Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V.
Bamboo Against Plastic Waste and Microplastics
A solution is taking root in The Gambia — with the potential to make a difference far beyond its borders.
Our plastic pollution project uses bamboo, education and practical local action to reduce plastic waste and microplastics while developing sustainable solutions with the potential for wider global impact.
The Bamboo Foundation Gambia Is Already Taking Action
The Bamboo Foundation Gambia is not a project that exists only on paper. It is already working on the ground, with local leadership, practical initiatives and a clear mission: to establish bamboo as a sustainable resource in The Gambia — creating opportunities for environmental protection, skills development, income and long-term local progress.
Our Mission
Bamboo Against Plastic Waste. Local Action in The Gambia. Global Impact.
Plastic waste does not stay where it is discarded. Over time, it breaks down, finds its way into soils, rivers and oceans, and becomes part of a global microplastics problem.
Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. supports the Bamboo Foundation Gambia in building a practical, locally rooted alternative in The Gambia: bamboo.
Bamboo will not replace plastic overnight. But it can grow where new solutions are urgently needed — as a renewable raw material, a source of income, a foundation for skills and training, a way to reduce pollution, and an opportunity to create cleaner communities.
Led by bamboo expert Jens Poppe, Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. brings together specialist knowledge, a strong organisational framework, international support and hands-on project work in The Gambia.
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Become a Supporting Member
Become a Partner
Why This Work Matters
Plastic waste is one of the most visible environmental challenges of our time. Where collection and waste-management systems are limited, plastic can end up in the environment, be burned in the open, carried by the wind, or washed into rivers and coastal waters.
Over time, visible plastic waste can break down into invisible microplastics.
That is why every place where plastic can be avoided, collected or replaced with better alternatives matters. The work in The Gambia is local. Its impact reaches far beyond.
Less plastic waste in The Gambia can mean:
Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V.
Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. was established to provide reliable, long-term support for this work from Germany.
The association raises awareness, mobilises donations, builds partnerships and helps make the work of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia visible, credible and accessible to an international audience — while helping create a stronger foundation for sustainable funding.
Our Role
support specific project components
provide donors and partners with clear points of contact
communicate progress transparently and consistently
contribute expertise, networks and valuable connections
help build reliable, long-term support
The work itself happens in The Gambia.
The support behind it comes from Germany, across Europe and from people who understand one simple truth: plastic pollution and microplastics concern us all.
Help Us Move This Forward
Why Bamboo?
Bamboo is a fast-growing, versatile renewable resource that, when properly managed, can be harvested and processed on a recurring basis.
It can be used for crafts, everyday products, construction, furniture, baskets, cups, plant supports, protective structures and selected alternatives to plastic- and wood-based products.
For The Gambia, bamboo is particularly promising because it can contribute in several ways at once:
Protect the Environment
Bamboo can provide natural alternatives to selected plastic and wood products.
Create Local Opportunities
Growing, maintaining, processing and selling bamboo can open up new sources of income.
Build Skills and Knowledge
Training turns a plant into a practical resource that people can cultivate, process and use.
Reduce Pressure on Natural Wood Resources
Over time, suitable bamboo products can help reduce demand for certain conventional wood products.
Strengthen Communities
When people can propagate, grow, maintain and use bamboo themselves, they gain greater independence and more opportunities to create value locally.
Driven to Make a Difference
From The Gambia. For the World.
Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. provides reliable support from Germany for a practical, locally led bamboo initiative in The Gambia — helping reduce plastic waste, address the growing challenge of microplastics and create new opportunities for people and communities.
“Bamboo represents a real opportunity to me — to reduce plastic waste, create local livelihoods and contribute to sustainable development that reaches far beyond The Gambia.”
“We are not just planting bamboo — we are planting hope, sharing knowledge and creating new opportunities for people in The Gambia to shape their own future with greater strength and independence.”
The personal commitment of Omar Darboe, founder and president of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia, was recognised early on. In 2015, he received a Certificate of Recognition from the YALI Regional Leadership Center West Africa in Accra, acknowledging his dedication to social and economic development and to strengthening the next generation of young leaders.
The Bamboo Foundation Gambia is officially registered for tax purposes in The Gambia. A certificate issued by the Gambia Revenue Authority confirms the organisation’s registration and Taxpayer Identification Number. The certificate was issued in Banjul in 2017.
Jens Poppe – Chairman and Bamboo Expert
Jens Poppe is Chairman of Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V.
For more than 20 years, he has worked with bamboo, bamboo products and the practical applications of this remarkably versatile resource. That experience matters, because successful bamboo projects require far more than good intentions.
They depend on choosing suitable varieties, understanding local conditions, proper cultivation and maintenance, processing methods, quality standards, the right tools, effective training and long-term planning.
Jens Poppe’s support for the Bamboo Foundation Gambia has always been practical as well as personal. His contribution made it possible for the Foundation to purchase its first piece of land — a decisive step in turning an ambitious vision into a permanent project base.
Another example of that hands-on commitment was the donation of a vehicle for the Foundation’s work in The Gambia. Jens Poppe and a friend drove it around 6,500 kilometres from northern Germany to The Gambia to deliver it personally.
This is not symbolic support. It is practical commitment that helps move the work forward.
Omar Darboe – Local Leadership in The Gambia
The driving force on the ground is Omar Darboe, founder and president of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia.
He understands the challenges facing The Gambia from first-hand experience: plastic waste, environmental pollution, pressure on natural resources, limited income opportunities and restricted prospects for many young people and families.
For Omar, bamboo is not a trend. It is a practical tool:
to reduce plastic waste
to help ease pressure on forests
to create opportunities for practical training
to support local income generation
to strengthen communities that want to shape their own future
This is where the strength of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia lies: combining local knowledge, long-term responsibility and a practical approach that can grow together with the people and communities it is designed to serve.
Every Contribution Helps Move the Work Forward
What Your Donation Makes Possible
A donation to Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. helps support practical work on the ground through the Bamboo Foundation Gambia.
Your support can contribute to:
- bamboo seedlings and nursery materials
- irrigation and care for existing bamboo plantings
- tools and essential equipment
- transport and logistics
- training for local groups
- community engagement and environmental education
- clean-up initiatives and plastic-awareness activities
- the first steps towards local bamboo processing
- documentation and transparent communication of project progress
A donation does more than help grow a plant. It helps build the foundations of a system designed to create lasting value — from nurseries to planting, from training to processing, from processing to income opportunities, and from those opportunities to greater long-term local responsibility and independence.
We Need You With Us
Become a Supporting Member
A project like this needs more than one-time donations. It needs reliable, long-term support.
By becoming a supporting member of Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V., you help provide the continuity that makes long-term work possible. Your contribution supports efforts to reduce plastic waste, prevent microplastic pollution and strengthen the work of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia in a way that can be planned, developed and sustained over time.
Supporting membership: €60 per year
That is the equivalent of just €5 per month, paid annually.
Those who would like to contribute more can voluntarily choose a higher annual amount.
Become a Supporting Member
Supporting membership becomes effective once the application has been accepted by the association. The association’s statutes and membership fee regulations apply.
Your Support Can Help Build Something Lasting
If you would like to support our work, become a member or learn more about how you can get involved, please get in touch with us.
We Need Your Support
Please get in touch with us.
Partnerships can be tailored to support specific areas of the work — from a bamboo nursery or training programme to tools, transport, clean-up initiatives, bamboo product development or project reporting.
This is more than an anonymous contribution for the sake of corporate image. It is direct support for a project with local leadership in The Gambia, a reliable organisational structure in Germany, and a mission that addresses challenges of global importance.
We Need Your Support
For Companies, Foundations and Partners
Many organisations talk about sustainability. Here is an opportunity to support it through practical action.
Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. offers companies, foundations and other partners the opportunity to support work that connects environmental progress with social and economic opportunity.
Our work brings together areas such as:
plastic waste reduction
reducing microplastic pollution
renewable raw materials
climate adaptation
soil protection
responsible use of natural resources
local skills and training
opportunities for women
prospects for young people
circular economy approaches
sustainable local value creation
Partners can support specific areas of the project, including:
a bamboo nursery
a series of training programmes
tools and essential equipment
transport and logistics
community clean-up initiatives
bamboo processing and product development
project documentation and impact communication
Serious Support Needs Clear Structures
Transparency Builds Trust
The Bamboo Foundation Gambia is officially registered in The Gambia and works through local structures. Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. strengthens this work with the framework and accountability of a registered German association.
Our commitment is to:
- define clear project goals
- use funds responsibly
- provide regular updates
- communicate openly and honestly
- focus on realistic progress rather than exaggerated promises
People who support our work should be able to understand what their contribution helps make possible.
Help Us Grow What Has Already Begun
The world will not overcome plastic pollution through one big promise. Change happens where people build better systems — in communities, on farms, in workshops, along riverbanks, and through partners willing to invest in solutions for the long term.
The Bamboo Foundation Gambia has already begun.
Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. is helping that work grow:
- greater capacity to build a sustainable future from within
- more bamboo
- less plastic
- more knowledge and skills
- more local opportunities
- cleaner communities
Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. is the German support association for the Bamboo Foundation Gambia.
The association was established to strengthen the work in The Gambia for the long term — through donations, supporting memberships, partnerships, public awareness and reliable backing from Germany and across Europe.
Our goal is clear: to help the Bamboo Foundation Gambia grow beyond individual initiatives and build lasting structures — with bamboo nurseries, training, environmental action, local value creation and practical alternatives to plastic waste.
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The Solution
Change doesn’t start with waste. It starts with people. The Way Forward: Less Plastic. More Bamboo. More Opportunities. Removing plastic from a river matters. Cleaning up a littered roadside matters. A clean-up campaign can visibly transform a place within just a few hours.But if new waste is dumped there again the next day, the cycle…
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The Problem
Plastic Pollution Knows No Borders What enters the environment somewhere today can become a problem for all of us tomorrow. Three goats stand in the middle of the waste, searching for food — and inevitably ingesting plastic along the way. This beach could be beautiful, if it were not for the overwhelming amount of rubbish…
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Give Regularly – Make Lasting Impact Possible
A single donation can make a real difference. Regular support helps us think ahead, plan with greater reliability and implement practical measures step by step. With your recurring donation, you support practical solutions to plastic waste and microplastic pollution while helping us further develop sustainable alternatives using bamboo. The amount you give is not what…
The Chairman of Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. is Jens Poppe, an experienced bamboo expert from Germany.
For more than 20 years, he has worked with bamboo, bamboo products and the practical use of this versatile resource. His commitment to the Bamboo Foundation Gambia goes far beyond theory: among other things, he helped make the Foundation’s first land purchase possible and has personally brought practical support to The Gambia.
Jens Poppe brings exactly what a project like this needs: specialist knowledge, experience, practical judgement and genuine personal commitment.
The Bamboo Foundation Gambia is working to establish bamboo as a sustainable resource in The Gambia.
Its work includes bamboo nurseries, training, planting, environmental education, clean-up initiatives and the first steps towards processing bamboo into practical products.
But this is about more than planting bamboo. It is about giving people locally the knowledge, tools and opportunities to turn bamboo into a long-term source of income, environmental awareness and sustainable local development.
Omar Darboe is the founder and president of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia.
He leads the work on the ground and understands the challenges facing The Gambia from first-hand experience: plastic waste, environmental pollution, limited income opportunities, pressure on natural resources and restricted prospects for many young people.
Omar does not see bamboo as simply a good idea. He sees it as a practical tool — for cleaner communities, skills development, local employment and greater independence.
Plastic does not stay where it is discarded.
Over time, it can break down into microplastics, enter soils and waterways, be ingested by animals and, in some cases, taken up by plants. From there, plastic pollution can reach coastal areas and the ocean — becoming part of a global environmental problem.
When plastic waste in The Gambia is avoided, collected or replaced with better alternatives, the benefits extend far beyond a single community. It helps reduce pollution at its source, before it can spread further through ecosystems and waterways.
That is why local action against plastic pollution is also a matter of global responsibility.
Bamboo grows quickly, is highly versatile and can be cultivated, maintained and processed locally.
It can be used for everyday products, crafts, construction, furniture, baskets, cups, plant supports and selected alternatives to plastic- and wood-based products.
For The Gambia, bamboo is especially promising because it can connect several goals at once: environmental protection, skills development, local employment, income opportunities and reduced dependence on imported or environmentally harmful materials.
Bamboo is not a miracle solution. But it is a practical starting point with significant potential.
The Bamboo Foundation Gambia has already established important foundations for its work in The Gambia: bamboo nurseries, initial plantings, early training initiatives, community engagement, environmental education focused on plastic waste, and local structures designed to support sustainable income opportunities.
The Foundation is officially registered in The Gambia, holds a Taxpayer Identification Number issued by the Gambia Revenue Authority, and has its own project site. This development has been supported in part by bamboo expert Jens Poppe, who made the Foundation’s first land purchase possible and later helped provide a vehicle for its project work in The Gambia.
Local leadership is equally important. Founder and president Omar Darboe was recognised in 2015 by the YALI Regional Leadership Center West Africa for his social commitment. The Foundation is also in professional exchange with the Department of Forestry in The Gambia.
Support therefore does not start from zero. It helps strengthen and expand a structure that is already in place — with more bamboo, less plastic, more training, more local opportunities and greater impact on the ground.
A donation helps where an idea becomes real work — in bamboo nurseries, training programmes, planting, clean-up initiatives and the development of local bamboo processing in The Gambia.
Your support can help provide bamboo seedlings, tools, irrigation, transport, training, nursery materials, environmental education and the first steps in processing bamboo into useful products.
That means you are helping with more than planting bamboo. You are helping reduce plastic waste, prevent microplastic pollution and create practical opportunities for people locally — through knowledge, work, income and sustainable alternatives to disposable products.
A donation to Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. helps build a system designed to keep growing: from seedling to nursery, from training to processing, from processing to local products, and from local products to new opportunities for families and communities.
In short: your donation helps turn bamboo into tangible impact.
Yes. You can become a supporting member of Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. and provide reliable, long-term support for our work.
The standard supporting membership contribution is €60 per year — the equivalent of €5 per month, paid annually.
Supporting membership is especially valuable because it gives the association greater planning security. Bamboo projects take time: seedlings need care, people need training, materials need to be transported, projects need ongoing support, and progress needs to be documented.
By becoming a supporting member, you help strengthen long-term efforts to reduce plastic waste, prevent microplastic pollution and make the work of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia more sustainable, visible and easier to plan.
It turns one-time support into lasting commitment.
A donation is a voluntary contribution. It can be made once or on a recurring basis and helps fund practical project work in The Gambia — such as bamboo seedlings, tools, training, transport, clean-up initiatives, nursery materials and initial processing activities.
A supporting membership provides ongoing support for the German association. It helps Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. plan for the long term, build visibility, develop partnerships and organise reliable support for the work in The Gambia.
Both are essential.
Donations help move specific projects forward.
Supporting memberships give our association stability.
Together, they create the foundation that allows the Bamboo Foundation Gambia to grow beyond individual activities and build lasting structures over time.
Yes. Companies, foundations and other partners can support the work in a targeted way and help fund specific areas of the project.
Possible forms of support include sponsorship of bamboo nurseries, training programmes, tools, transport, clean-up initiatives, bamboo processing, project reporting and longer-term development on the ground.
The project is particularly relevant for partners looking to combine credible environmental and social impact:
- less plastic waste
- less microplastic pollution
- renewable raw materials
- local training and skills development
- sustainable local value creation
- new income opportunities
- practical support in The Gambia
A partnership with Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. is more than an anonymous contribution for corporate image. It supports a concrete project with clear local leadership, visible work on the ground and a German registered association as a reliable point of contact.
This is an important question. Anyone who gives support should know who they are trusting.
The Bamboo Foundation Gambia works directly on the ground with local leadership, its own structures, bamboo nurseries, active project work and its own project site. Its founder and president is Omar Darboe. In Germany, this work is supported by Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V., chaired by bamboo expert Jens Poppe.
The association raises support, develops partnerships and accompanies the work in The Gambia with the aim of making progress understandable and transparent.
Our commitment is simple:
- clearly explain what is needed
- show what support has made possible
- report honestly on what has been achieved
- never claim impact that cannot be demonstrated
Serious support requires trust. And trust is built through real work, clear points of contact and visible progress.
Three Ways You Can Help
There are three ways to support this work:
Donate
Help fund bamboo seedlings, tools, training, transport, clean-up initiatives and practical project work in The Gambia.
Become a Supporting Member
Contribute €60 per year and provide reliable, long-term support for Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V.
Become a Partner
Support larger project areas as a company, foundation or organisation.
Plastic waste does not disappear through good intentions. It disappears where people build better solutions.
The Bamboo Foundation Gambia has already begun that work.
Anyone who wants to see the project for themselves is welcome to learn more about it on the ground in The Gambia. Prospective supporters, donors and partners can also contact Jens Poppe, Chairman of Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V., directly.
Help us grow this work.
Our Mission
Help Turn Bamboo Into Real Change
Plastic waste does not disappear through good intentions. It disappears where people begin building better solutions.
The Bamboo Foundation Gambia has already begun — through bamboo nurseries, training, environmental initiatives, clean-up activities and the development of new local opportunities.
Friends of the Bamboo Foundation Gambia e.V. supports this work from Germany — reliably, transparently and with a long-term perspective.
Your support helps make the next step possible: more seedlings, more training, more tools, cleaner communities and more opportunities for people in The Gambia.
Support work that begins locally — and matters globally.