This year’s International Conference on Bamboo will be sponsored by Funbambu in San Jose, Costa Rica and is our first stop on this bamboo adventure!

In 1986 the National Project of Bamboo was established by Architect Ana Cecilia Chaves in response to the overexploitaiton of timber combined with the lack of rural housing in Costa Rica. In 1996 this national project became a foundation and changed it’s name to Funbambu. Mrs. Chaves is now the director of this non-profit organization which is supported by several organizations such as the Banco Centroamericano de Integracion Economia (BCIE), HABITAT, el Programa de Naciones Unidas para Desarrollo (PNUD), and the governments of Costa Rica and the Netherlands.

The main goal of Funbambu is to introduce bamboo to Costa Rica as a sustainable alternative to timber, to add jobs to the country, and to use the bamboo to supply the rural poor with housing. According to the Costa Rican government, 25% of families in Costa Rica have serious housing problems. In order to meet this need, 24,000 houses would have to be built each year. To date, Funbambu has provided over 3,000 of the neediest families with low-cost and durable bamboo houses. Some of these houses are located in Limon, where in 1991 an earthquake which rated 7.6 on the Richter scale destroyed many homes. However, not one of the thirty bamboo houses were destroyed (Bambusetum, 1996). This reinforces the fact that Bamboo houses are durable and flexible enough to withstand harsh conditions.

Altogether, Funbambu has 310 hectares of Guadua spp spread out in different sites in Costa Rica. We took a trip to several of these sites including Guapiles, Arenal, Quepos, and other bamboo related locations in Limon and San Isidro. We will introduce you to each site and explore what each has to offer to bamboo enthusiasts, as well as, a little historical information about each town, main attractions, and accommodations.