Khotang: The 1st National Bamboo Conference held in the district has decided to establish a bamboo museum and identify Khotang district as the bamboo capital. Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi municipality, which organized the event, mentioned it in the declaration after concluding the conference.
According to National News Agency Nepal, the three-day conference issued a 35-point ‘Khotang Declaration’ which stated that Diktel will have a bamboo research centre; observe Falgun 15 as the national bamboo awareness day; and organize the national bamboo conference every three years. The conference was initiated under the theme, ‘where there is bamboo, there is life; where there is life, there is bamboo’.
The event explored the benefits of bamboo, its use as livestock feed, its potential for income generation, enterprises related to bamboo products, and its contribution to environmental protection, the circular economy, and policy on the use and promotion of bamboo. Twenty-three working papers were presented during the event, where 44 experts shared their views on bamboo plantation, marketing of bamboo products, and entrepreneurship.
Municipality mayor Tirtha Raj Bhattarai stated that the conference was successful in sensitizing the public and policymakers alike on the use and promotion of bamboo. They emphasized the need for conducting research, exchanging experiences on the use of this plant, and transferring skills to the new generation on the utilization of bamboo.
Various government agencies and non-government organizations had supported the municipality in conducting the conference.