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Fair and Ethical
To reach a specific area directly please click on the links just below.
Our Fair Trade Policy
Meet Our Producers
Improving Lives – 15m Pinoys live on $1/day
Environmentally Friendly Natural Raw Materials and Care Labels
Fair Trade Links
Our Fair Trade Policy
Accredited by, and a supplier to the British Association For Fair trade Shops since 2004, and also a retail member.
We adhere to the BAFTS and FINE criteria for Fair Trade, and we will continually respect all Ethical and Fair Trade goals and principles and strive to improve on them.
* Guided by principles of respect, justice and equality.
* Pay a fair price in advance.
* Advise on high product quality and encourage development
* Committed to developing and maintaining long-term
relationships.
* Environmentally responsible.
* Good working conditions and ethical and fair treatment of
workers.
* Ensuring no discrimination, particularly against women.
* No child labour.
* Allowing workers to have authority.
* Open to transparency on information, aims and working
practices.
We have close and personal relationships with our producers and are committed and dedicated to trading fairly and working together in this challenge.
Davy of Vibrant Creation – building
bridges of trust and respect
On our journeys - a welcome meal
with Sister Jeanith and staff, CMBC.
It is not our intention to make substantial profits, although we do need to make one to stay in business and continue our work, and whatever good fortune comes our way, we want to give it meaning and transform it into something of value.
In support of policy advocacy we have committed to return 10% of pre-tax profits back to our producers. While this may not be much start with, it does at least guarantee that our producers receive above and beyond the price we buy at and ensure that they receive a fair deal from us, and the more we grow the more we can return to help them to develop into stronger businesses.
In 2007 we formed a partnership with the Advocate of Philippine Fair Trade Inc. (APFTI) who support and uphold producers, workers and communities struggling their way out of underdevelopment, through trade, business, cooperatives, income-generation projects, entrepreneurship and other socio-economic community-based initiatives.
uswag raffia handbags fashion show
provides additional sustainable livelihood opportunities for the families and communities affected by the San Roque Multi-purpose Project.
We campaign at various events throughout the year and we support and work with Enterprise In Education campaigning at local schools in Essex to increase consumer awareness.
For enquiries or information concerning fair trade or if you would like to organise an event please contact us at info@ambanature.co.uk
Aklan Pina and Fiber Festival 2007
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RE Enterprises picture frames With other buyers, APFTI and DTI
enjoying a visit to Sampaguita House.
Six of our existing producers are members of APFTI and although we have yet to visit new producers, which we plan to do on our next visit to the Philippines, we are steering them towards APFTI. Two have attended orientations conducted by APFTI, and one
More information about Fair Trade can also be found on BAFTS web site www.bafts.org.uk
Meet Our Producers
amba nature plays a tiny part in the Fair Trade movement serving The Philippines, a country with extreme and widespread hardship and poverty, and all of our sales are ethically and fairly traded products sourced directly from small private businesses, and co-operatives, foundations, missionaries and government funded and non-profit voluntary organisations.
ADF
ADF is a non-profit voluntary organisation that embarked on a long-range local development program to conquer the increasing poverty in the province, and provide work to families in the micro cottage industry who depend on selling their craftwork for a living.
Their vision is to empower local communities who can live sufficiently and responsibly while participating in their own development. The organisation seeks an equitable, people oriented and sustainable use of resources with bias on environmental thereby contributing to a progressive, peaceful and God–loving community.
Their mission is to collaborate with the existing local structures toward self-reliance of communities among marginal upland and lowland farmers, subsistence fishermen, landless workers, micro-entrepreneurs, craftsmen and women.
Their goals are to venture into profit centers and other forms of business enterprises in partnership with people’s organisation and cooperative for sustainability; to protect and conserve the resource base in the province in cooperation with organised people’s organisations and cooperatives, local government units and line agencies; and to continue the transformation of the poverty groups from a state of being marginal to self sufficiency, accessing them to productive resources and environment-friendly technologies.
Working towards sustainable growth with people’s organisations and cooperatives bringing market closer to the countryside.
CMBC
The CMBC is a socio-economic project of the Carmelite Missionaries. It was conceived as a response to the church call for the integral and total development of the human person, evangelisation, people empowerment and building of the church through the basic ecclesial communities. The Carmelite Missionaries were inspired to organise and form the physically handicapped, the displaced minorities, the victims of injustice, the orphaned and abandoned children, the poor and the needy out of school youths (new poor) and taught them to trust and believe in Jesus. PRAY, WORK, STUDY, SHARE, CARE and even spend some time for LEISURE AND FUN.
CMBC’s vision is to alleviate the poverty, plight and suffering of the “new poor” and it’s mission, as a socio-economic project of the Carmelite Missionaries is committed to the integral development of it’s workers and the “new poor.” The center shall achieve this through the formation of a Christian community, production of high quality religious articles, bamboo products and novelty items for local and international market and employment generation.
Some of the craft workers that benefit from
CMBC’s socio-economic and pastoral programme.
The socio-economic and pastoral programme is not a business enterprise and neither for profit. It was purposely designed to serve the Church’s economically, psychologically, morally and spiritually poor and underprivileged.
CMBC realises its goals and commitments by generating and providing more jobs to these ‘new poor’ and through employment their basic human needs are provided and satisfied. It also caters to their professional advancement and earnestly hopes to empower more and more people, and so, it provides assistance for the college education of deserving workers, producing a good number of professionals - teachers, engineers, businessmen and seamen, and skilled workers such as auto mechanics, radio operators, draftsmen appliance specialists, electricians and the like.
Dela Cruz
Being a community-based industry, the bulk of the production workers are in several communities within the province. The company has farmed out the weaving process to about a thousand weavers who are subcontractors. Those that started work 10 years ago are still with the company and have become highly skilled artisans. In-house artisan workers are in charge of the finishing, cleaning, and packing of the semi-processed items delivered at the factory.
Nito napkin holders – lacquering work
The top management consists of family members who are basically in charge of all the critical functions of managing the business. Workers are well motivated to do their jobs. The working relationship is cordial and productive. The company places high regard over the social responsibility of its workers. In the communities, a leader is assigned to consolidate the goods for delivery, and to distribute raw materials. The attraction to weaving nito baskets is good because they can work in their own homes and still get good pay.
Although it takes a lot of skill to weave, it requires only the most basic of tools and the job imposes no health hazard. They get regular weekly pay, have flexible work hours and the opportunity to work at home which is a most important consideration because it brings all family members together.
HAC
Having difficulty accessing a consistent supply of good quality pina cloth, the owner was forced to engage in pina weaving that started its business organisation. So it started with one weaver in 1989. Realising the need to revive other traditional cloth that disappeared from the market, efforts were focused to the revival by having additional weavers and new materials. When such was showcased in the market, a demand was created strengthened by the increasing popularity of the use of natural fibres globally. Responsive to the need, the company started increasing its weaver based from one weaver in 1988 to about 80 after two years. These weavers are home based and work was farmed out to them.
A system was designed where centralised procurement of materials, processing of materials into warp form prior to weaving, establishment weaving specifications and standards, procurement of accessories by the office to be supplemented to the weavers in order assist and speed up the weaving process, establishment management system and control for its business activities. Innovations were made and immediately implemented for the worker's benefits with the objective of increasing weaver's productivity. A supply chain was established between communities and the company. On site weaving modules were set up to take care of researching new products and to highlight the activities of the company. It also acted as a training facility in upgrading the skills of its workers.
Ringgue three-pedal lattice work is unique to Kalibo weaving.
The company’s thrust of development is centered on the family for its basic production unit is a weaving loom which is housed in the weaver's home, and the company's workforce is located in villages in 8 different towns in their province. Each village may have at least 15 weavers working for the organisation and HAC supply all materials and semi-processed goods Although these weavers are located in different work sites far away they are coordinated by a field weaving coordinator who monitors the production, acts as liaison between the beneficiaries and the company as to the quality requirement, payments of labor, work in process sourcing, and on the situ weaving technique training should she find out that the weaver's defect is due to improper weaving technique. She also acts as a liaison between management and beneficiaries on what ever needs are required by the beneficiaries, and as the company communicator on whatever concerns management wants to convey to its workers.
 
Pina material in finer detail – the finishing touches
In networking its material needs to a community, they usually encourage groups of residents in a certain locality to form groups to supply their requirements where raw materials are present in a locality. If there is a need for training, they coordinate with government agencies for assistance whereby the training of a certain skill is directed to that group. Likewise, they assure the trainees who are willing to buy their products as a result of the training provided, that the product passes the quality and specification requirements. If the production is quite big they assist in marketing the products to other interested parties. What is considered on-the-job training provides an opportunity for the beneficiaries to earn money as a supplement to their income.
Lanot
Baptist minister, Pastor Michael Parson shared his business concept with this producer. Initially the company which they planned to put up would be a vehicle within which to provide members of their church with employment. With this in mind, it became the basis for the formulation of their mission and vision statements.
Handmade paper lampshade in the making
Vibrant Creation
Vibrant Creation (formerly Creation Paper and a part of Lanot) is a community based organisation which was established with the vision of manufacturing handmade paper from indigenous materials using environmentally friendly methods and material.
Mixing, straining & dyeing the vegetable fibres, rice straw & banana plant stalks.
Pressing the vegetable mulch into paper sheets individually
Drying the paper sheets and the packing department
RE Enterprises
Re Enterprises is a community based manufacturer whose principal raw material is raffia and who do their own extraction and weaving of the fabric. Many of the craft workers are village women who augment their family income by weaving, and in many cases the income of the wife is the main cash income of the family since many of the men are seasonal workers. They provide work for about 25% of the town.
Splitting the layers of the leaf of the buri palm
 
to expose the raffia fibres ready for combing
Pictures frames in the making…
from handmade paper and fossilised leaves, and handwoven raffia roll.
WUTHLE
WUTHLE is a project which turns bobbin lace making and embroidery into a livelihood for women ex-Hansenites and their talented relatives.
Initially there was no intention to start a business and the beginning of the project was quite incidental. It all started in 1985 with a birthday gift to a Belgian ICM Missionary Sister who was working with and living among the Hansenites at the Western Visayas Sanitarium in Iloilo. In gratitude, two young girls, both daughters of patients, gave her a self-made, beautifully embroidered handkerchief. Seeing the possibilities, the Sister asked them to embroider some more handkerchiefs, which could be sent as tokens of gratitude to benefactors. These handkerchiefs were appreciated so much that orders came in. The two girls taught other women, ex-Hansenites and their relatives, and the project grew.
 
In 1991, the attention of the Sister was drawn to the many women who could not hold a needle because of deformities to their hands, and while she was on home-leave in Belgium, she learned how to make bobbin lace, and a new artistic skill opened up new possibilities.
wuthle project turns bobbin lace making and embroidery...
 into a livelihood for women ex-Hansenites and their relatives, many with deformed hands.
The livelihood project grew rapidly and with this, the necessity to turn it into a business. At present, embroidery and lace making have become a valuable means of income to fifty women.
DGS
DGS was created to provide additional sustainable livelihood opportunities for the families and communities affected by the San Roque Multi-purpose Project (SRMP or Project).
The SRMP is located on the Agno River nearly 200 km north of Metro Manila and spans the municipalities of San Manuel and San Nicolas, Pangasinan. Its dam impounds a reservoir with a storage capacity of nearly 1 billion cubic meters that extends north into the municipality of Itogon, Benguet.
The primary focus of DGS is to buy, sell, distribute and market at wholesale all kinds of goods, commodities, wares and merchandise made by families in the communities affected by the SRMP — both individually and through cooperatives organised by them.
By purchasing DGS products, customers help assure sustainable livelihood (income) for these families while working at or near their homes. Such purchases support the livelihood programs of the Project's private and public proponents: San Roque Power Corporation and National Power Corporation, respectively.
THE AFFECTED FAMILIES
Nearly 800 households in San Manuel and San Nicolas, Pangasinan and in Itogon, Benguet relocated due to the construction of the SRMP. They currently are establishing new means of livelihood with the support of SRPC, NPC, other agencies of the Republic of the Philippines, and DGS.
Camanggaan resettlement village
San Manuel, Pangasinan
In addition, more than 1,600 additional families residing outside the Project site, but who farmed or otherwise generated their livelihood from lands therein, must likewise establish new means of livelihood.
Upon completion of construction in early 2003, the work opportunities associated with it decreased dramatically. At the peak of construction, more than 5,000 were employed, about 80 percent of whom resided in an affected community.
Now, however, about 120 permanent employees are needed to operate and maintain the SRMP, including the site security force. Hence, most of those who were employed during construction must establish new or re-establish previous means of livelihood.
These affected persons are willing to undertake the development of diverse livelihood projects as alternative ways to supplement agricultural income, such as weaving cloth and making quilts, garments, bags, jewelry and other products. But they need help.
DGS was involved in the development of the SRMP and decided to organise, manage, operate and finance a company to serve as a training, purchasing, production, quality control, and marketing vehicle for such livelihood projects.
Mindful of the skills and educational backgrounds of these affected families, DGS designs the products, sources raw materials, equipment, tools and facilities for their manufacture, provides skills training and markets the finished products wholesale in the Philippines and abroad.
Most of the handicrafts products can be made in the home, but in most cases, the workers prefer to gather together at the SRPC Livelihood Center located near Sitio Camanggaan in San Manuel, Pangasinan.
Hence, the activities of DGS expand and enhance the livelihood opportunities of affected peoples and communities, thereby supporting the social obligations of NPC, and of SRPC as a matter of corporate policy and concern.
GG Fair Trade Foundation
A non-stock, non-profit organisation that advocates social entrepreneurship and fair trade practices and organised by a group of social entrepreneurs and development advocates in 2005.
Their vision is the brand of choice for unique, innovative, and hand crafted quality gifts that are made by livelihood communities of marginalised members of society.
Their mission is to create economic value for artisans and the marginalised members of society, by leveraging their own brand to provide market access and other business solutions for their livelihood endeavors, to help them improve their quality of life.
Non-Government Organisations or NGOs and other organisations in direct service to marginalised groups often set up livelihood programs to help give their beneficiaries a source of income that will help sustain them and provide for their basic and secondary needs. However, many of these NGOs have yet to realise this vision of sustained sales and income as they struggle to compete with products that are already available in the market.
Oftentimes, the success of NGOs livelihood programs comes down to marketing. This is where the GG Foundation comes in. They work with partner organisations who have marginalised groups as their beneficiaries. Counted among their partner NGO communities is a shelter for street children, groups working with women in urban and rural poor communities, groups working with indigenous people, former migrant workers to Japan, former prison inmates and their families, and children and adults with learning disabilities. In all, they currently support 12 partner NGOs.
Given the limited resources of livelihood producers and NGOs in the Philippines, they chose to support communities through Social Entrepreneurship. As a social enterprise they work together with communities in the development of their livelihood programs primarily through market access and product development. In the short term, market access means more sales and more income for the producers. Product development on the other hand helps producers to improve their craft in terms of design and production processes, making their products more marketable and competitive. In the long term, these interventions will mean enhanced livelihood programs that will put the NGOs and their beneficiaries on the road to sustainability and poverty reduction.
Each GG product is handmade by members of livelihood communities. But more than being a great item, each product represents the desire and commitment of the groups they work with, to seek dignified alternative sources of income. Each product is a message of support for their livelihood groups and artisans.
Improving Lives
If you have a few minutes please read on. The report reinforces the need for trade and highlights the challenge and the fight we face to help to reduce poverty. (RP is Republic of the Philippines)
The article is from the Philippine Daily Inquirer Tuesday, 17 April 2007
15m Pinoys live on $1/day
World Bank: 19% of RP population in 2000 very poor
By Doris C. Dumlao
WASHINGTON – AT LEAST 14.8 million Filipinos try to survive on less than $1 a day, accounting for 1.5 percent of the people in the world currently trapped in extreme poverty, according to latest World Bank estimates.
But some 43 million in the Philippines, based on the country’s population in 2000, live on $2 a day, the less extreme international measure of poverty.
Data from the World Development Indicators (WDI) 2007 showed that global poverty rates continued to fall in the first four years of the 21st century, with the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day falling below the 1 billion mark.
Two-dollar-a-day poverty rates were falling too, but an estimated 2.6 billion people, almost half the population of the developing world were still living below that level in 2004.
The WDI indicator 2007, a publication, was launched here on Sunday on the sidelines of the joint International Monetary Fund-World Bank spring meetings.
People living on less than $1 a day fell to 18.4 percent as a share of the total population in 2004, leaving an estimated 985 million people in extreme poverty.
By comparison, the total number of the worlds extremely poor was 1.25 billion in 1990.
Between 1990 and 2004, dollar-a-day poverty fell by more than 260 million, according to the World Bank.
Filipinos living on the $1-a-day international poverty line accounted for 19 percent of the Philippine population of 76.5 million as of May 2000. (The country’s population today is about 88 million).
Poverty measures, based on an international poverty line, attempt to hold the real value of poverty constant across countries, as done when making comparisons over time.
The commonly used $1-a-day standard, measured in 1985 international prices and adjusted to local currency, is typical of the poverty lines in low-income countries.
Growth, China factor cut poverty
The World Development Indicators 2007 pointed out that an average 3.9 percent annual growth in per capita gross domestic product since 2000 among developing countries helped cut poverty rates.
Another key reason for the decline in dollar-a-day poverty was China’s massive poverty reduction between 1990 and 2004 that trimmed East Asia’s extreme poverty rate to 9 percent in 2004.
In the rest of the developing world, good economic performance and a lower poverty incidence offset a rise in the sheer number of poor people.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, 298 million people were living in extreme poverty in 2004, practically the same as that in 1999. But the number of poor people had increased continuously in the previous two decades.
Inequality worsened despite growth
The report found that, in the past decade, economic growth did not automatically lead to poverty reduction.
In some countries and regions, inequality worsened because poor people did not reap the fruits of economic expansion. A lack of job opportunities, limited education or poor health aggravated the situation.
“Growth is essential to reducing poverty, but it isn’t the only factor. The WDI [goes] beyond growth and poverty rates to ask how income is distributed, whether health care and education are improving, and to assess the business environment. These factors all affect the quality of people’s lives”, said Francois Bourguignon, World Bank chief economist and senior vice president for development economics.
The WDI estimated that the share of the poorest quintile in the Philippines national consumption or income was only 5.4 percent.
A quintile refers to any of five equal groups into which a population can be divided according to the distribution of values of a particular variable like poverty.
Other indicators for RP
Other development indicators for the Philippines were:
· Malnutrition under age 5 averaged about 28 percent from 2000 to 2005, only modestly slowing from 30 percent in 1990-1995
· Elementary school completion rate increased to 97 percent as of 2005 from 86 percent in 1991.
· Ratio of female to male enrolments in elementary and high school was 106 in 2005 compared with 104 in 1991.
· Mortality rate of children below age 5 per 1,000 births fell to 33 in 2005 from 63 in 1990.
Detailed Picture
Through data, WDI 2007 provides a detailed picture of the world.
It includes, for example, information on health expenditures, on transport and other infrastructure services, on the quality of public sector management, on internet access, on access to improved water resources, and on carbon dioxide emissions.
The World Bank has used performance assessments of governments as a basis for allocating funds on easy terms since mid-1970s.
In the annual Country Policy and Institutional Assessments, or CPIA, bank staff evaluated country policies and institutions covering four main clusters – economic management, structural policies, policies for social inclusion and equity, and public sector management and institutions.
WDI 2007 listed the most recent CPIA data for the 76 countries eligible to receive grants or credits from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s funding arm for the poorest countries.
CPIA indicators measure the extent to which a country’s policy and institutional framework supports sustainable growth and poverty reduction and consequently, the effective use of development assistance.
The 11th edition of the WDI looked at countries that have done unusually well over the past decade. It found strong performers in all regions, with notably fast growth per GDP per capita among many states of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
Worrying
But it also found that the countries with highest rates of under-mortality a decade ago had, on average, made the slowest reduction in mortality.
“These results are worrying”, said Alan Gelb, World Bank director of development policy. “The fact that under-5 mortality is 15 times higher in low income countries than in wealthy ones is a stark example of how far we still need to go”.
The World Bank acknowledged that international comparisons of poverty estimates both conceptual and practical problems as countries have different definitions of poverty.
Local poverty lines tend to have higher purchasing power in rich countries, where more generous standards were used, than in poor countries.
Citing national benchmarks in the Philippines as of survey year 1997, for instance, the World Bank report said the percentage of the population below the poverty line was 36.8 percent.
Rural areas had a higher poverty rate of 50.7 percent compared with 21.5 percent in urban areas.
Environmentally Friendly Natural Raw Materials
and Care Labels
Our products are made from environmentally friendly indigenous natural raw material sources that are unique and unusual, and individually handcrafted by skilled craft workers using traditional methods.
Abaca - Bamboo - Bariw - Buri - Forest Nito Vine - Piña – Raffia
Different grades of Abaca,
pina and raffia fibres Warping Frame
  
Selected fibres are hand knotted individually to form
a long continuous strand ready for the weaving loom.
Abaca
Abaca fibre is extracted from the stalk of the abaca plant, a variety of the banana plant, the musa textiles, which is known worldwide as Manila hemp. The abaca plant takes about 18 months to 2 years to mature and become ready for fibre processing. Subsequent harvests are done at 3-4 months interval as longer than this would yield fibre of inferior quality. The processing of abaca fibre is presently done by hand, by extracting the fibres from the trunk of the plant.
The trunk of the mature abaca plant is cut from the base above the root to the top just below the leaves and then peeled of its outer skin and then it is placed in to a hand extraction machine that is made up of a wooden plank and serrated knives. The clamped trunk is hand pulled through this contraption to remove the fleshy resinous material from the fibres. The fibres are then sun dried to whiten the fibres and once dried they are grouped according to thickness as only the fine and the very fine fibres are used in weaving the abaca cloth.
The selected fibres are hand knotted individually to form one long continuous strand and the fibres are then warped and mounted into the loom. The weft is prepared by winding the abaca fibres onto a bamboo bobbin, which are then ready for hand weaving. A black cloth is placed beneath the loom to help the weaver to see the fibres.
 
Knotted abaca fibres are hand woven on an upright wooden loom.
The most commonly used devices in abaca fibre extraction are the hand-hagotan and the spindle-stripping machine. The hand-hagotan is made up of a knife, a rest or base and a weight to keep the movable part firmly in position during stripping. The tuxies or leafsheath splits are inserted between the blade and the block, with the basal and towards the stripper at a point about a foot from the base. The foot pedal is then released clamping the tuxy firmly in between. The tuxy is then pulled away from the knife with full force with both hands clasping the tuxy which is wound around a pulling aid. Spindle stripping is a mechanised hand-hagotan with an estimated output that is ten times faster than hand stripping (120 to 190 kg per day). Fibre recovery, ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 per cent. Proper drying techniques contribute to the quality of the fibre, its cleanliness and helps prolong shelf life. After drying the fibres are classified and knotted.
Prior to weaving the abaca fibres are warped using a warping machine. When the warping process is finished the warp is mounted into the loom and is inserted into a string harness and in the weaving reed. The weft is prepared by winding the abaca fibre on the bamboo bobbin. During the winding process, sand is placed over the bunch of knotted fibres to act as a counter weight with a black cloth beneath the loom to be able to visibly check the fine strand of the fibre clearly. The bobbin is then placed on the wooden shuttle and the weaving process starts. Silk or pina fibre can also be combined with the abaca fibre.
The finished product is abaca cloth, which can be used in the manufacturing for placemats and table linens, cushions, scarves, bags and picture frames among others and to make it more elegant, embroidery can be added.
For coloured cloth, dyeing can be done either before or after weaving and does not change the quality of the cloth. Whether dyed or natural, the woven cloth is pounded to bring out the shine before it is finished into cushions, curtains or bags.
CARE LABEL
Since Abaca cloth is very fine, it should be hand-washed using mild soap and drip-dried and should not be rubbed or twisted. Dry cleaning is another convenient way of maintaining it. It is not advisable but, if machine-washed, only on a gentle cycle for a short time.
The Bamboo
Introduction. Plant is how the bamboo has been described and this characteristic is apparently the basis for the numerous uses to which it has been put and how its role in projecting rural scenes in local landscape has been romanticised. The bamboo is truly prized for its versatility and beauty.
Bamboo grows in areas at sea level and up to 3,200 meters above depending on the species. Universally, bamboo can be found naturally in all continents except Europe and North America. They are naturally distributed in the tropical, sub-tropical and mild temperate zones, occurring more in the tropical belt.
Bamboo can be found in settled as well as forested areas growing along river banks and streams, hillsides, domestic gardens and plantations.
Bamboo grows within 40 degrees on either side of the equator particularly in the area of the Tropic of Cancer on the northern side and in the Tropic of Capricorn on the southern side. Altitude affects the distribution of bamboo with respect to form or type. The sympodial or clump-forming type, predominate in areas of low and medium altitude. The monopodial bamboo or those growing singly are abundant in places of high elevation. Bamboo generally grows well in places with temperature ranging from 9 degrees celcius to 36. Moisture in the soil is very important for the vegetative growth of bamboo and during the dry season when moisture is low, the bamboo adapts by shedding the leaves to reduce transpiration. Bamboo grows best in well-drained sandy loam to clay loam soil with a Ph of 5.0 to 6.5, which has good drainage and aeration.
The Philippines has approximately 62 species of erect bamboo and 19 climbing species but very few species however, have proved commercially important.
The climbing bamboo has a stem that elongates like vine. It is strictly sylvan or found only in forested and over-logged areas.
The erect bamboo species are of two types:
1 Sympodial or clump-forming, which has rhizomes that elongate upward emerging close together to each other on the ground, forming clumps.
2 Monopodial or occurring singly, which have rhizomes that creep underground and emerge from each other becoming single culms.
Uses of bamboo, once looked upon as a lowly plant and called a poor man’s timber because of its widespread use in rural constructions, has gained greater importance through the years.
The bamboo culm is also a popular material for craft items and furniture especially now that the supply of wood and rattan is becoming uncertain making these materials more expensive and their end products becoming inaccessible to the majority of local consumers. The Philippine exports bamboo furniture to the United States, some European countries and other Asian countries.
The following is a list of the common uses of bamboo.
1 Construction, a) homes, b) fencing, c) bridges, d) scaffolding, e) concrete reinforcement
2 Furniture
3 Handicrafts
4 Toys
5 Musical instruments
6 Farm tool handles, e.g. sickle, scythe
7 Shipping containers
8 Water pipes
9 Fish pens and traps
10 Outrigger of banca
11 Raw material for pulp and paper
12 Strips thinned for tying purposes
13 Food. The bamboo shoot is pickled or cooked into a variety of dishes
GROWTH AND MATURITY
Height and diameter
Depending on the species, bamboo grows very fast to a height of up to over 30 meters and diameter of up to 20 centimetres, sometimes elongating by as much as 60cm in one day.
Increase in size
The full diameter of the bamboo culm is attained when it is only a few inches high. Unlike the woody stem, the bamboo culm, does not have a cambium, which is responsible for the increase in diameter. This is because the procambium cells formed near the growing tips change entirely into the permanent tissues of xylem and phloem, leaving none in the meristematic or growing condition. Increase in diameter results from enlargement of the cells of the permanent tissues but this soon ceases.
The culm continues to increase in length up to some point because of the continued growth of the primary meristems and is why the culm is long and slender.
Maturity
Studies on the culm growth kauayan tinik, a commercial bamboo species, show that it attains its full height in approximately five months.
After attaining full growth, bamboo hardens and matures in 2 to 5 years and is best harvested when 3 years old for maximum utilisation in furniture and construction.
Structure of the bamboo culm
The bamboo culm belongs to the grass family and has no bark but is smooth, straight, jointed and hollow but in some species it is almost solid near the base.
The outer layer or epidermis is covered with a waxy substance called cutin which prevents water loss and has silica deposits which make the culm impervious to moisture and serve as a protective covering and improve the durability of the culm.
Just beneath the outer exposed layer are two to four layers of sclerenchyma cells and together, form the rind of the culm. Chloroplasts are present in some of the cells, which impart the green colour and help with manufacture of food.
At present, bamboo is better appreciated for other uses such as furniture and handicrafts and as a construction material especially in the rural areas. Pulp and paper mills nowadays, primarily use abaca, which has better pulping and papermaking properties than bamboo or waste paper mixed with imported pulp.
Bariw
Pandanus copelandii (Botanical description)
Pandanus copelandii reaches a height of 3 to 9 meters and the leaves to about 2 to 3 meters long by 5 to 8 centimetres wide with spines along the margins, which are coarse and near the tip. The fruit forms a cylindrical head 7 to 12 centimetres long and 5 to 7 centimetres across. Three to five heads grow on the fruit stalk, which are pale yellow but they soon turn red. It is claimed that bariw fibres are tougher than those from oyango.
Geographic distribution
This species is widely distributed at low and medium altitudes from Northern Luzon to Southern Luzon in the North of The Philippines.
Industrial uses
Bariw leaves are used for making coarse mats and baskets.
Buri
Scientific name – Corypha Elata Roxb
Raffia fibre is gleaned from the leaves of the buri tree, a kind of palm (Talipot palm), which produces three kinds of fibres, the buri, raffia and buntal.
The buri palm is found all over The Philippines and grows both in low and up land and when allowed to grow to its full height, it can reach 40 meters tall. Propagation is by seed and the palm can live to about 30 years and it is only when it is about to die that it flowers and produces seeds.
To be able to germinate, the hard outer covering must be removed. In the wild this is achieved either through rotting or passing through the alimentary canal of some animal. Few people deliberately plant the buri palm and any products harvested from the buri depend on wild plants.
The palm has many uses and depending on which part of the plant and the age, at which it is gathered, yields midrib for furniture, whole leaf for baskets and mats, vascular bundles for bags and epidermis for dolls and woven material.
Fully mature leaves yield midribs for furniture and buntal fibre for hats by scraping the leaf from the midrib and after the midrib is cleaned and dried it is tied to a frame to make furniture like peacock and barrel chairs. The petiole of the fully mature leaf contains strong vascular bundles, which are extracted by removing the skin of the petiole to expose the bundles, which are boiled and then soaked in water to make them white and this is commercially called buntal fibre.
 resized.JPG) Tissue box made from buri
The unopened leaf can be treated and worked in two ways. Firstly, the whole leaf can be separated from the midrib and after treatment, cut into strips called buri, which can be hand woven into bags, hats and placemats. Secondly, after the leaf is separated from the midrib, the lower and upper epidermis is separated from each other. The lower epidermis, called ‘yapnis’ in Aklan, is soft and relatively easy to dye, while the upper epidermis, called ‘kis-kis’, is thick and stiff and does not absorb dye as readily as the yapnis. ‘Yapnis’ and ‘kis-kis’ together are called raffia.
When used whole, raffia is called raffia fibre in the local market and when the fibre is combed into very fine strips and woven, it is called raffia roll.
Splitting the leaf to expose the fibres
Combing the fibres into fine strips
Producing raffia roll involves many steps, which after combining the fibre called ‘kusi’, is knotted end to end and takes one person 2 weeks to knot enough kusi to make a roll 10 yards long and 27 inches wide. After the knotting, the fibre is warped, which takes about 2 to 3 hours and then it is placed into the loom. Loom dressing can then take as much as one or two days and an expert weaver can finish a natural roll, 360” x 27” in about two and half days.
Raffia roll can made into place mats and table runners, lampshades and hats and bags and can also be used to cover boxes, picture frames, mirrors and desk sets.
Handmade Paper of Abaca and Salago Fibres
The handmade paper is manufactured from indigenous materials using friendly methods and materials, utilising 100% non-woodpulp materials in the product line from the start and dyed using biodegradable components, used for gift items and decorative accents.
The bulk of raw materials used are vegetable fibres from bushes or herbs supplemented by agricultural by-products like rice straw and banana plant stalks to provide variety in texture and accent.
 
The two main fibres used in our paper line-up are abaca and salago. The salago (Wikstroemia spp.) is gleaned from the salago bush, a sturdy shrub that that can withstand droughts or floods and is abundant throughout the Philippines. All four species are used for our papers. It provides excellent durability and is used routinely in the manufacture of currency and security paper, stencils, fishing lines and nets and even Japanese sliding doors (shoji) and kimonos. The bark, from which the paper is made, is extracted by either hand-stripping it from the stem or steaming it, to separate it from the pith.
Abaca fibre is gleaned from the herb called abaca (musa textilis) or manila hemp and has proven its strength and durability through time as the traditional material used in heavy duty ropes and sacks. It is also woven into both coarse and fine fabrics for use in handicraft as well as for Filipino traditional formal apparel.
Sinamay
Sinamay is abaca fibre woven into a delicate translucent fibre and hand-embroidered for use as decorative accents and in formal gowns and the local formal men’s apparel in The Philippines called barong tagalog.
Forest Nito Vine
Family name: Schizaeaceae
Genus: Lygodium
Four species of nito grow in The Philippines and all are known for their vine stems, which are used for basket and hat production and the most common and widely known and used among these species is Lygodium circinatum.
Description
Nito is a climbing, slender fern belonging to the Schizaeaceae family and it is actually the leaf that climbs.
Location
This climbing fern is very common in The Philippines at low and medium altitudes and grows over shrubs and high into trees and prefers shady places not directly exposed to the sun, such as forests and is most often found close to springs and streams.
Harvest
Nito is easy to grow from shoots of neighbouring vines and is harvested from the age of six months onwards by pulling out the root re-growth will be thinner, if the vine is cut and the colour at this age is green, which darkens to brown and eventually black, as the vine gets older.
Harvested Forest Nito Vine
Usage
Nito was traditionally used for baskets to collect vegetables and fruits and also as decoration on bamboo and buri baskets.
Today nito basket ware is highly valued for its fine spliced weaving and natural colour variations and weavers apply their traditional skills and materials to contemporary designs for tableware and home accessories.
Piña
Ananas comosus (Linn) Merr
Bromeliaceae
Pineapple
Pina fibre is extracted from the leaves of a pineapple plant known scientifically as Ananas Comosus Merr and the native or ‘Red Spanish’ variety particularly, have leaves that yield excellent fibres for hand weaving, which are harvested 24 months after planting.
The leaves of some varieties of pina reach two meters in length and plants developed for fibre production have only small sour fruits which are cut from the plants before ripening.
Pina plant of the Red Spanish variety…
characterised by small fruit with long leaves
Pineapple fibres are off-white and soft and fine and as human hair. The extraction of the fibres is a lengthy process and requires an experienced hand. Traditional methods involve scraping the resinous part of the leaf from the fibres with pottery shards and tools made of coconut hull.
Pina fibre is hand extracted from the leaves of mature Ppina plant.
 
After scraping off the top flesh of the leaf the fibres are
slowly pulled out to separate them from the rest of the leaf.
Selected pina fibres are individually separated and tied to a stick…
and then painstakingly knotted end to end.
Prior to weaving, the pina fibres are warped using a warping machine and then mounted onto the loom the warp and inserted into the string harness and in the weaving reed. The weft is prepared by winding the pina fibre on the bamboo bobbin. During the winding process, sand is placed over the bunch of knotted fibres to act as a counter weight with a black cloth beneath the loom to be able to visibly check the fine strand of the fibre clearly. The bobbin is then placed on the wooden shuttle and the weaving process starts. Silk or abaca fibre can also be combined with the pina fibre.
  Knotted pina fibres are hand woven on an upright wooden loom.
The knotted pina fibres are hand woven on an upright wooden loom and the finished product is pina cloth, which can be used as material for clothes, table linens, scarves and hankies among others and to make it more elegant, embroidery can be added.
It is a strong fabric when woven, and can last a hundred years and it is considered as the cloth of love because it requires tender patience and utmost care to weave the cloth.
Natural |
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