Mark was recently asked a question about Bamboo:

“I have Bamboo growing at home. Is Bamboo considered a tree too, and can I dedicate my Bamboo?”

Mark shares his opinion with us:

First, Mark tells us that Bamboo is different from trees.

Bamboo is the fastest perennial accumulator. Bamboo is also a grass, growing in tropical, warm, high rainfall environments.

Grasses have about five different characteristics compared to trees. The main one, is the way they grow. They send up multiple shoots from the base which form the Bamboo ‘pole’.

They can be quite large in diameter (up to 150mm) and quickly grow up to 10-12 meters high! (Mark recalls seeing a sacred bamboo forest when he visited Kyoto, Japan).

However, the poles do not last long and die off after 5-8 years. Then, it will continue to shoot new poles from the base. It also produces runners and expands its root mass over a large area.
The cycle can continue for a long time, even between 50 and 100 years.

This means that a single Bamboo planting can become a forest!
This is good for the planet in some locations, and a real weed problem in other areas.

To conclude, Mark tells us that even though Bamboo is considered grass, it is excellent for capturing carbon.

He would not suggest that we dedicate Bamboo as trees, but that we remain to dedicate “single trees (including palms) and shrubs, with single stems that can be identified as such.”

Thank you for sharing your opinion with us, Mark.
We appreciate learning from you!

Do you have a question for Mark?
Please contact us and tell us what you would like to ask Mark, or use the comment section below.

Mark (right) in the Kyoto Bamboo Forest, Japan.