Bamboozled?

Bamboo isn't a tree. It's actually a very large and fast-growing grass. It's perfect for furniture making. Its possible to use bamboo for scaffolding on buildings or even to construct footbridges. , can serve as a model. Ten years ago, the residents of the small village of Pachgaon in the central Indian state of Maharashta, lived in absolute poverty. The villagers persisted in using the Forest Rights Act (2006) and the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act 1996, to reassert their community's lost entitlements. In 2012, Pachgaon eventually won control of 1,006 hectares of local forest. Gaining these forest rights, meant the villagers could take their own marketing decisions on forestry products. They can decide how they harvest and cut the forest. In the last financial year, Pachgaon's bamboo business made a profit of £35,000. The village's 300 residents are now relatively wealthy by rural Indian standards. The forest is protected and healthy (https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/dec/17/india-adivasi-tribal-village-pachgaon-forest-law-traditional-rights). Growing bamboo and other plants must be encouraged to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This reduces global warming and limits climate change. There's ample evidence that tribal communities are generally much better environmental custodians than government agencies or corporations. Developments, such as one in Pachgaon, may serve as a model in some parts of the world. The villagers protect the jungle, and the jungle provides them with a living. It's almost a form of symbiosis.