Our project in eastern Nicaragua has planted more than 1 million plants of a native species of giant clumping bamboo, covering 2,361 hectares while protecting an additional 1,000 hectares of old forest as a conservation zone. It has transformed a degraded landscape into a flourishing and biodiverse ecosystem. Bamboo is one of the most efficient biological tools for fighting climate change. The project contributes to mitigation by preventing deforestation and capturing CO₂ as well as to adaptation by reducing temperatures, creating micro-climates, supporting a low-carbon economy and creating livelihoods for vulnerable communities.

In contrast to cutting trees, harvesting giant clumping bamboo does not kill the plant. Once fully mature, selective poles are harvested from each bamboo clump annually, leaving enough time for other poles to regenerate. Thus the carbon stored within the bamboo becomes a permanent sink, with the bamboo clumps having a lifetime of 80 years. The bamboo fibre from the plantations forms the base for a broad range of substainable, deforestation-free products like fibers or building materials.