# Preamble
a. Bamboo has played an important part in the lives of the people of Bodoland, and has been an integral part of the cultural, social and economic traditions of the Bodoland Territorial Council (sixth schedule of the constitution of India in 2003). It is a renewable and versatile resource, and an important component of the wealth of Bodoland. It grows in the natural non-forest or forests, and is cultivated in homesteads, groves and on private plantations. It is utilized in many ways, for housing, fencing, functional articles, agricultural implements, basketry, and even fuel and food. People possess traditional skills of working with the material, and knowledge of the cultivation and management of Bamboo. Rattan is also an important natural material for the Bodoland Territorial Council. Building on traditional patterns of usage, it has evolved to become the basis for many artisans and craft persons working bamboo furniture and craft products for the market.
b. Bamboo is an essential component of non-forest or forest ecosystem. In the hilly and mountainous areas as well as riverbanks elsewhere it protects the slopes from erosion as an effective soil binder. Bamboo forests are also home to many endangered wild life including a large number of birds. For the Wild Elephants, endangered Hoolock Gibbons, and some other fauna, it forms a major part of their diet.
c. In Bodoland, even today, by far the most important and visible uses of bamboo are at the household level, in every day lives of people. Bamboo is used extensively for house construction (walls, flooring, roofing, panels and partitions), fencing, agricultural and fishing implements, storage, basketry, household articles and other domestic applications and for economic activities such as cocoon rearing trays in sericulture. Some households also produce for the market - often as independent products for localized markets, making storage and carrying baskets, fishing traps agricultural implements, seed trays, mats and fencing material. Sometimes they function as subcontractors, on a piece rate basis. These activities are not normally carried out as a primary vocation, but supplement household income, especially in the lean season for agricultural activities.
d. In semi-urban areas, another development has taken place, in the form of the emergence of individual entrepreneurs, and clusters of bamboo activity. Such groups of craftsperson and micro-entrepreneurs manufacture an array of products for adjacent and even distant markets. The product range builds on its functional origins, and incorporates decorative and non-traditional products ranging from largely low value bamboo basketry to expensive bamboo furniture.
e. The overwhelming industrial use is however still for pulp and paper. The paper mills out the Bodoland area have a capacity of 8, 00,000 tones per annum, met largely from Bodoland, but to a lesser extent from the neighboring BTC. Much of the bamboo utilized in these spheres comes from the non-forest or forests through a system of contracts, leases and departmental operations.
f. Bamboo was extensively used in the construction industry as scaffolding, ladders and supports. This usage is declining, due to the increasing use of substitutes. Similarly, there is a perceptible decline in the use of bamboo for temporary structures in cities- in the tent house, market stall and low cost shelter categories. Bamboo is still, however, a widely used material for rural, low cost and traditional housing. It continues to be preferred because it is relatively cheap, easy to work with, and readily available.
g. The decline in the availability of timber and the emergence of new technologies and product options have spurred interest in the field of wood substitutes and composites. These include boards of different types- mat, corrugated, laminated, particle, wafer and chip. Some products provide promising linkages between the organized and unorganized sectors, between household activity and organized industry, for instance resin bonded boards made from hand woven mats. Edible bamboo shoots, processed for the market represent another promising area of economic activity.
h. In recent decades a number of factors have contributed to changing patterns of usage and demand for bamboo and rattan. The forests, traditional repositories of the resources, have come under the pressure of increasing population and encroachment, reduction in notified area, and degradation of biotic quality. Continued extraction of bamboo for pulp and paper to meet the demands of pulp and paper units outside the Bodoland, and the establishment of paper mills within the Bodoland has increased the industrial demand for bamboo. The reduction of forest cover and the degradation of its biotic quality have placed stresses, in particular, on Bamboo resources, which have substantially declined. At the same time, the emergence and growing popularity of synthetic materials- plastics and other engineered material has led to the decline of traditional craft and even skill. This has adversely impacted on the livelihoods of artisans and bamboo workers.
i. Despite this, Bodoland continues to be relatively well-endowed with resources of bamboo, in particular of bamboo. With a wide range of non- forest or forest types, the Bodoland area continues to support over thirty species of bamboo, excluding exotics. Most of these species are commercially significant and through new perspectives on cultivation and management are capable of supporting the needs of industrial and value added applications.
j. Recent advances in technology and in product and application, development have brought about a growing realization that bamboo in particular can be the vehicle for value addition, incremental income and employment. It is a material that lends itself easily to simple processing technologies. At the same time it is capable of being used for high end and high value products and applications.
k. The Bodoland is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these advances, to utilize its extensive natural resources, and the legacy of skill and knowledge harboured by its people, to provide for vastly enhanced economic activity, and create opportunities for employment and income.
l. The ' Bodoland Bamboo Policy' of the Bodoland Territorial Council is an important step in this direction.
# The Vision-Bamboo:
Bodoland Territorial Council (sixth schedule of the constitution of India in 2003) will encourage, promote and support the development of the bamboo sector in a comprehensive manner, through a multidisciplinary multidepartmental and multi-dimensional integrated approach to provide economic benefits to the people of the Bodoland Territorial Council area.
1. The objectives of the policy are to support, facilitate and catalyze:
a. Development and implementation of a sustainable community based production model for bamboo with concomitant benefits for non-forest or forest conservation
b. Development and implementation of an economic development program using bamboo for spurring industrial development
c. Enhancing employment and income generating opportunities using bamboo as the prime resource
d. Protection and preservation of ecosystem in BTC areas, especially protection of slopes and riverbanks, and for sustained productivity. Conservation of biodiversity, as a large number of endangered species use bamboo forest as habitat and many take it as part of their diet. All varieties of native bamboo species shall be protected and germplasm preserved.
2. The thrust and application areas for the implementation of this vision will include
a. Manufacture of value added products and applications, such as wood and plywood substitutes, composite rnaterial, charcoal, activated carbon and energy
b. Housing and constructional applications involving the use of bamboo and bamboo composite material, in the field of low cost and mass housing and earthquake resistant construction
c. Processed edible bamboo shoot
d. Craft, and small enterprises
e. Resource development within and outside forest areas including regeneration and conservation
f. Capacity building in technical institutions, universities and colleges, to support the intensification and deepening of bamboo based activity
g. Skill up gradation and training
h. Dissemination of technical and sectoral knowledge and creation of awareness, about the potential afforded by bamboo and the related economic opportunities.
i. Market analysis and support
# The raw material front
The Bodoland Territorial Council area shall endeavour to enhance the availability and quality of bamboo, and provide a facilitating and enabling environment for the cultivation, extraction and movement of bamboo to industries, craft groups and other users.
1. The Bodoland Territorial Council shall:
a. Review the access and regulatory regime for the cultivation, harvesting and movement of bamboo, including the system of transit permits, and the felling and extraction rules in forest areas, taking into account the fact that it is a grass and a renewable resource, and the need to develop and promote its usage, in particular for value added applications.
b. Take steps to improve the quality, productivity and outturn of bamboo from non- forest or forest areas through development of plant material capabilities, adoption of intensive management and input approaches, scientific management of forest based bamboo resources, systematic and block plantation of commercially significant species and improved harvesting and post harvest practices
c. Encourage non-Government and entrepreneur based plantation on private land, homesteads, and wasteland through provision of extension services, induction of quality plant material and Other forms of support
d. Promote the up gradation, acquisition and dissemination of knowledge and practices for the bamboo sector, through involvement of research institutions, universities and colleges, Government agencies, NGOs, communities, users, and link them with national/ international resource agencies and institutions
e. Take steps to update existing management practices based on end use and to down-stream the same to the communities
f. Establish Bambusetum at least at one location in the Bodoland Territorial Council
2. The Bodoland Territorial Council shall:
a. Review the feasibility and desirability of declaring bamboo as a horticultural crop, to encourage the systematic plantation and management of bamboo resources.
b. Encourage and support the development of bamboo markets and the development of grading systems for raw bamboo.
c. Develop and encourage maturity making systems at the cultivator level.
# Bringing in Bodoland's strength- the Bodos community and the people
The role of the BTC in achieving the above objectives would be that of a facilitator and promoter of activities in each of the areas outlined in the approach. The strategic direction and thrust would be provided by the Bodoland Bamboo Development Board while the community and the private sector would be the implementers of the strategy.
1. Bamboo provides subsistence and livelihood security to communities and it is a part of the cultural, social and economic traditions of the Bodoaland. Bodos community based development approach would be adopted for the sector though active participation and involvement of communities under Joint Forest Management (JFM), Bamboo Development Agency under cluster cooperatives of artisans, and other mechanisms. VCDC would also be involved in promotion and development of bamboo.
# The Market
The Bodoland Bamboo Policy is predicated on the adoption of market-led community based development and demand driven approaches.
1. The Bodoland Territorial Council shall.
a. Take effective steps for developing local manufacturing capability to encourage local demand and, in turn, increase the effective demand for raw material, and the returns to cultivators.
b. Support plantation on priority of commercially significant species of bamboo.
c. Involve the community in decision making for resource generation and management, and review Bodoland regulatory mechanism that inhibit such people and community centered participation.
d. Promote market led stimulation of bamboo growing as an economic activity by easing existing regulations relating to trade and movement of bamboo to ensure appropriate income generation to growers and extractors.
e. Provide market linkages, information and support to commercial units based on bamboo products in different applications segments.
f. To Provide bamboo Trade license for Notification, the rules made under Indian Forest Act,1927 and the Supreme Court Order, Dated-15-01-1998 in the writ petition (Civil) No. 202 of 2005 and under taken to abide by the same.
# Management of bamboo flowering:
Immediate steps would be taken to tackle ongoing bamboo flowering of Muli (Melocanna bambusoides) in Bodoland (Four districts) and other species in different areas.
1. These steps would include:
a. Covering maximum area under plantation program, preferably with superior bamboo species having industrial usage and applications provided that plantation of superior bamboo species for industrial usage should per done after examining its possible effect on local species and also other ecological aspects. Introduction of exotic species in large scale should be avoided at any cost. Moreover, natural Muli bamboo areas in the wild should not be disturbed by such plantations. Main thrust areas should be private and homestead plantations, and also some select areas under JFM.
b. Protection of flowered areas against fire and grazing to ensure establishment of profuse regeneration.
c. Harvesting/removal of flowering culms up to the extent silviculturally available which will reduce fire hazards and will also develop potential for large scale economic usage such as power generation, pulp production and mat weaving etc.
d. Documentation and cohort mapping of flowered areas
e. Ex-situ conservation of different cohorts;
f. Rodent pest management in affected areas of flowering
# Research and Development:
The focus of research and development would be to improve existing seedlings & nursery practices, packages of practices and site management practices for different end use applications of bamboo.
a. The Bodoland Territorial Council shall take steps to promote linkages between research institutions within the ITI, Kokrajhar amongst themselves, and with other such institutions in the country and outside.
b. The Bodoland Territorial Council shall disseminate information on technologies, products and applications, and set up a Bodoland Bamboo Technology Institute at appropriate locations in Kokrajhar to facilitate effective lab to land transfer. It shall carry out disseminations of technology through campaigns involving extension activities, media support, exhibitions and a programme of demonstrations.
# The implantation mechanism:
A Bodoland Bamboo Development Board (BBDB) will be constituted to promote and support the integrated development of the bamboo sector in the BTC area.
a. The Bodoland Bamboo Development Board (BBDB) would be constituted by the Bodoland Territorial Council as an autonomous, professionally managed nonprofit organization. It would be headed by a Chairman with a technical and professional background and experience. The Chairman would be assisted by a small group of subject and technical experts with professional experience relevant to the tasks of the Board.
b. ln the period before establishment and operationalization of the BBDB, a core group would be constituted in the Planning and Development Department, consisting of representatives on deputation from the Industries, Forests and Agriculture Departments, to carry out the tasks to be assigned later to the Board.
c. A Bodoland Bamboo Technology Institute (BBTI) would be established in the Bodoland, and managed by the BBDB. It will be developed as a demand driven center of excellence for extension and training in bamboo to ensure realization of their economic, social and environmental potential in the BTC as well as in the North-East. The proposed Institute would ensure networking, transfer, adaptation and dissemination of technology as well as capacity building in related sub-segments of bamboo development. It would also carry out application oriented research in relevant fields.
d. Funding support would be sought from the Government of India, the North-East Council and other bodies for the establishment of the Institute and related activities.
e. The Bodoland Territorial Council will Endeavour to provide funds for the development of the sector through the levy of a cuss, set as a proportion of the royalty payable on the extraction of bamboo from forest areas.
f. The resources realized from this case shall be utilized to support the functioning of the BBDB, the Bodoland Bamboo Technology Institute, and the creation of a corpus of funds to be managed by the BBDB to support projects in the BTC, government, non-governmental, community and private sectors to develop the bamboo sectors.
g. Projects taken up from resources available in this corpus shall be selected and approved by an Advisory Committee constituted by the BBDB, and consisting of technical personnel.
# The implantation Partners:
a. National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA), Govt. of India, New Delhi
b. National Bamboo Mission (NBM), Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi
c. International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), Beijing, China
d. Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Govt. of India, New Delhi
e. North Eastern Council, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Government of India, Shillong
f. Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council, New Delhi
g. Ministry of MSME, Govt. of India, New Delhi
h. Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India, New Delhi
i. Ministry of Labour, Govt. of India, New Delhi
j. National Institute of Design (NID), Ahamahadaba
k. Technical Support Group _Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre, Guwahati, Assam under National Bamboo Mission
l. World Bamboo Organization (WBO), USA
m. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
n. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
o. The Adviser (Bamboo), Twipra Bamboo & Cane Handicrafts, Twipra, India for Founder of BBDB, BTC.
# Acts and Rules
1. Existing regulations applicable for Bamboo development sector would be reviewed and revised, to the extent possible, to suit the objectives and strategies out-lined under the policy.
# Monitoring
1. The Bodoland Bamboo Policy shall be implemented through appropriate action plans and implementation programmes for each strategic segment to be development by the concerned Department of the Bodoland Territorial Council.
2. A Bodoland Level Advisory Committee (SLAC) of the Bamboo Development would be formed under the Chairmanship of the Hon’ble Executive Member, Agriculture, BTC. The committee would monitor on a bi-annual basis the progress of action plans and implementation programmes for each strategic segment.
3. The Committee would also ensure that existing regulations applicable for Bamboo development sector are revised to achieve the objects of the policy.
Approved on behalf of the Bodoland Territorial Council
Sd/-
(Sri. Hargama Mohilary)
Hon’ble Chief of BTC,
Kokrajhar-783370, India
Sd/-
Sri. J.I. Kathar, IAS,
Principal Secretary,
Bodoland Territorial Council,
Kokrajhar
Sd/-
(Sri. Mitha Ram Basumatary)
a. Bamboo has played an important part in the lives of the people of Bodoland, and has been an integral part of the cultural, social and economic traditions of the Bodoland Territorial Council (sixth schedule of the constitution of India in 2003). It is a renewable and versatile resource, and an important component of the wealth of Bodoland. It grows in the natural non-forest or forests, and is cultivated in homesteads, groves and on private plantations. It is utilized in many ways, for housing, fencing, functional articles, agricultural implements, basketry, and even fuel and food. People possess traditional skills of working with the material, and knowledge of the cultivation and management of Bamboo. Rattan is also an important natural material for the Bodoland Territorial Council. Building on traditional patterns of usage, it has evolved to become the basis for many artisans and craft persons working bamboo furniture and craft products for the market.
b. Bamboo is an essential component of non-forest or forest ecosystem. In the hilly and mountainous areas as well as riverbanks elsewhere it protects the slopes from erosion as an effective soil binder. Bamboo forests are also home to many endangered wild life including a large number of birds. For the Wild Elephants, endangered Hoolock Gibbons, and some other fauna, it forms a major part of their diet.
c. In Bodoland, even today, by far the most important and visible uses of bamboo are at the household level, in every day lives of people. Bamboo is used extensively for house construction (walls, flooring, roofing, panels and partitions), fencing, agricultural and fishing implements, storage, basketry, household articles and other domestic applications and for economic activities such as cocoon rearing trays in sericulture. Some households also produce for the market - often as independent products for localized markets, making storage and carrying baskets, fishing traps agricultural implements, seed trays, mats and fencing material. Sometimes they function as subcontractors, on a piece rate basis. These activities are not normally carried out as a primary vocation, but supplement household income, especially in the lean season for agricultural activities.
d. In semi-urban areas, another development has taken place, in the form of the emergence of individual entrepreneurs, and clusters of bamboo activity. Such groups of craftsperson and micro-entrepreneurs manufacture an array of products for adjacent and even distant markets. The product range builds on its functional origins, and incorporates decorative and non-traditional products ranging from largely low value bamboo basketry to expensive bamboo furniture.
e. The overwhelming industrial use is however still for pulp and paper. The paper mills out the Bodoland area have a capacity of 8, 00,000 tones per annum, met largely from Bodoland, but to a lesser extent from the neighboring BTC. Much of the bamboo utilized in these spheres comes from the non-forest or forests through a system of contracts, leases and departmental operations.
f. Bamboo was extensively used in the construction industry as scaffolding, ladders and supports. This usage is declining, due to the increasing use of substitutes. Similarly, there is a perceptible decline in the use of bamboo for temporary structures in cities- in the tent house, market stall and low cost shelter categories. Bamboo is still, however, a widely used material for rural, low cost and traditional housing. It continues to be preferred because it is relatively cheap, easy to work with, and readily available.
g. The decline in the availability of timber and the emergence of new technologies and product options have spurred interest in the field of wood substitutes and composites. These include boards of different types- mat, corrugated, laminated, particle, wafer and chip. Some products provide promising linkages between the organized and unorganized sectors, between household activity and organized industry, for instance resin bonded boards made from hand woven mats. Edible bamboo shoots, processed for the market represent another promising area of economic activity.
h. In recent decades a number of factors have contributed to changing patterns of usage and demand for bamboo and rattan. The forests, traditional repositories of the resources, have come under the pressure of increasing population and encroachment, reduction in notified area, and degradation of biotic quality. Continued extraction of bamboo for pulp and paper to meet the demands of pulp and paper units outside the Bodoland, and the establishment of paper mills within the Bodoland has increased the industrial demand for bamboo. The reduction of forest cover and the degradation of its biotic quality have placed stresses, in particular, on Bamboo resources, which have substantially declined. At the same time, the emergence and growing popularity of synthetic materials- plastics and other engineered material has led to the decline of traditional craft and even skill. This has adversely impacted on the livelihoods of artisans and bamboo workers.
i. Despite this, Bodoland continues to be relatively well-endowed with resources of bamboo, in particular of bamboo. With a wide range of non- forest or forest types, the Bodoland area continues to support over thirty species of bamboo, excluding exotics. Most of these species are commercially significant and through new perspectives on cultivation and management are capable of supporting the needs of industrial and value added applications.
j. Recent advances in technology and in product and application, development have brought about a growing realization that bamboo in particular can be the vehicle for value addition, incremental income and employment. It is a material that lends itself easily to simple processing technologies. At the same time it is capable of being used for high end and high value products and applications.
k. The Bodoland is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these advances, to utilize its extensive natural resources, and the legacy of skill and knowledge harboured by its people, to provide for vastly enhanced economic activity, and create opportunities for employment and income.
l. The ' Bodoland Bamboo Policy' of the Bodoland Territorial Council is an important step in this direction.
# The Vision-Bamboo:
Bodoland Territorial Council (sixth schedule of the constitution of India in 2003) will encourage, promote and support the development of the bamboo sector in a comprehensive manner, through a multidisciplinary multidepartmental and multi-dimensional integrated approach to provide economic benefits to the people of the Bodoland Territorial Council area.
1. The objectives of the policy are to support, facilitate and catalyze:
a. Development and implementation of a sustainable community based production model for bamboo with concomitant benefits for non-forest or forest conservation
b. Development and implementation of an economic development program using bamboo for spurring industrial development
c. Enhancing employment and income generating opportunities using bamboo as the prime resource
d. Protection and preservation of ecosystem in BTC areas, especially protection of slopes and riverbanks, and for sustained productivity. Conservation of biodiversity, as a large number of endangered species use bamboo forest as habitat and many take it as part of their diet. All varieties of native bamboo species shall be protected and germplasm preserved.
2. The thrust and application areas for the implementation of this vision will include
a. Manufacture of value added products and applications, such as wood and plywood substitutes, composite rnaterial, charcoal, activated carbon and energy
b. Housing and constructional applications involving the use of bamboo and bamboo composite material, in the field of low cost and mass housing and earthquake resistant construction
c. Processed edible bamboo shoot
d. Craft, and small enterprises
e. Resource development within and outside forest areas including regeneration and conservation
f. Capacity building in technical institutions, universities and colleges, to support the intensification and deepening of bamboo based activity
g. Skill up gradation and training
h. Dissemination of technical and sectoral knowledge and creation of awareness, about the potential afforded by bamboo and the related economic opportunities.
i. Market analysis and support
# The raw material front
The Bodoland Territorial Council area shall endeavour to enhance the availability and quality of bamboo, and provide a facilitating and enabling environment for the cultivation, extraction and movement of bamboo to industries, craft groups and other users.
1. The Bodoland Territorial Council shall:
a. Review the access and regulatory regime for the cultivation, harvesting and movement of bamboo, including the system of transit permits, and the felling and extraction rules in forest areas, taking into account the fact that it is a grass and a renewable resource, and the need to develop and promote its usage, in particular for value added applications.
b. Take steps to improve the quality, productivity and outturn of bamboo from non- forest or forest areas through development of plant material capabilities, adoption of intensive management and input approaches, scientific management of forest based bamboo resources, systematic and block plantation of commercially significant species and improved harvesting and post harvest practices
c. Encourage non-Government and entrepreneur based plantation on private land, homesteads, and wasteland through provision of extension services, induction of quality plant material and Other forms of support
d. Promote the up gradation, acquisition and dissemination of knowledge and practices for the bamboo sector, through involvement of research institutions, universities and colleges, Government agencies, NGOs, communities, users, and link them with national/ international resource agencies and institutions
e. Take steps to update existing management practices based on end use and to down-stream the same to the communities
f. Establish Bambusetum at least at one location in the Bodoland Territorial Council
2. The Bodoland Territorial Council shall:
a. Review the feasibility and desirability of declaring bamboo as a horticultural crop, to encourage the systematic plantation and management of bamboo resources.
b. Encourage and support the development of bamboo markets and the development of grading systems for raw bamboo.
c. Develop and encourage maturity making systems at the cultivator level.
# Bringing in Bodoland's strength- the Bodos community and the people
The role of the BTC in achieving the above objectives would be that of a facilitator and promoter of activities in each of the areas outlined in the approach. The strategic direction and thrust would be provided by the Bodoland Bamboo Development Board while the community and the private sector would be the implementers of the strategy.
1. Bamboo provides subsistence and livelihood security to communities and it is a part of the cultural, social and economic traditions of the Bodoaland. Bodos community based development approach would be adopted for the sector though active participation and involvement of communities under Joint Forest Management (JFM), Bamboo Development Agency under cluster cooperatives of artisans, and other mechanisms. VCDC would also be involved in promotion and development of bamboo.
# The Market
The Bodoland Bamboo Policy is predicated on the adoption of market-led community based development and demand driven approaches.
1. The Bodoland Territorial Council shall.
a. Take effective steps for developing local manufacturing capability to encourage local demand and, in turn, increase the effective demand for raw material, and the returns to cultivators.
b. Support plantation on priority of commercially significant species of bamboo.
c. Involve the community in decision making for resource generation and management, and review Bodoland regulatory mechanism that inhibit such people and community centered participation.
d. Promote market led stimulation of bamboo growing as an economic activity by easing existing regulations relating to trade and movement of bamboo to ensure appropriate income generation to growers and extractors.
e. Provide market linkages, information and support to commercial units based on bamboo products in different applications segments.
f. To Provide bamboo Trade license for Notification, the rules made under Indian Forest Act,1927 and the Supreme Court Order, Dated-15-01-1998 in the writ petition (Civil) No. 202 of 2005 and under taken to abide by the same.
# Management of bamboo flowering:
Immediate steps would be taken to tackle ongoing bamboo flowering of Muli (Melocanna bambusoides) in Bodoland (Four districts) and other species in different areas.
1. These steps would include:
a. Covering maximum area under plantation program, preferably with superior bamboo species having industrial usage and applications provided that plantation of superior bamboo species for industrial usage should per done after examining its possible effect on local species and also other ecological aspects. Introduction of exotic species in large scale should be avoided at any cost. Moreover, natural Muli bamboo areas in the wild should not be disturbed by such plantations. Main thrust areas should be private and homestead plantations, and also some select areas under JFM.
b. Protection of flowered areas against fire and grazing to ensure establishment of profuse regeneration.
c. Harvesting/removal of flowering culms up to the extent silviculturally available which will reduce fire hazards and will also develop potential for large scale economic usage such as power generation, pulp production and mat weaving etc.
d. Documentation and cohort mapping of flowered areas
e. Ex-situ conservation of different cohorts;
f. Rodent pest management in affected areas of flowering
# Research and Development:
The focus of research and development would be to improve existing seedlings & nursery practices, packages of practices and site management practices for different end use applications of bamboo.
a. The Bodoland Territorial Council shall take steps to promote linkages between research institutions within the ITI, Kokrajhar amongst themselves, and with other such institutions in the country and outside.
b. The Bodoland Territorial Council shall disseminate information on technologies, products and applications, and set up a Bodoland Bamboo Technology Institute at appropriate locations in Kokrajhar to facilitate effective lab to land transfer. It shall carry out disseminations of technology through campaigns involving extension activities, media support, exhibitions and a programme of demonstrations.
# The implantation mechanism:
A Bodoland Bamboo Development Board (BBDB) will be constituted to promote and support the integrated development of the bamboo sector in the BTC area.
a. The Bodoland Bamboo Development Board (BBDB) would be constituted by the Bodoland Territorial Council as an autonomous, professionally managed nonprofit organization. It would be headed by a Chairman with a technical and professional background and experience. The Chairman would be assisted by a small group of subject and technical experts with professional experience relevant to the tasks of the Board.
b. ln the period before establishment and operationalization of the BBDB, a core group would be constituted in the Planning and Development Department, consisting of representatives on deputation from the Industries, Forests and Agriculture Departments, to carry out the tasks to be assigned later to the Board.
c. A Bodoland Bamboo Technology Institute (BBTI) would be established in the Bodoland, and managed by the BBDB. It will be developed as a demand driven center of excellence for extension and training in bamboo to ensure realization of their economic, social and environmental potential in the BTC as well as in the North-East. The proposed Institute would ensure networking, transfer, adaptation and dissemination of technology as well as capacity building in related sub-segments of bamboo development. It would also carry out application oriented research in relevant fields.
d. Funding support would be sought from the Government of India, the North-East Council and other bodies for the establishment of the Institute and related activities.
e. The Bodoland Territorial Council will Endeavour to provide funds for the development of the sector through the levy of a cuss, set as a proportion of the royalty payable on the extraction of bamboo from forest areas.
f. The resources realized from this case shall be utilized to support the functioning of the BBDB, the Bodoland Bamboo Technology Institute, and the creation of a corpus of funds to be managed by the BBDB to support projects in the BTC, government, non-governmental, community and private sectors to develop the bamboo sectors.
g. Projects taken up from resources available in this corpus shall be selected and approved by an Advisory Committee constituted by the BBDB, and consisting of technical personnel.
# The implantation Partners:
a. National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA), Govt. of India, New Delhi
b. National Bamboo Mission (NBM), Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi
c. International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), Beijing, China
d. Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Govt. of India, New Delhi
e. North Eastern Council, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Government of India, Shillong
f. Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council, New Delhi
g. Ministry of MSME, Govt. of India, New Delhi
h. Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India, New Delhi
i. Ministry of Labour, Govt. of India, New Delhi
j. National Institute of Design (NID), Ahamahadaba
k. Technical Support Group _Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre, Guwahati, Assam under National Bamboo Mission
l. World Bamboo Organization (WBO), USA
m. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
n. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
o. The Adviser (Bamboo), Twipra Bamboo & Cane Handicrafts, Twipra, India for Founder of BBDB, BTC.
# Acts and Rules
1. Existing regulations applicable for Bamboo development sector would be reviewed and revised, to the extent possible, to suit the objectives and strategies out-lined under the policy.
# Monitoring
1. The Bodoland Bamboo Policy shall be implemented through appropriate action plans and implementation programmes for each strategic segment to be development by the concerned Department of the Bodoland Territorial Council.
2. A Bodoland Level Advisory Committee (SLAC) of the Bamboo Development would be formed under the Chairmanship of the Hon’ble Executive Member, Agriculture, BTC. The committee would monitor on a bi-annual basis the progress of action plans and implementation programmes for each strategic segment.
3. The Committee would also ensure that existing regulations applicable for Bamboo development sector are revised to achieve the objects of the policy.
Approved on behalf of the Bodoland Territorial Council
Sd/-
(Sri. Hargama Mohilary)
Hon’ble Chief of BTC,
Kokrajhar-783370, India
Sd/-
Sri. J.I. Kathar, IAS,
Principal Secretary,
Bodoland Territorial Council,
Kokrajhar
Sd/-
(Sri. Mitha Ram Basumatary)
Chairman,
Bodoland Bamboo Development Board,
Bodoland Territorial Council,
Kokrajhar-783370, India
Bodoland Bamboo Development Board,
Bodoland Territorial Council,
Kokrajhar-783370, India
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