Bamboo

Most bamboo belongs to the grass family. It is distinguished by a range of unique features including the special structure of its stem or ‘culm’, the fact that it reaches full height in a short period of time as well as its rapid growth and extensive variety of commercial uses.

A 20 meter tree harvested for its timber can take 50 years to replace. A 20 meter bamboo culm can take as little as 50 days to replace. A single bamboo clump can produce up to 15 kilometers of usable pole.

Millions of people depend on bamboo for their livelihoods and over a billion people live in houses made of bamboo. India alone uses 2.2 million tones of bamboo every year to make paper. In 1879, Edison used bamboo filament for his new electric light bulb. Today new uses for bamboo are being pioneered globally.

There are over 1,200 different species of bamboo in the world but only a few of these are used widely in the global economy. The species of bamboo that Touchwood utilizes is ‘Timber Bamboo’; the ideal investment for clients given that it produces mature timber after 4 years and a yearly return to investors.

Timber Bamboo as a managed forestry product offers client’s a number of positives including:

• fastest growing and highest biomass of all land plants (only ocean kelp grows faster);
• environmentally friendly and sustainable renewable resource (releases 15% more oxygen than trees)
• high demand for its wide range of commercial uses including food, construction, joinery, panels, floors and furniture, charcoal, pulp and paper, textiles, energy and biofuels

Touchwood’s Timber Bamboo product has been developed in consultation with Kasetsart University, the leading forestry faculty in Thailand.

Sources: FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, INBAR: International Network for Bamboo and Rattan