More than 60 bamboo varieties of Vietnam have been planted in the Gao Giong eco-tourism site in Cao Lanh district, the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, as part of the site’s bamboo conservation project.

A road flanked by bamboos in the Gao Giong eco-tourism site in Dong Thap province (Photo: baodongthap.com.vn)

Huynh Thanh Hien, deputy head of the Gao Giong cajuput forest management board, said the bamboos, including tre gai (Bambusa bambos (L.) Voss), tam vong (Thyrsostachys Siamensis), and soc vang (Bambusa vulgaris Schrader ex Wendl), have been planted since 2014.

Tre gai is the most popular type of bamboo here since it provides habitat for birds and can also be used as a material to build houses and make fishing tools.

Hien said the bamboo varieties are collected from all corners of the country, and most of them have adapted to local soil conditions well, creating a new attraction for tourists in Gao Giong.

The collection is also meant to protect Vietnamese bamboo species and serve foreign scientists who come to study local bamboos, he noted, adding that the forest management board is also collecting bamboo species from other Southeast Asian and European countries.

In 2018, the board plans to plant bamboos to form a map of Vietnam covering 15 hectares in the Gao Giong eco-tourism area.

It will also continue the bamboo conservation project with many activities like creating a bamboo maze, a bamboo museum, a bamboo nursery, and a bamboo handicraft workshop, Hien said.-VNA