Bamboo and rattan have been variously described as ‘vegetal steel’, ‘green gold’ and ‘the wise man’s timber’. These plants combined have over 10,000 individual uses, providing a varied and sustainable source of income to people who harvest or make products from them. They are important resources, used for everything from poverty reduction to sustainable construction and economic development. But not only that – bamboo and rattan can also provide crucial ecosystem services. Bamboo can restore severely degraded soil, and at the same time sequester significant amounts of carbon at a very high rate. This event represents a great opportunity for business leaders, governmental officials, and leaders of international organisations to share their experiences and discuss how using bamboo to restore degraded land can create opportunities for socio-economic development, and especially how China has become a world leader in the bamboo industry. TED-like storytellers will share worldwide case studies on using bamboo for land restoration and bamboo enterprise development.