Bamboo is very versatile. In addition to being edible, it can also be made into baskets, chairs, bags, and beautiful crafts. But did you know that the air in the bamboo forest can be sold for money? 

Anji in Zhejiang Province has a wealth of bamboo forests stretching back for thousands of years, so much so that it has been known as the "bamboo township" since ancient times. It is a name well-deserved; from the ground, the bamboo is so dense that it is hard for the sunshine to penetrate, and from above, the mountain looks like a plush green carpet that goes on forever.

Yang Zhongyong, 68, is a native of Anji. He has been working roughly 68.6 hectares of bamboo forest since 1995 and is well-known as a major bamboo forest contractor.

However, this year business experienced a setback. Typhoons and flash floods destroyed roads in the forest, and according to Yang, repairs would take at least 200,000 yuan (about $27,726). Before, in order to get the contract for the bamboo forest, Yang borrowed money from his relatives and friends, and he currently has a one million yuan loan at the bank. Where would the money for the road repair come from? 

Yang was very worried until he heard something new from his local bank. Zhang Wei, an account manager at Yang's bank, told him that he could get a loan from the bank based on the air in his bamboo forest. 

Air can also be used as a mortgage; this is the first time Yang had heard of such a thing in his life. However, that was precisely what happened. 

The bank calculated the carbon emission reduction based bamboo forest contracted to Yang and determined that it could provide a loan of 371,900 yuan to Yang, almost double the minimum estimate to fix the forest road.

How was this possible? By leveraging something called a carbon sink.

Carbon sink refers to the process of absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide through afforestation, vegetation restoration and other measures to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. By purchasing carbon sink targets, polluters can achieve carbon neutrality and win a buffer period for emission reduction.

People with carbon sinks, like Yang, can earn income by selling carbon sinks. On July 16, 2021, the high-profile national carbon market officially began to trade online. Bamboo forests and the air in the woods can all be traded.

However, it is not a simple matter to turn the invisible and intangible air in the bamboo forest into a tradable carbon sink resource. It requires a scientifically rigorous, measurable and generally recognized standard. For this reason, Shi Yongjun and his team from Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University began research in 2002. They established the world's first bamboo forest flux tower, which conducted continuous observations around the clock for 10 years.

From a bamboo leaf to a bamboo forest, they collected all-round values, including the growth value of the bamboo forest and the monitoring of carbon dioxide emissions. Through the collection and analysis of these data, they finally calculated the carbon sink of each mu (about 0.66 hectares) of bamboo forest.

It is through the calculation of this methodology that Yang obtained a loan of 370,000 yuan with the air in the bamboo forest. Yang, who has already tasted the sweetness of the air loan, is full of confidence in the future of the bamboo forest. Shi is also very pleased with the success of the bamboo forest carbon sink transaction.

"Bamboo is a sustainable plant resource and a constant source of green wealth," Wang Jingxin said, a professor at Zhejiang University. "The first bamboo forest carbon sink pledge loan was issued, and its innovative practice has enabled bamboo forest operators to combine quality and sink enhancement with income generation, promoting the monetization as well as the formation of bamboo forest carbon sink industry."

The cumulative turnover of the national carbon market exceeded 800 million yuan. With the improvement of the mechanism and local buy in, the future of China's carbon market looks bright.

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