Bamboo takes center stage in Unesco geopark

BOHOL, Philippines — Bohol province is embracing bamboo, a traditional material used in construction and handicrafts, as part of efforts to promote sustainable tourism and improve local livelihoods.

In 2023, the island province was designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) as its first Global Geopark in the Philippines, in recognition of Bohol’s internationally significant geological heritage.

In the southern town of Bilar, a bamboo-themed park that opened in October 2023 offers visitors the chance to stroll along a bamboo walkway, dine at an open-air restaurant built and furnished with bamboo, and sample bamboo shoots served on bamboo plates.

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“When guests come here, they appreciate the food. In terms of the property, they get amazed because of the bamboo structure and the architectural design. And they feel it’s cooler here, because we are surrounded by bamboo,” said Jocelyn Suarez, general manager of Kinaiyahan Forest Park.

The privately run park, home to 45,000 bamboo plants comprising 40 varieties, also features a House of Art where visitors can watch craftsmen making furniture and other items from bamboo.

READ: Over 1,200 bamboo planted in Aurora protected landscape

Plans are also underway to establish a center to develop bamboo materials for construction and other purposes, Suarez said.

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Various uses

To promote bamboo as a sustainable material that can support local livelihoods and help combat climate change, the province has been providing training on its various uses and distributing bamboo seedlings, said Joanne Pinat, Bohol’s chief tourism officer.

Arnold Labunog, 65, a co-owner of the park and an engineer, said he and his family bought a 17-hectare property in 2018 where bamboo was already growing in abundance. They developed it into a bamboo-themed attraction during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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His brothers, Eduardo and Rodrigo, also helped inspire the concept after separately visiting the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove in Kyoto, Japan.

“Because we grew up in the countryside, we’d like to develop this place just like the one where we used to play before—with many trees and just nature, and with ricefields … We grew up using bamboo,” Labunog said.

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Labunog, who also serves on a public-private council promoting the bamboo industry in cooperation with the provincial and central governments, stressed the advantages of bamboo, which grows quickly and has a wide range of uses. /cb