Ecosystem services of bamboo plantations: a comprehensive review of a multifunctional nature-based solution for climate and environmental resilience

Bamboo has emerged as a promising nature-based solution (NbS) capable of addressing the intertwined challenges of climate change, land degradation, and socio-economic vulnerability. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the ecological services of bamboo plantations, including both natural and managed systems either community-based or privately established plantations, emphasizing their multifunctional roles in supporting environmental and human resilience. As a fast-growing, renewable, and structurally versatile non-timber resource, bamboo delivers extensive regulating, supporting, provisioning, and cultural services. Its regulating functions include rapid carbon sequestration, soil and water conservation, and microclimate regulation, while its supporting roles encompass nutrient cycling, biodiversity enhancement, and ecosystem restoration on degraded lands. Provisioning services arise from its high-yield biomass and renewable material potential for timber alternatives, bioenergy, and bio-based products, which simultaneously sustain rural livelihoods and promote green economic growth. Culturally, bamboo holds deep symbolic and aesthetic significance, enriching landscapes, architecture, and eco-tourism through its biophilic and spiritual dimensions. Despite these benefits, the expansion of bamboo plantations presents trade-offs, including risks of monoculture, water stress, and invasive behavior, underscoring the need for integrated management and robust policy frameworks. The review highlights future research priorities of advancements in remote sensing, life cycle assessment (LCA) of bamboo-based products such as construction materials, furniture, and bioenergy, and ecological modeling, along with standardized metrics for long-term monitoring to strengthen bamboo’s scientific and policy foundation. Overall, this paper reaffirms bamboo’s potential as a scalable, sustainable, and multifunctional NbS, capable of bridging ecological restoration with circular bioeconomy strategies and contributing meaningfully to global climate and environmental resilience objectives.

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