In the hills, valleys, and forests of Nepal, bamboo thrives tall, flexible, and abundant. With over 50 native species flourishing across the country, particularly in the eastern region, bamboo is not just a plant; it is an essential part of rural life, tradition, and ecology. From the woven mats in kitchens to scaffolding on building sites, bamboo has quietly supported Nepali livelihoods for centuries.
Despite this, bamboo has remained largely underutilized at the national level dismissed by modern policies, overlooked in building codes, and rarely promoted in government-led environmental strategies. Yet, this humble grass has the potential to reshape Nepal’s environmental, economic, and social future.
With its fast-growing nature, deep soil-binding roots, and remarkable carbon absorption capacity, bamboo offers solutions to many of Nepal’s most pressing challenges soil erosion, landslides, plastic waste, and rural unemployment. Countries across Asia including India, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines have already made bamboo a pillar of sustainable development. Nepal, despite its ecological potential, continues to lag behind. But that may be changing slowly, and at a great cost.
From February 27 to March 1, 2025, the quiet municipality of Diktel in Khotang District, Province 1, made history by hosting Nepal’s First National Bamboo Conference. Under the leadership of Mayor Tirtha Raj Bhattarai, this remote hill town became a national stage for one of nature’s most overlooked resources.
Artisans and vendors from across the country arrived with their wares woven trays, baskets, mats, agricultural tools, furniture, bamboo-infused wines, natural creams, and more. The conference was not merely a marketplace; it was a declaration. Bamboo was not a material of the past, but a solution for the future.
Experts, architects, engineers, environmentalists, scholars, and government officials gathered for presentations and panel discussions exploring bamboo’s potential in construction, climate resilience, and economic empowerment. It culminated in the publication of the National Bamboo Rattan Development Strategy 2081, approved by the Government of Nepal and launched by the Ministry of Forest and Environment. The mood was hopeful. A green movement had found momentum driven by local leadership and grounded in native knowledge.
But the seeds of this movement were sown much earlier. Back in July 2024, before the bamboo conference even began, Mayor Bhattarai and his municipal team had submitted an official letter to multiple ministries in Kathmandu. The letter outlined a set of critical demands a sixteen-point agenda addressing the immediate integration of bamboo into Nepal’s National Building Code, the introduction of a National Bamboo Mission, climate change action, the declaration of Khotang as the bamboo capital of Nepal, limitations on plastic use, polluter accountability, environmental justice, and more.
Khotang, positioned at the foothills of the Everest region, is increasingly vulnerable to melting snowcaps, landslides, and environmental instability. The municipality called for urgent government action to protect its fragile ecosystems and empower its people. But the response from Kathmandu was silence.
For over a year, letters were written, meetings requested, and reminders sent. But the central government, bound in bureaucratic rigidity, failed to issue even a single written assurance.
On July 27, 2025, Mayor Bhattarai arrived at Maitighar Mandala in Kathmandu, launching a peaceful sit-in protest. He warned that if the government did not issue a formal written response to his demands by July 29, he would begin a fast-unto-death.
When no such response came, he began his hunger strike on July 30.
The sixteen points he put forth included the immediate integration of bamboo into Nepal’s national building code, the launch of a National Bamboo Mission, declaring Khotang as the bamboo capital of Nepal, large-scale plantation of bamboo and other fast-growing native trees, government recognition of climate risks and immediate action, advocating for climate justice at COP30, reduction in plastic usage through refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover principles, and studies on reusing abandoned forest wood.
Other demands called for critical environmental studies before any development project, mandatory use of bamboo and natural fiber furniture in government offices, compensation for victims of wildlife conflict, protection from wild animals,preservation of local crafts, upgrading rural roads, follow-up on the outcomes of the first bamboo festival, and identification and support for sustainable initiatives.
By the evening of July 30, Bhattarai collapsed due to critically low blood pressure and was rushed to Bir Hospital, where he was treated with saline but refused solid food. On the morning of August 1, regaining consciousness and strength, he returned to Maitighar, determined to continue his fast.
Despite visits from various ministry representatives, no official written assurance had been provided. As his fast continued into several days, the mayor’s solitary stand began to stir the nation’s conscience. Civil society groups, student unions, climate activists, and members of the public gathered at Maitighar in solidarity. Many saw in Bhattarai not just a mayor fighting for bamboo, but a symbol of local voices silenced by national neglect.
“There’s no shortage of bamboo in Nepal,” said a Khotang-based artisan present at the protest. “What’s missing is leadership with vision. We have the raw material, the craftsmanship, and the need. Why are we not acting?”
In other parts of Asia, bamboo has become central to housing, disaster-resistant infrastructure, biodegradable packaging, and even biofuels. In Nepal, despite immense potential, bamboo remains peripheral an oversight now at the heart of this growing protest.
On August 3, 2025, around 6 p.m., after a cabinet meeting, Forest and Environment Minister Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri and Health Minister Pradip Poudel, along with several high-ranking officials from the Forest and Urban Planning Ministries — including Dr. Rajendra KC, Dr. Buddhi Sagar Poudel, and Narayan Prasad Mainali — signed a 16-point agreement with Mayor Tirtha Raj Bhattarai.
The hunger strike was finally over as the government issued a formal commitment to the mayor’s demands. Supporters of Mayor Bhattarai celebrated, with many calling it a historic day in Nepal’s bamboo movement.
Mayor Bhattarai’s condition had been deteriorating every day, but his vow to continue until his sixteen-point agenda was formally acknowledged remained unbroken. His fast — and his win — he says, is not just for Khotang, but for every Nepali municipality denied the ability to protect its people and environment due to outdated centralized systems.
Finally, the mayor has won. But has he won only for now? Time will tell. The federal government now has 45 days to act. Either it moves swiftly to honor this moment and respond with the seriousness it deserves, or it risks letting a historic opportunity slip away.
What began in the hills of Khotang as a celebration of bamboo and self-reliance has now become a turning point for a sustainable Nepal. Whether the government will act in time or let this heroic effort fade into memory — we can only wait and see.