize harvesting their bamboo (Coggins, 2000). Currently, household-based tenure has remained the dominant management regime for bamboo forests, despite bamboo only making up 9% of China’s forested area (Yiwen & Kant, 2020).

Institutional/Administrative arrangement

Local villages are often responsible for catering the commercial interests of its residents. However, in the case of PinShang the village committee decided to establish a separate managing committee via a democratic process (West and Aldridge, n.d.). The management committee consists of two co-chairpersons, the manager of the producer’s association and a permanent member of the Chishui NNR (West and Aldridge, n.d.). Villagers approach any member to consult on issues. Despite the distance, the committee is highly influenced by the members of Chishui NNR and share close personal ties. In cases of conflict, the first point of contact is the manager of the producer's association, followed by the co-chairpersons and then the case is appealed to the management committee. There is a norm to discuss and resolve any issue with the manager directly rather than to appeal to the committee. There were no major conflicts in the first year of business (West and Aldridge, n.d.). In case of conflicts with the buyer with regard to product quality, the normal product quality standard is referred to. In case of no progress, the members are summoned in a meeting to alleviate the issue (West and Aldridge, n.d.).

Production Procedure

“PBG primarily produces two bamboo products: chopsticks and whole bamboo culms” (West & Aldridge, n.d). The producers’ group is primarily involved in the entire production chain starting from forest management to delivery (West & Aldridge, n.d). Typically, one cycles looks as follows:

1. A male villager harvests the culms from the bamboo forest
2. A female villager, usually a wife, or child cuts the culm portions into raw chopsticks (splits) at the harvest site
3. The raw chopsticks are transported to a central village location
4. The chopsticks are subdivided from the culm and an adult male fashions the raw chopsticks with a hand operated machine to yield basic shaped chopsticks
5. Several trained adult males smooth the raw chopsticks in an electric machine
6. Trained males bevel or flatten the ends of the chopstick by machine
7. Males sterilize the finished chopsticks with peroxide
8. The sterilized products are air dried and re-collected by females
9. Children package the chopsticks in shrink-wrap into bundles of ten and attach a basic label
10. The group manager takes stock and arranges for the chopsticks to be collected or shipped to Hushi; and
11. Upon sale, the group manager distributes funds to the village members (West & Aldridge, n.d)

Changes in Manufacturing and Profit

Before the PingShang Bamboo Group’s (PBG) involvement with the PingShang village, the community was producing around 300,000 pairs of unfinished chopsticks a year. The unfinished chopsticks were sold for around $0.25 USD per 10 sets of chopsticks (West & Aldridge, n.d.). It was not until the PBG’s intervention that the manufacturing changed. After one year of operation with PBG, PingShang was able to produce 400,000 pairs of unfinished chopsticks and 400,000 pairs of finished chopsticks for $0.43 USD to $0.56 USD per 10 sets of chopsticks, while also selling an unspecified amount of whole culms (West & Aldridge, n.d.).

PBG was able to grow their production output and increase PingShang’s revenue as they doubled household incomes. This can be attributed to PBG’s introduction of manufacturing machines to chopsticks, an electric motor to operate the two machines, two label-printing machines, packaging bags, and a dryer for the recently harvested bamboo (West & Aldridge, n.d.). In the future, PBG hopes to involve more investors or donors to cover some of the enterprise’s expenses, and support the livelihoods of the community (West & Aldridge, n.d.).

Rights Holders and Affected Stakeholders

PBG has several smaller committees that oversee the various aspects of production such as raw material harvesting, production, and sales which all include community members. The committees of PBG are the producers’ group committee and the management committee. There are also general members who are not a part of the committees, and villagers who are not a part of PBG.

All members of PBG’s producers’ group committee and the general members were all rights holders in 2004. This is because all members of the village were from the Miao ethnic group who are one of the recognized Indigenous groups of China, and they had geographic, ancestral, cultural, and spiritual ties to the PingShang village. However, we do not have the demographic data of the PingShang village of the present to conclude whether the villagers are all rights holders or if some are affected stakeholders. The producer’s group is responsible for managing production and sales. They are “involved in all aspects of the production chain” from management and harvesting to sales (West & Aldridge, n.d.). Furthermore, three-quarters of the average annual household income of a PingShang villager, was derived from manufacturing and sales of bamboo chopsticks, and the rest was derived from other forest products, especially the sale of whole culms of moso bamboo (West & Aldridge, n.d.). Thus, PingShang villagers also have direct economic links to bamboo forestry and are subject to the effects of forest activities in this area.

PBG’s management committee are the directors of PBG. They establish goals for its operation upon the advisory of the Chishui NNR, and meet quarterly or at short notice to resolve issues they notice or that are reported by the community members. The committee has twelve members who are elected by village inhabitants, including one representative of the Chishui NNR and the rest being village members. In 2004, all village members of the management committee were rightsholders, however, we have no information on the Chishui NNR representative (West & Aldridge, n.d.).

Interested Stakeholders

The interested stakeholders of the PingShang bamboo forests are the PingShang Village Committee, Chishui Forestry Bureau, International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), and the Ford Foundation.

The PingShang village Committee is a separate entity from PBG. They manage the village’s bamboo stands and accessibility to all forest products. They also oversee that the producers’ group does not overharvest beyond the allowable amount, and that they do not use bamboo for purposes other than substantial use. (West & Aldridge, n.d.). They also permitted the establishment of PBG’s management committee. The village committee is an interested stakeholder because they do not participate in bamboo production, they are not forest-dependent, and they are in charge of other sectors than forestry (West & Aldridge, n.d.).

The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), the Ford Foundation, and the Chishui Forest Bureau are also interested stakeholders. INBAR is an international organization that promotes environmentally sustainable development using bamboo and rattan. Their partnership with Chishui Forestry Bureau with funding from the Ford Foundation, established a three-year program called Community-based Bamboo Development Demonstration for Poverty Alleviation and Environmental Protection in Chishui to support pro-bamboo initiatives. INBAR-led training for “farmers, government forestry officials, technicians, business owners and community leaders” increased the capacity of climate-smart bamboo management in Chishui (International Bamboo and Rattan Organization, n.d). The Ford Foundation’s also played a significant role in supplying industrial bamboo processors with raw materials (West & Aldridge, n.d). Finally, this partnership also led to the Chishui Forestry Bureau committing to increase the country's income from bamboo by 140 million yuan/year and mitigate 780,000 tonnes of CO2 greenhouse gas emissions (International Bamboo and Rattan Organization, n.d). Although these stakeholder’s livelihoods are not tied to the bamboo forestry activities conducted in PingShang village, they all play a significant role in the success and development of PingShang’s bamboo forestry.

Assessment of Relative Power

Many aspects of PingShang’s bamboo forestry seem to be in favor of the local villager’s interests despite the authoritarian government structures of China. Community producers’ groups in the bamboo sector are rare in China due to the hierarchical, local government and a certain resistance to empowering initiatives of any grouping (West & Aldridge, n.d.). It is also more common in China for village committees to control commercial interests, however, in the case of PingShang, the establishment of the management committee was permitted to manage the production and sales of bamboo products. Furthermore, villagers were given the right to elect the management committee, which means they can elect members who share common values and respect the priorities of the community members (West & Aldridge, n.d).

Another way the wellbeing and interests of the community were respected is that the establishment of the PBG provided villagers with workshops and advisory services, which enabled villagers to assess production possibilities and make more informed decisions about the direction of the community enterprise. They did so by increasing “the qualitative and quantitative understanding of bamboo resources, including sustainability, regeneration, culm quality and soil conditions” (Molnar et al., 2007). For example, INBAR provided a training and capacity building program for local artisans “to turn bamboo weaving into a successful business” (International Bamboo and Rattan Organization, 2019). INBAR, also allowed community members to host their own workshops which helped the community to build off of each other's knowledge and networks. One of the workshops gave jobs to 30 residents, and derived monthly profits of USD 11,000 (International Bamboo and Rattan Organization, 2019). It is evident that the community’s economic and social wellbeing are considered and prioritized by these stakeholders. However, it is important to notice that PBG remains dependent on external grants from the Ford Foundation. Without these grants their operations would not be sustained, putting PBG in an inferior position.

Another issue that makes PBG precarious is the ambiguity of its de facto rights. PBG has collective forestland ownership, and all general members have the right to manage, produce, participate in the bamboo enterprise, and also have access to all enterprise information (West & Aldridge, n.d.). However, because collective ownership rights differ from private ownership, the villager’s traditional uses of land and harvest rights have been restricted. This means that the harvesting amount of bamboo allowed to the producers’ group can be subject to change anytime depending on the decision of the PingShang village committee associated with the federal government. Overall, PBG members are well supported by the village committee, INBAR, and other affected and interested stakeholders who value the villagers’ interests and economic well being. However, the ambiguity of land rights and their dependence on funding keeps PBG in an inferior position in terms of the lack of operational freedom and guaranteed support in the future.

Discussion

The aims and intentions of PingShang’s community forest enterprise is to develop manufacturing chains and marketing strategies to generate more revenue for its villagers and to become a more dominant competitor in the chopstick industry (West & Aldridge, n.d.). They have already begun taking steps forward in building efficiency in their manufacturing processes as they have been able to purchase many machines to build efficiency in their enterprise. Before these operations began, PingShang was only able to produce unfinished chopsticks to sell as they carved the bamboo by hand (West & Aldridge, n.d.). However, their marketing strategies are less established as the village is still building up their infrastructure and equipment acquisition to continue increasing their production capacity. They aim to further market their enterprise by encouraging the community to participate in production and forest management decisions. If they are able to gain more traction within the community and production, then they will be more appealing to outside traders, investors, and organizations (Huang et al., 2019). Then they have a better chance at gaining financial support from these external sources which will help them create a more sustainable enterprise that will maintain their traditional and cultural practices of harvesting bamboo (West & Aldridge, n.d.).

The PBG has been a key factor to the strengths developed in the PingShang village. Their help has attributed to stronger selling power for the enterprise as they have a more effective production chain, and they are very inclusive of individuals in the village as they encourage villager participation through committee formation for decision-making processes (West & Aldridge, n.d.). This village committee manages and monitors the accessibility into the bamboo stands and forest products, while the PBG committee is responsible for vigilantly monitoring the production and sales of the enterprise. Together, they also involve professional nature reserve managers to educate them on bamboo regeneration, effects of soil conditions on culm quality, resource extraction, and sustainability (West & Aldridge, n.d.).

The weaknesses that the enterprise faces are that bamboo may not bring outside interest as this industry is not very competitive. Some influencing factors that have led to this are the implications of bamboo yields in modern China. Historically, bamboo has represented flexibility, tranquility, and simplicity, however, bamboo has more recently been also associated with rural living and a cheaper substitute for traditional timber which has built a distaste for the resource as a material for future or buildings (Yeromiyan, 2021). This may limit the PingShang village from diversifying their bamboo product line to expand into furniture and other bamboo products processing. Another weakness that PingShang faces is the bottlenecks of inefficiency that the enterprise faces as they still require a lot of manual labour, such as processing unfinished chopsticks by hand and harvesting bamboo. However, the machines they do use process chopsticks much faster. Therefore, when people are distracted or are too busy to monitor the machinery installed, this leaves them idle and creates bottlenecks in the production chain. In addition, machines are located inside the villagers’ homes, which may not be conducive to their productivity (West & Aldridge, n.d.). The PBG is looking into external marketing to attract outside investors and donors willing to cover the costs of expanding and maintaining equipment, and allowing villagers accessibility to training and education to grow their efficiency (West & Aldridge, n.d.).

A major issue that the PingShang villagers and the PBG face are with governance and policy making in China’s forest sector. These conflicts include finding clarifications on ownership laws of China’s forested areas as there are “gray-areas” that private companies may take advantage of from smallholders, like rural villages and smaller corporations, that hold less knowledge and power to overrule the enterprise plans of larger private companies (West & Aldridge, n.d.). This happens as the Forestry Bureau overlooks state laws and affairs that are supposed to be differentiating state-owned and collective forested areas. This often leads to miscommunication which has led to collective forestland owners being excluded from absolute rights, such as harvesting rights (West & Aldridge, n.d.). This allows for private companies to potentially encroach on collective forestland, which has been occurring even more drastically in South Africa (West & Aldridge, n.d.; Tshidzumba et al., 2022). In South Africa, the government has failed to support rural communities in maintaining land tenure security as they have failed to legally recognize the tenure rights of the communities with customary rights. This inhibits future development as communities are not able to enact legal rights against private companies to be able to confidently harvest and collect resources (Tshidzumba et al., 2022). For example, the Amabomvini people were able to win over ownership and control over land by agreeing to a lease with a private forest company, however, they were not able to obtain ownership over the timber on that land. This left them vulnerable to the forestry company as the earnings from leasing the land equates to less than a quarter of the earnings attained through timber sales (Tshidzumba et al., 2022). It is concerning that if the Forestry Bureau in China does not take action to provision the tenure security of rural communities, then PingShang has the potential to undergo similar detrimental effects on their reserve if the bamboo forest industry decides to encroach on their land. It would be beneficial for the PBG and PingShang villagers to attain more market and governance knowledge, and production skills to combat potential pressures of private companies (West & Aldridge, n.d.).

Other major issues that are occurring within the village of PingShang are the poor infrastructure and roads, health of the villagers, and elevation. In regards to the poor infrastructure and roads, there is no road that provides access between the village, the bamboo forest, and the rest of the township. This has forced villagers to walk on a stepped path to reach the forest, or to walk 30 kilometers to go to the township capital Hushi (West & Aldridge, n.d.). Unfortunately, there is no hope for the production of a connecting road to provide the villagers any accessibility in the near future, even after the involvement of the PBG, as the rural conditions make it difficult and expensive for machinery to begin construction (West & Aldridge, n.d.). The absence of infrastructure brings additional challenges as the villagers are required to store chopstick processing machinery inside their homes due to the lack of available buildings, and they do not have adequate education or health services buildings. This relates to their health issues as they are subject to poor living conditions as they are forced to live with work equipment, and are not able to access the necessary services to strengthen their well-being (West & Aldridge, n.d.).

Elevation is an overall major issue that conflicts with the growth of the village as it lowers its health and productivity. It secludes the area which makes it less accessible, and it also experiences climates that are unable to build sustainable pig or rice farms which contributes to the villages’ food insecurity which lowers the living and health conditions of the community  (West & Aldridge, n.d.). Overall, these conditions put PingShang at a competitive disadvantage against its competitors as it limits their production capabilities. The PingShang village is in great need of a higher level of mechanization, and accessibility to services and transportation. The introduction of the PBG is the start to growing their enterprise as it encourages community participation and has already doubled their annual earnings. If they are able to build a larger stock of chopsticks, then they may be able to look into diversifying their product line by spending time harvesting edible bamboo shoots and wild fungi (West & Aldridge, n.d.).

Gaps in Knowledge and Future Recommendations of Study

PBG may benefit from the incorporation of a shareholding system instead of their current operations on an ad hoc basis. In an ad hoc system, PBG members are able to produce as many or as little chopsticks as they want, as long as the production is within the logging limit. However, this is harmful for the sustenance of PBG’s survival because no chopsticks could be produced while operation costs prevail, leading to a fragmentation of the enterprise. Instead, a shareholding system where PBG members cover the costs through a levy system, can contribute to the long-term sustenance of PBG (West & Aldridge, n.d.).

Community involvement and educational opportunities should continue to be available for the community, and the importance of them must be incorporated into educational systems throughout the village. Currently, these training sessions are limited to the PBG group, thus, other community members such as children, and those who do not partake in bamboo forestry do not receive this information (International Bamboo and Rattan Organization, 2019). An increase in the education and involvement of government groups and public members in forest conservation can contribute to a decrease in deforestation (Russell, 2020). Therefore, the importance of practicing climate-smart management and how community members can get involved should be taught to the entire community.

Currently, the production procedure for chopsticks is in its elementary stages. Investment in capital will improve efficiency and increase production rapidly. Furthermore, there is immense potential to harness the cultural uses into various modern day products such as bamboo infused juices, hats, and other products compatible for small-scale production. The group can enter the construction industry and market bamboo in replacement for timber, however, the idea only seems achievable in the long run. Bamboo use is estimated to rise significantly in the coming years (Liu et al., 2022). Therefore, it is vital to adapt sustainable waste management systems. Bamboo waste “must be valorized to green chemicals and clean energy to meet the increasing local and global demands as advised through the Sustainability Development Goals” (Liu et al., 2022).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the village of PingShang’s bamboo forest enterprise has been able to create an established enterprise as they have collective or household tenure of their traditional land and bamboo forests. This has explicitly given them the rights to access, withdrawal, exclusion, management, bequeath, and extinguish from their forests’ resources. PingShang village’s position as a rights holder can be attributed to policies like the “Three Fixes” Policy that China implemented in 1981. This policy allows communities to acquire benefits, management and responsibility of land rights and are recognized for their  individual user rights. They have also been able to find interested stakeholders, such as the PBG, INBAR and Chishui Forest Bureau, that have the interests of the rural community and environmental sustainability as their top priorities. This has given PingShang the opportunity to develop their skills, and marketing strategies as these organizations offer them the training, resources and finances to support the enterprise. As a result, PingShang’s economic growth has doubled within a year of the PBG’s intervention. PingShang has also established a village committee that acts as liaisons with the interested stakeholders to find sustainable management techniques to access the bamboo stands through place-based knowledge that can help mitigate overharvesting. Unfortunately, there are still challenges that the community faces as community members still face poor-living conditions and poverty, which attributes to their poor health and bottlenecks in the production chain. There are also“gray-areas” in their land ownership that may allow larger corporations to encroach on their forestland. However, the enterprise is still moving forward with their enterprise as they are focusing on expanding their product line by harvesting non-forest products, such as fungi, and are searching for sponsors to invest in their establishment.

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This conservation resource was created by Course:FRST370.

Appendix

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  Figure 1. Map of Guizhou Province

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  Figure 2. PingShang Bamboo Group Meeting

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  Figure 3. Examples of bamboo utilization in China other than chopsticks.

Table 1: Economic and Ecological Utilization of Bamboo in China

Benefit	Utilization	Main Application
Socio Economic	Timber and paper	Ceilings Floors Paper or pulp Support poles in construction
	Furniture and foodware	Bamboo baskets Bamboo steamers Various housewares Chairs Tables Writing scrolls Interior walls
	Food	Dried shoots Canned Flavoued shoots Fresh shoots
	Handicraft and art	Sculptures Houseplant pots Guitars Marimbas
Environmental	Ecological conservation	Carbon storage/sink Biodiversity preservation Habitat space
	Eco Tourism	Scenery enhancement