Growing the sustainable Indonesian Bamboo industry through value added products

  Geography

Indonesia (HQ), South East Asia

  Sector

Forestry

Company overview

PT Indobamboo Lestari (IBL) is a manufacturing company producing engineered bamboo products. The company works with a non-profit organization, aiming to create partnerships with village-level bamboo communities in Indonesia to secure its bamboo supply. IBL is pioneering the use of bamboo in Indonesia as a rapidly renewable timber source through a unique engineered bamboo lamination process. The company has signed a 5-year offtake agreement with a global furniture manufacturer, and is raising funds to operationalize the capacity commitment. Over the last 2 years, the company has been working with a multinational offtaker to develop a production line designed to meet international standards of quality, price, and volume. Successful completion of this investment round and subject to meeting certain milestones will also unlock further pre-approved debt financing from the Dutch Fund for Climate & Development (DFCD).

Impact

• Alleviate rural poverty and increase gender equality. Through the expansion, Indobamboo plans to employ 840 people at the forest to factory semi-processing level;
• Reduce global warming by promoting forest growth and restoring land. Together with the Environmental Bamboo Foundation (EBF), Indobamboo is establishing a sustainable bamboo agroforestry system in “bamboo villages”. These villages will supply the bamboo poles to the company. Through the capacity expansion and increased bamboo sourcing requirements, the company expects to sequester 200 kilotons of CO2e and restore 4,000 hectares of degraded land.