Depletion of natural resources is posing a threat to the age-old tradition and business of weaving bamboo products in the eastern region of Trashigang. Passaphu-Peydoong chiwog of Kangpar Gewog in Trashigang is known for bamboo products. But today, due to depletion of neomicrocalamus bamboo in the locality, locals are unable to continue the business.
Locals have been using neomicrocalamus, a kind of bamboo native to Asian countries including Bhutan, to make Bangchung and other bamboo crafts. Locals collect the bamboo from nearby forests or from far-flung places in Samdrup Jongkhar. Known to the locals as Ringsha, it is the most preferred kind of bamboo because of its durability.
But today it has exhausted due to continuous harvest and overusing. And it is expensive for the locals to collect from other places. They worry that unavailability of such kind of raw material might eventually lead to the disappearance of their age-old tradition of weaving bamboo products. It is also a source of income for them. Today, a set of Bangchung fetches around Nu 400.
To address the shortage of raw materials, the Royal Society for Protection of Nature and the Dzongkhag Forestry officials had initiated the plantation of neomicrocalamus bamboo in the past but it was not a success.
Therefore, the forestry officials in Trashigang proposed the locals to use locally available bamboos such as bambusa (Pakshing), as an alternative to neomicrocalamus. Recently, the officials also conducted a five-day trial programme for the locals to use alternative bamboos.
“I learnt that bambusa could be used as an alternative material for making bamboo products. We came to know that people in other countries are making products using bambusa. Since our neomicrocalamus bamboos have died, it is best to use bambusa,” said Karma Phuntsho.
“Since the neomicrocalamus bamboo is not available like in the past, forestry officials asked us to use locally available resources for bamboo crafts. So, more than twenty of us are attending the alternative trial program today to see the feasibility of using bambusa in place of neomicrocalamus. We will now use bambusa, which is available in our place,” added Wangda Passaphu-Peydoong Chiwog’s Tshogpa.
With the alternative trial programme proving to be a success, locals are hopeful of carrying forward the tradition of producing bamboo crafts at ease without having to worry about running short on raw materials.
Passaphu_Peydoong is the only chiwog that produces bamboo crafts in Trashigang Dzongkhag.
Changa Dorji
