More than 500 segments of guadua sugar cane were planted in the first edition of the Bambutón 2022 at Chone, Manabí
- Producers, authorities, and academia representatives of Manabí were part of a capacity building day in restoration of ecosystem using guadua sugar cane or bamboo cane
September 2022 – Chone, Manabí
The Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition of Ecuador (MAATE), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GmbH) -GIZ, the Regional Office for South America of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), in the context of the EbA LAC Program organized the first edition of the Bambutón 2022, which aimed to reaffirm the commitment and empowerment of local stakeholders in the province of Manabí to adapt to the effects of climate change through the sustainable management of bamboo.
The event was attended by more than 100 people, including authorities from MAATE, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the Provincial Government of Manabí, the Cantonal Government of Chone, representatives of associations of sugarcane producers, the Technical University of Manabí (Chone extension) and the Catholic University (Manabí extension). The activity was also well attended by young volunteers from Junior Chamber International (JCI).
The actors met at 9am at the land located at the 80-90 elevations of the Rio Grande dam, strategic infrastructure for water resources of the province and in a joint effort, planted more than 500 segments of guadua sugarcane in an area of approximately 3 hectares. This is a method of reforestation that can be highly replicable in the canton of Chone.
The versatile graminea species (Guadua angustifolia Kunth) does not depend on the rainy season and its water demand is reduced, making it a restoration option that will bring effective results in the short term, mainly in water recharge areas and in areas where vegetation cover is scarce or in the process of degradation.
Mr. Quinto Alcívar, one of the owners of the land where the planting took place, believes that this method of reforestation is vital to improve productive systems and to recover degraded and deforested areas: "We thank the organizations involved for their contribution to the conservation of ecosystems that help to fight climate change, this motivates us to continue restoring (?) and conserving the forests".
This was echoed by Dr. Yeriel Zambrano, Zonal Director 4 MAATE, who congratulated the population for their commitment to the implementation of the EbA LAC program in Chone, especially cocoa, corn, citrus and livestock producers who are committed to sustainable agriculture: "El Bambutón highlights the importance of these spaces for knowledge exchange to promote the creation and strengthening of capacities in the sustainable use and exploitation of guadua cane".
This first edition of the Bambutón was intended to position the importance of developing valuable spaces for the active exchange of knowledge, which can be replicated, to encourage the creation and strengthening of capacities in the sustainable use and promotion, in this case, of guadua cane, as alternatives for the protection and restoration of the area's ecosystems.
The EbA LAC Program is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) through its International Climate Initiative (IKI) and is implemented by the German Development Cooperation - GIZ - as lead agency, in partnership with IUCN and CATIE in three countries: Ecuador, Guatemala and Costa Rica. In Ecuador, it is implemented in close coordination with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition (MAATE).
