--Apple-Mail-34-742951890
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format=flowed
Hello all. This article appeared in today's Sydney Morning Herald
newspaper. :-(
Riley
Bamboo extinction warning
May 11, 2004 - 4:41PM
Pa
Deforestation is endangering about a third of the world's 1200 bamboo
species and threatening rare animals such as giant pandas and mountain
gorillas that depend on the plants for food and protection.
A joint report released today by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan
(INBAR) warned that it would also harm a $US2 billion ($A2.86 billion)
a year bamboo industry and the millions of people who use the plants
for food, housing, furniture and handicrafts.
"There are about 1200 species of bamboo in the world and we think about
a third of those may be threatened by the reduction of forest habitat
within their ranges," Valerie Kapos, co-author of the study and
ecologist at the UNEP World Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, eastern
England, told Reuters.
The report called Bamboo Diversity is the most comprehensive analysis
to date of the impact of deforestation on bamboo species.
"It is the first time anyone has done this systematic assessment where
they have worked all the way through a group of species and worked
specifically at distribution and remaining habitat," Kapos said.
The fates of Asia's giant pandas, which eat only bamboo, Africa's
mountain gorillas, Madagascar's golden lemurs and the mountain tapir in
South America as well as other animal and bird species are linked to
bamboo.
"All over the world there are animals that are very, very closely
connected with bamboo," said Kapos. "The mountain gorilla in Africa, at
some times of the year, get between 70-90 percent of their diet from
bamboo shoots."
Bamboo, which is a giant, woody grass, is called the "wood of the poor"
in India and the "friend of the people" in China because of its diverse
use in everything from food and cooking to furniture, paper, musical
instruments, boats and houses.
A single bamboo clump can produce up to 15km of usable pole in its
lifetime, according to INBAR.
Kapos, who described the report as a global wake-up call, used existing
knowledge about the range of bamboo species and combined it with
current forest distribution to determine the impact of deforestation on
bamboo species.
She and her colleagues identified 250 woody bamboo species that have
less than 2000 sq km of forest remaining within their growing range. It
also pinpointed areas of high concentrations of bamboo in southern
China, Madagascar and parts of the southeast Amazon and Atlantic forest
of Brazil.
"Now we need to look much more closely at the dynamics of what is going
on. We need to look more closely at the processes that are threatening
the species, determine which species are the most threatened and take
conservation action in the areas where those species are concentrated,"
Kapos said.
Reuters
Sound of Bamboo
PO Box 939, Manly NSW 1655, Australia
tel. +612 9976 6904 fax +612 9976 6905
mobile +612 414 626 453
www.rileylee.net
--Apple-Mail-34-742951890
charset=US-ASCII
Hello all. This article appeared in today's Sydney Morning Herald
newspaper. :-(
Riley
<bold><fontfamily><param>Arial</param><bigger><x-tad-bigger>Bamboo
extinction warning
</x-tad-bigger></bigger></fontfamily></bold><fontfamily><param>Arial</param><color><param>9999,9999,9999</param><smaller><smaller>May
11, 2004 - 4:41PM</smaller></smaller></color><smaller><smaller>
<bold><color><param>FFFF,FFFF,FFFF</param><smaller><smaller><smaller><smaller><x-tad-smaller>Pa</x-tad-smaller></smaller></smaller></smaller></smaller></color></bold></smaller><x-tad-smaller>
</x-tad-smaller>Deforestation is endangering about a third of the
world's 1200 bamboo species and threatening rare animals such as giant
pandas and mountain gorillas that depend on the plants for food and
protection.
A joint report released today by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan
(INBAR) warned that it would also harm a $US2 billion ($A2.86 billion)
a year bamboo industry and the millions of people who use the plants
for food, housing, furniture and handicrafts.
"There are about 1200 species of bamboo in the world and we think
about a third of those may be threatened by the reduction of forest
habitat within their ranges," Valerie Kapos, co-author of the study
and ecologist at the UNEP World Monitoring Centre in Cambridge,
eastern England, told Reuters.
The report called Bamboo Diversity is the most comprehensive analysis
to date of the impact of deforestation on bamboo species.
"It is the first time anyone has done this systematic assessment where
they have worked all the way through a group of species and worked
specifically at distribution and remaining habitat," Kapos said.<bold><smaller>
</smaller></bold>The fates of Asia's giant pandas, which eat only
bamboo, Africa's mountain gorillas, Madagascar's golden lemurs and the
mountain tapir in South America as well as other animal and bird
species are linked to bamboo.
"All over the world there are animals that are very, very closely
connected with bamboo," said Kapos. "The mountain gorilla in Africa,
at some times of the year, get between 70-90 percent of their diet
from bamboo shoots."
Bamboo, which is a giant, woody grass, is called the "wood of the
poor" in India and the "friend of the people" in China because of its
diverse use in everything from food and cooking to furniture, paper,
musical instruments, boats and houses.
A single bamboo clump can produce up to 15km of usable pole in its
lifetime, according to INBAR.
Kapos, who described the report as a global wake-up call, used
existing knowledge about the range of bamboo species and combined it
with current forest distribution to determine the impact of
deforestation on bamboo species.
She and her colleagues identified 250 woody bamboo species that have
less than 2000 sq km of forest remaining within their growing range.
It also pinpointed areas of high concentrations of bamboo in southern
China, Madagascar and parts of the southeast Amazon and Atlantic
forest of Brazil.
"Now we need to look much more closely at the dynamics of what is
going on. We need to look more closely at the processes that are
threatening the species, determine which species are the most
threatened and take conservation action in the areas where those
species are concentrated," Kapos said.
<bold>Reuters</bold>
</smaller></fontfamily>
<bold><smaller><smaller>
</smaller></smaller></bold><italic><fontfamily><param>Arial Narrow</param><smaller>Sound
of Bamboo
PO Box 939, Manly NSW 1655, Australia
tel. +612 9976 6904 fax +612 9976 6905
mobile +612 414 626 453
www.rileylee.net
</smaller></fontfamily></italic>
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