Bamboos play a very important role
in the rural economy of South and South-
East Asia. Probably the usefulness of
bamboo is nowhere as great as in Bangladesh.
What with the population explosion and
wholesale depletion of forest wealth during
the last decade or so, Bangladesh is suffering
from acute shortage of wood. Bamboos
from the village groves which used to be
the most important material for house
construction, scaffolding, ladders, mats, baskets, fencing, containers, tool-handles,
pipes, toys, musical instruments, furniture,
handicrafts and a host of other utilities
are in very short supply these days (Lessard
and Chounard in 1980). Bangladesh
once used to be very rich in bamboo
species. Karnaphuli Paper Mills was orginally
planned to produce 120 thousand tons of
paper a day with Muli bamboo (Melocana
baccifera) as the fibrous raw material.
However, it was found later that these