Deforestation is increasingly becoming one of the serious problems plaguing most countries across the world. The Amazon rainforest, considered to be the world’s most important ecosystem, is one of the places that is under threat of deforestation.
This has caused serious concerns among environmentalists because forests are viewed as “lungs” of the earth and provide stability to the world’s climate by trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Most countries, globally including in Africa, are exploring creative ways of maximising their revenues from their vast and lush forests by selling carbon credits.
Desertification and flooding
In industrialised countries commercial logging and cattle farming or ranching and ecotourism are the leading causes of de-forestation. But in sub-Saharan Africa this is largely attributed to human activity where some communities still rely on wood as fuel or source of energy for cooking and heating. The pace and severity of the loss of trees and other vegetation on the African continent has led to desertification, flooding and widespread soil degradation of huge tracks of land on which most communities depend for their livelihood.
Sustainable tree harvest
And this is what inspired Camille Rebelo to co-found EcoPlanet Bamboo through which she identifies rural communities and assist them to regenerate degraded soil for farming purpose as well as restore natural forests. Perhaps more importantly, she teaches communities to not only preserve natural forests but also ensure they harvest trees sustainably so that they can regenerate. Although EcoPlanet Bamboo is headquartered in Kenya, it also has presence in Ghana, South Africa, and Rwanda.
Biological carbon sink
But how does she practically help communities to restore and regenerate devalued lands? She uses carefully selected species of giant clumping bamboo which helps to achieve climate change benefits by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Furthermore, this also provides a long term deforestation-free source of fibre for industries that still rely on the harvesting of natural forest for raw materials.
Rebelo says bamboo is one of the most effective nature-based solutions on the planet with the ability to sequestrate and store vast volumes of atmospheric carbon dioxide in a permanent biological carbon sink. “At the same time, because bamboo is a grass, annual thinning allows for the provision of a long term, “deforestation free” source of fibre or biomass. This fibre can be utilised for the production of a bamboo pulp for everyday products that still rely on deforestation (such as toilet and tissue paper), thereby creating a sustainable, seed to sale supply chain,” she says.
She says they are “looking for a way to address and reduce global deforestation, while providing a secure, long term source of wood and fibre for the four major markets that still consume the majority of the world’s biomass today (pulp and paper, bioenergy, textiles, and engineered timbers), and one that at the same time could trigger generational change in rural communities”.
Academically equipped to deliver
Rebelo is not only passionate about conserving natural forests but she is also academically qualified to fulfil this noble goal. She holds a BSc from Imperial College London and a Masters from Yale University. She also has background in innovative financing mechanisms for the conservation of natural forests. In addition, Rebelo has practical experience of having managed forestry projects ranging from large-scale commercial plantations to smallholder operations in more than 20 countries across Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Advising governments on forest restoration
Rebelo is also an expert in forest certification and she was involved early on with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change where she developed some of the first successful forest carbon projects globally. She also rubbed shoulders with and advised various governments on how to successfully restore forest landscape.
Flourishing forested ecosystems
Currently, Rebelo is responsible for the origination, implementation, and management of EcoPlanet Bamboo’s operations across the globe. The direct spinoff of her project is job creation and at the moment her company employs 350 people with specific focus on women. She says the intention is to create 100% employment for the locals, adding that what fulfils her is, among others, to see the transition of degraded lands and rural communities transform into flourishing forested ecosystems and associated communities.
