Lou Yiping measures a bamboo in Madagascar in November 2005.

Chinese scientists hit milestones in bamboo forests’function of carbon sequestration, making it possible for farmers to access a new market – carbon trade.It is expected to increase farmers’ income, promote economic sustainability, and spur social development.

资源实现共享，必定涉及到多方利益。这些所涉及到的利益包括：高校教师和学生，高校自身以及相关的政府部门。在资源使用的过程中，要秉承“谁使用，谁负责”的原则。协调好各方的利益是关键，如果出现利益受损的一方，则受损方应得到相应的补偿。因为在资源共享的过程中受益人或受益单位有支付相应成本的义务，正所谓“谁受益，谁负担”。对于教育资源使用的各方，只有在教育资源不受损、可以利用资源共同收益的状况下，才能提高各部门以及个人的积极性。

BAMBOO, an indigenous plant of China, has been eulogized for thousands of years as a symbol of virtuous and noble character in the country. For Lou Yiping, World Bamboo Ambassador awarded by the World Bamboo Organization, bamboo provides a way of reducing poverty and combating climate change.

Dr. Lou is the director of the Center for China-Africa Agriculture and Forestry Research (CAFOR) at Zhejiang Agriculture and Forest University. He began to work on bamboo in 1984 after graduation. He first worked on bamboo forest management and ecology at the Chinese Academy of Forestry. In 1999 he joined the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), the first-ever intergovernmental organization headquartered in China, researching the plants on a much wider scope – environmental benefits, sustainable operation, forest certi fication, community-based sustainable development, poverty reduction,and biodiversity conservation.

In 2012 Lou was nominated director of the CAFOR, which was co-founded by Zhejiang Agriculture and Forest University and INBAR, aiming to promote agricultural science and technology from China to African countries to help local people get rid of poverty, especially by using bamboo resources.

Planting bamboo could get extra income through the carbon trade system,while economic benefits will attract more companies and organizations to participate. It is expected to develop an amplifying link between the economy,society, ecological security, and sustainable development.

In January 2018 the innovative technologies of bamboo forest carbon sink monitoring and emission reduction won Lou and his team the second prize of the 2017 National Scienti fic and Technological Progress Awards.

A Primary Productive Force

The aforementioned situation and problems underscore the value of Lou and his team’s innovation. The team veri fied the characteristics of the bamboo forest as a carbon source and a carbon sink, and calculated the carbon reserve and spatial allocation. The research systematically clarifies the disputes on bamboo forests’ role in carbon sequestration, making it clear that they are a huge potential and capacity of carbon sink. For the first time in the world, the team raised five key methodologies, getting round the bottleneck of bamboo forests entering the carbon trade market.

Bamboo is a kind of woody grass,with about 1,400 species in the world and 500 species in China. A close relative of rice and wheat, it has a short growth cycle with high output and economic value. Some kinds of bamboo shoots could grow to be one-meter-high young bamboo overnight, and grow into full size within a couple of months and mature in no more than three to five years to be ready for logging.

For its great potential in carbon sequestration, bamboo forest is the most likely type of forest to access the emission reduction market. Lack of related technologies, however, impeded access,which in turn hindered the development of bamboo forest carbon market.

当然啦。你揭不开他的蹊跷,摸不着他的底细,他就万无一失呀。卢一平停一下,话锋突然一转。既使这样,我还有把握赢他,你信吗？

These characteristics in mitigating climate change serve as the foundation of Lou’s award-winning technology,which, in short, aims to tap the potential market values of bamboo forests as carbon sink through scienti fic accounting and monitoring methodologies.

The methodologies effectively bridge international rules with the real market.A gateway has been built for traditional bamboo planting to enter the carbon market. In 2015, China’s first bamboo forest carbon sink was established in Tongshan, Hubei Province, which generated 194,000 tons certified emission reduction. Lou and his team also helped five counties in Zhejiang Province develop more than 20,000 hectares of bamboo forest carbon sink, which led to a total of 4.3 million tons certi fied emission reduction. Lou’s team also facilitated the establishment of China’s first forestry carbon sink experiment zone and the world’s first bamboo forest carbon sink pilot zone respectively in Lin’an and Anji of Zhejiang Province, which have also entered the carbon trade market.

Taking a field survey in Ethiopia to chart a bamboo industry development roadmap.

Bamboo is widely used as construction material, containers’ boarding,flooring, paper making, and daily necessities like chopsticks and toothpicks.New industries such as bamboo fiber products, healthy food, and tourism also saw rapid growth in recent years.As bamboo is thin and elastic, it needs manual labor during its primary processing, said Lou, who has engaged in bamboo value chain development for rural communities. The labor-intensive industry provides abundant job opportunities for poor rural communities in the forest regions, he said.

“To have a stronger nation and a better life, the key is advanced science and technology,” said President Xi Jinping at the National Scientific Innovation Conference in 2016. The bamboo forest carbon sink monitoring and emission reduction technology brings real economic bene fits to farmers.

Carbon sink refers to forests’ function of capturing carbon dioxide and storing it in soil and plants, so as to reduce the density of greenhouse gases and mitigate global climate change. In light of the theory, the international carbon trade system has been established. It was confirmed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, and came into effect in 2005.Each country has been allocated with a corresponding quota of carbon dioxide emission. The one exceeding its own quota needs to buy quota from other countries.

对鸭坯进行统一前处理，之后进行烤制实验。具体为红外蒸汽烤制温度220℃，烤制时间30、35、40、45、50min，蒸汽喷射2次，分别为烤制的第10min和第30min，每次喷射时间为3s；最后红外干烤10min。

Lou ( first left) and experts from different countries participate in the bamboo plantation project in Kenya. Photos courtesy of the interviewee

Lou turned to research on bamboo’s role in combating climate change by increasing carbon sequestration in bamboo forests around the year 2002. After 15 years of arduous work, Lou and his team made breakthroughs in four key technologies in calculating bamboo forests’ capacity in carbon sequestration,stabilization, and emission reduction.They also researched on the measuring methods and characteristic parameters of bamboo forests as carbon sinks, and created five methodologies in this field that have become national and international standards. Their achievements have ironed out kinks holding back the bamboo forest carbon sink from entering the carbon trade market.

International Poverty Alleviation

Bamboo forests carbon accounting and monitoring technologies have been promoted in Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian,Jiangxi, and other main bamboo producing areas in China. They have also been introduced to other countries like Ethiopia and Kenya as an important way of international aid.

Worldwide, the area of bamboo forests totals 32 million hectares, and there are three main bamboo producing regions – China and Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa. In terms of bamboo utilization and processing, China leads the world, as the biggest bamboo products exporter. As of 2015, according to incomplete statistics, the output value of the Chinese bamboo industry stood at RMB 200 billion (US $30.8 billion). This is why the INBAR set up its headquarters in China. It celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2017, receiving a congratulatory message from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In the context of climate change,however, bamboo goes far beyond traditional economic significance. The evergreen plant has deep, well developed rhizome-root systems that render it having a good soil fixation capacity.This property allows bamboo to effectively prevent soil erosion, help protect natural forests and biodiversity. Bamboo grows well in different elevations, climates, and land forms, so it also helps to increase the volume of forest resources and as a best substitute to wood products to reduce the pressure of timber consumption from natural forests.

Under-utilization is the root of the lack of recognition of bamboo’s value.For example, in the African continent,as many as 36 countries have natural bamboo forests with a total area of 1.5 million hectares, most of which,however, are overlooked and never developed. Besides funding shortages,these countries don’t have national policies or strategic plans on using bamboo resources to start up and coordinate the development between governmental and private sectors.Farmers also need necessary training and capacity building. Therefore, it is impossible to create a value chain from farmers to the market.

河南省战略性新兴产业专利特别是发明专利的数量与质量，体现了河南省自主科技创新实力的强弱。通过对河南省战略性新兴产业专利竞争情报、专利数量、专利被引次数、专利成长率、专利实施率、产业标准化等指标经济与技术方面的统计与分析，可以为河南省战略性新兴产业自主创新能力的提升提供决策参考。河南省战略性新兴产业专利能力的提升与竞争优势的培育，需要政府与相关企业正确制定专利战略，对专利进行前瞻性布局，提升核心专利技术的自主化水平，实施专利运营能力提升工程，以及构建知识产权驱动型的创新发展人才体系等，以推动河南省战略性新兴产业的高质量发展。

As director of the Center for China-Africa Agriculture and Forestry Research, Lou has actively participated in international cooperation, including designing the bamboo industry development roadmap for Rwanda,Kenya, and Cameroon. The Rwandan government attached great importance to the bamboo industry in recent years. With financial support from the EU, UN Food and Agricultural Organization, and the African Development Bank, Lou’s team carried out field investigations and got a clear picture of the status quo and problems. They then formulated a 10-year strategic policy and five-year action plan for Rwanda, as well as drafted specific documents that are required for related research and pilot projects.

将企业中人力资源管理系统或其他管理人员数据的系统作为用户数据的权威数据源，当人员信息出现新增或变更时，统一用户身份管理系统获取用户创建或修改事件，定期扫描新变更的用户记录。统一用户身份管理系统将这些事件同步给每个连接的应用系统中，各系统根据规则修改相应信息。要求各系统不能私自创建账号或对用户基础信息做出任何修改，保持与权威数据源的数据一致。因此利用统一用户身份管理能够统一管理企业内用户和组织机构的基本信息，并自动地为所有和统一用户身份管理系统集成的应用系统进行用户账号创建、变更、注销等工作。

In 2014 Lou carried out country-speci fic research on the African agricultural and forestry resources, industrial chains,and policies, a project sponsored by China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Science and Technology. The research provided information and technological support for the nation’s aid policy makers, and also for companies who are likely to invest in Africa.

在面包的生产中，添加适量的改性淀粉能够提高面包的比容特性、含水量、外形和内部组织结构。添加3.0%的改性淀粉量，可以明显提高面包的比容及含水特性。在增大面包比容，提高其含水特性方面，试验过程中提供的3种改性淀粉其良好的性能排序分别为HS-03＞HS-02＞HS-01。

Since the Belt and Road Initiative was put forward, Lou and his team have expanded research and training to 31 countries along the Belt and Road,including Southeast Asian countries like East Timor, Vietnam, and Bhutan.Through field research and holding training sessions, Lou and his team made strenuous efforts in planning and developing the bamboo industry for these countries.

Traditionally, bamboo has been a raw material in China, and an underutilized plant in Africa. But scientific and technological advancement turns it to a commodity that bene fits farmers and facilitates sustainable development of society. Because of science and technological innovation, green hills and clear waters can attain the same if not more value than precious metals as gold and silver in the days of old.