Arief Rabik (from the International Bamboo Foundation based in Indonesia), Nici Long (principal of Cave Urban, an artist collective in Sydney), and Bill Hauritz (Executive Director of Woodfordia) has signed off on a partnership that has been in discussion for 12 months.
The partnership involves the development of a two-hectare experimental bamboo forest, and the construction of a world-first water preservation facility on the Woodfordia site (the home of the Woodford Folk Festival); this aims to bring organic disinfected waste water together with soils created from recycled food scraps from the festival.
According to international bamboo expert Arief Rabik, “This is the first time all of these sustainable components have been integrated into a single project”.
Arief Rabik will be speaking at the Woodford Folk Festival in its Speakers program and Patrons will be able to see the whole operation in its early stages. 50 clumps of bamboo have already been planted and it is expected that the preservation facility will be launched on December 29 as part of Arief’s presentation.
The current trial planting is being conducted as a research partnership between Ben Kele of Arris Water (world leaders in water technology), and Central Queensland University, with the aim of irrigating bamboo forests with effluent water. The first dozen clumps of bamboo, now flourishing in this study, were rescued from the ravaged area of Rockhampton in the aftermath of Cyclone Marcia in 2015.
“Ben Kele, since the implementation of the Waste Water Treatment Plant at Woodfordia, has been an inspiration for us. His science and generosity has been a big part of this project’s development, and the wastewater from his irrigation system will be the key ingredient of its success,” said Woodfordia General Manager, Amanda Jackes.
Architect Nici Long from bamboo design collective Cave Urban has been the principal organiser of bringing the partnership together. “I’m so excited about what this project can produce both for Woodfordia and the creation a bamboo industry in Australia,” she said.
China, Japan and Indonesia are world leaders in making bamboo an internationally sought after commodity. “We think it will only be a few years before bamboo will have an international trading price,” said Nici Long. “The more nations involved in its production, the more profitable it will be for everyone”.
The partnership will provide vital research that will assist the uptake of bamboo growth that is necessary to create an industry. All parties are extremely excited about the overall sustainability benefits of the project.
In addition to these huge environmental benefits, one by-product of the bamboo treatment centre is biochar. This is an incredible soil ameliorant and a carbon sink that can boost the productivity of Australian soils way above current expectations.