BILAR, Philippines - The central Philippine province of Bohol is embracing bamboo, a traditional material used in construction and handicrafts, as part of efforts to promote sustainable tourism and improve local livelihoods.
In the southern town of Bilar, a bamboo-themed park that opened in October 2023 offers visitors the chance to stroll along a bamboo walkway, dine at an open-air restaurant built and furnished with bamboo, and sample bamboo shoots served on bamboo plates.
"When guests come here, they appreciate the food. In terms of the property, they get amazed because of the bamboo structure and the architectural design. And they feel it's cooler here, because we are surrounded by bamboo," said Jocelyn Suarez, the general manager of the Kinaiyahan Forest Park.
The privately run park, home to 45,000 bamboo plants comprising 40 varieties, also features a House of Art where visitors can watch craftsmen making furniture and other items from bamboo.
Plans are also underway to establish a center to develop bamboo materials for construction and other purposes, Suarez said.
Arnold Labunog, 65, a co-owner of the park and an engineer, said he and his family bought a 17-hectare property in 2018 where bamboo was already growing in abundance. They developed it into a bamboo-themed attraction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Because we grew up in the countryside, we'd like to develop this place just like the one where we used to play before - with many trees and just nature, and with ricefields...We grew up using bamboo," Labunog said, adding the house where his family used to live had floors and walls made of bamboo.
His brothers, Eduardo and Rodrigo, also helped inspire the concept after separately visiting the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove in Kyoto, Japan.
"My brother (Eduardo) was very surprised that it's just bamboo all around, yet there were so many tourists" in the ancient Japanese capital's bamboo tunnel, he said.
Labunog, who also serves on a public-private council promoting the bamboo industry in cooperation with the provincial and central governments, stressed the advantages of bamboo, which grows quickly and has a wide range of uses.
Bohol was designated the Philippines' first UNESCO Global Geopark in 2023 in recognition of its internationally significant geological heritage.
The island province is known for attractions including the hundreds of cone-shaped Chocolate Hills, which turn brown during the dry season, and tarsiers, among the world's smallest primates. It is also home to around 50 species of bamboo, according to the United Bohol Bamboo Advocates, Inc.
"Our tourism is all nature-based. We don't have much of, like, theme parks, casinos, entertainment parks...So we focus on community-based, nature-based activities," said Joanne Pinat, Bohol's chief tourism officer.
To promote bamboo as a sustainable material that can support local livelihoods and help combat climate change, the province has been providing training on its various uses and distributing bamboo seedlings, Pinat said.
Another project embracing bamboo as an environmentally friendly construction material is taking shape in the provincial capital of Tagbilaran, where work began in January on a bamboo church aimed at attracting religious tourists.
The project to rebuild St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church aims to demonstrate that properly treated bamboo can be a high-quality construction material.
Erven Digal, the architect behind the project, said bamboo's strength can be compared with that of steel.
"After the earthquake (that hit Bohol in 2013), I studied bamboo, bamboo architecture. The first project that we did was on Pamilacan Island. It is a resort type made of bamboo, like, 80 percent of the resort is made of bamboo," Digal said.
He said he has since refined his approach to bamboo architecture through research, practical experience and collaboration with engineers.
An estimated 60,000 pieces of locally sourced bamboo will be used to build the church, which will stand 35 meters tall and accommodate at least 1,500 people, Digal said.
He is working with local priests and the United Bohol Bamboo Advocates organization on the project, which they hope will produce the Philippines' first bamboo church.
Bamboo will also be planted around the church, not only for landscaping but also to provide materials for future maintenance of the building, Digal said.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2028, although the church community has yet to secure the estimated 60 million pesos ($936,000) needed to fund the project.
Gerardo Saco, a priest serving the Cabawan neighborhood of Tagbilaran, said he hopes to raise funds through donations from local residents and the sale of burial niches in a planned columbarium on the church grounds.
"When we had discussions that if we erect a new, bigger church here, (we said) 'let's make it different from the other churches here in Bohol, and let's adopt the "nature" theme,'" Saco said.
Saco said the project reflects Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical calling for environmental protection. He hopes the church "becomes an eco-tourism site or one of the destinations of all tourists."
