The damage humanity has inflicted on the planet is accelerating, with about 40 percent of the land surface having been degraded, as disclosed by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in the Global Land Outlook 2. About 3.2 billion people worldwide are threatened with regard to their livelihood, well-being, access to food, water, energy and security by the degradation of forests, agricultural land and rangelands. Against this backdrop, the UN report also reveals a vision of potential landscape restoration on about 5 billion hectares by 2050 that brings in various benefits such as a 5 to 10 percent increase in crop yields in the developing nations, the ability to store 17 gigatonnes of carbon more than unrestored land could in 2015, and a slowed decline in biodiversity and natural areas.

The year 2021 saw the kick-off of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which runs from 2021 to 2030, intending to prevent, halt and reverse the worldwide adverse effects of landscape degradation. In 2011, the German government and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, along with the support of the Global Partnership on Forest and Land Restoration, launched the Bonn Challenge to restore 150 million hectares of degraded land by 2020. The New York Declaration on Forests further endorsed the challenge to restore 350 million hectares of land by 2030. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation is the most significant international Forest Landscape Restoration-related initiative that aims to slow, stop and converse forest loss and degradation. Contributing to many of such global initiatives, several nations across the globe have set their national targets. For example, African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative is a country-led initiative in Africa to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. Similarly, ECCA30 is a regional initiative that aims to restore 30 million hectares of degraded and deforested land in Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia by 2030.

National reality

In Nepal, 3.16 million hectares (or 11.81 percent of the total land area) have been affected by the degradation process. According to a 2015 report entitled Status of Crops and Weather issued by the Agriculture Extension Directorates, Lalitpur, agriculture suffered a Rs2.36 billion loss due to floods, landslides and drought in 2015, which was equivalent to more than 10 percent of the Agriculture Ministry's budget for that year. The government of Nepal initiated a planting programme in its first Five-Year Plan (1956-61) to rehabilitate the country's degraded land. In addition, Nepal has been a party to several frameworks and initiatives related to landscape restoration and has been working to meet conservation goals. Tarai Arc Landscape, Sacred Himalayan Landscape and the Kailash Sacred Landscape are some government-led landscape management and restoration programmes in Nepal. Further, other programmes are being implemented by a consortium of international and national organisations.

Haphazard development activities have wreaked havoc on the conservation of land that peoples across the world advocate for nature-based solutions to such developmental problems. Indeed, so often, nature has the solution. It is just a matter of identifying and enacting the right one appropriately. With this wisdom, when it comes to landscape restoration, bamboo is a sustainable nature-based solution that can enhance people's well-being and benefit the environment.

In the 21st century, we need to reassess the plants we use and how we use them. Bamboo is a perfect material for rehabilitating degraded land since it can grow on low fertile soil, slopy land and under various climatic conditions. Bamboo is well known for faster growth, with a growth rate of 1 metre per day in some species. It has evergreen leaves, a dense canopy and numeral culms that intercept rainfall, reduce its kinetic energy and thus prevent soil erosion. Further, there is high litterfall production in bamboo that, along with a dense canopy, maintains the microclimate to facilitate the restoration of degraded land. Faster growth and large biomass of bamboo thus hasten land restoration.

Additionally, the rhizome of bamboo, an extensive fibrous root system, holds the soil tightly and prevents landslides, floods, and erosion. The root system is shallow, with the most concentration in the depth of 0-30 cm, so, helpful for preventing topsoil erosion. Even when natural calamities like fire destroy the above-ground biomass, the plant can live thanks to the bamboo's underground biomass. The bamboo forest's water regulation functions are an addition to this. Infiltration and percolation are encouraged by bamboo roots. In contrast to natural forests, bamboo forests have the highest capability for ground water recharging.

Due to the great potential of bamboo, many countries like Cameroon, Ghana, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Madagascar, Vietnam, China, Kenya and the Philippines are adopting it as a priority species for landscape restoration. In 2014, member nations of the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR) committed to restoring at least 5 million hectares of degraded land using bamboo.

Government indifference

In Nepal, although many projects have used bamboo for landscape management and restoration, few programmes explicitly endorse bamboo for land restoration. Despite being rich in bamboo, Nepal's bamboo-based economy contributes only 1 to 2 percent to the national GDP due to the government's indifference, lack of support to farmers, disordered market and insubstantial skills. Further, there is no detailed inventory of existing bamboo forest estates, and people's perspective towards using bamboo for landscape restoration is not documented. Such limitations hamper the efforts to understand the need to restore, improve productivity and develop bamboo clusters to support landscape restoration.

Globally, landscape restoration is receiving significant attention from numerous initiatives, attesting that there is no better alternative than a nature-based solution to reclaim degraded lands. Many countries have rightly identified bamboo as a means for landscape restoration. But Nepal is still lagging behind in tapping the bamboo sector. In this regard, an appropriate government policy, environment and institutional intervention can foster the sector. In addition, international and national institutions related to bamboo should also help Nepal achieve its conservation goals.