By Val A. Villanueva - October 17,
2019
Mining, the most hated, despised
(name all the words in the dictionary that means despicable) industry in the
country has waved the SOS flag to bamboo to help it show to the public that it
wasn’t as bad as its detractors paint it to be.
With its public perception at its
lowest, the industry for years has struggled to win the people’s heart by
immersing itself into the communities where it operates—providing them with
livelihood, medical care, education, sanitation services and more important,
creating economic activities.
Yet, the stigma of catastrophic
accidents of yesteryears would seem hard to erase. The image of swath of
destruction caused by excavated mountains, which was once a picture of verdant
greens, and the displacement of indigenous townsfolk from their ancestral lands
have all given the mining industry a terrible image that anti-mining activists
are just too happy to take advantage of.
While the industry has undoubtedly
contributed to the country’s economic development, mining, particularly the
open pit method, is deemed by some experts as a destructive activity. Its
disposal of toxic wastes in reservoirs, irrigation systems and agricultural
lands has been damaging to the environment. Thus, efforts have been done to rehabilitate,
regenerate, revegetate, and reforest mined-out and mine tailings-covered areas
to bring back their productivity.
Today, (October 17), at the Manila
FAME, industry stakeholders—Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, the Philippine
Nickel Industry Association, Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR), and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) unwrap what they
call the “Bamboo Initiative”—a nationwide campaign targeted to revegetate
mined-out areas with fast-growing bamboo trees. The project aims to increase
bamboo production and create money-spinning endeavors for mining communities.
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu
said in a press statement the group chose bamboo in rehabilitating
degraded lands because it “grows fast, releases 35 percent more oxygen than
trees, and can absorb heavy metals from contaminated soil or water.”
Trade Secretary and Philippine
Bamboo Industry Development Council Chairman Ramon Lopez added that “the
potential for bamboo is limitless, given the variety of its use.” Lopez also
lauded Cimatu and the mining companies who have started to plant bamboo in
their mined-out areas, which will help increase the supply of raw materials for
use in creating high-value bamboo products in the future. According to the Mines
and Geosciences Bureau, 12 mining companies have already started planting
bamboo in 12 provinces across nine regions all over the country.
Marcventures Mining and Development
Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of listed Marcventures Holdings Inc., has in
fact made bamboo farming the heart of its mining rehabilitation program. MHI
President Isidro Alcantara in previous press interviews said the industry has
long been looking for ways to clean up the destructive effects of mining.
He was quoted as saying: “When you
undergo rehab, you normally plant trees. They do not really provide any means
of livelihood for people living there especially the indigenous people. Once
the mine leaves after 10 or 20 years, there will be nothing left and it is only
good while it is there…. Rehabilitation should have two purposes, one is to
restore and enhance the environment, and second is to leave long-term
sustainable livelihood.”
Bamboo, known as the “green gold of
life” and “grass of hope,” is effective in arresting soil erosion,
landslides, and flooding—the usual calamities in any mine site. Aside from
releasing up to 35 percent more oxygen than any other trees, and
segregating up to 12 metric tons of carbon dioxide per hectare, it is the
fastest- growing shelter for the rehabbing despoiled lands.
It can be made into furniture, used
in fiber, clothing, pulp and paper production, food ingredients, beauty
products, architecture, and construction. Harvest time only takes three years,
and the whole process costs much less.
In fact, the country’s bamboo-based
furniture industry multiplies at an annual rate of 15 percent with export
revenues amounting to $3.2 million per year. Worldwide, bamboo-based handicraft
industry swells by an average of 7 percent with export revenues of $8 billion
yearly. According to the Philippine Bamboo Foundation Inc., some bamboo
species can withstand 52,000 pounds per square inch before reaching breaking
point, almost close to that of steel with 60,000 pounds psi. Currently, only
52,000 hectares in the Philippines have been planted with bamboo, and with
mining industry using the grass for rehab, the figures could go much higher.
Can bamboo be an effective PR for
the much maligned mining industry? As they say, the proof of the pudding
is in the eating.
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