Bamboo is of benefit to the world environment through its highly renewable nature. Mao bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the surface of the earth as it takes only 5-7 years to regenerate as opposed to wood species which can take up to 60 years to regenerate. Not only does it grow extremely quickly, it does so without the use of fertilizers, pesticides or irrigation.

The use of bamboo rather than wood directly reduces CO2 emissions by providing a rapidly renewable resource, thereby allowing forests a chance to regenerate themselves and consume CO2 in the process.

The most ideal characteristic of bamboo is its self-replenishing nature. It establishes an extensive root system that, after the harvest of the mature plant, provides a new shoot during the next rainy season, thereby eliminating the need for replanting.

Soil erosion has always been a big concern for environmentalists because once erosion takes place new plants have a hard time taking root, which takes away food sources for wild life and increases the chance of landslides. Unlike lumber, bamboo’s existing root network prevents soil erosion and has also been used as a pioneering plant where erosion has already occured. In Asia, bamboo has actually become an important component for the prevention of soil erosion on hillsides, roadways and river banks.