Bamboo is a plant that occurs over much of the World. It is probable that billions of the World’s population see, eat and touch bamboo every day. Bamboo contributes significantly to the income generation of many poor farmers. Yet it is an “orphan” crop – largely ignored by the main landholding agencies – forestry and agriculture. This volume contains most of the papers presented at the joint Fifthth International Bamboo Congress and Sixth International Bamboo Workshop held in San José, Costa Rica, 1998, organized by the International Bamboo Association (IBA) and INBAR. The book is divided into four parts: Bamboo Resources and Socio-economics; Bamboo Propagation and Management; Bamboo Engineering and Construction; Bamboo Design and Utilization. The topics covered include varied aspects of bamboo, such as: from bamboo resources of Mexico to bamboos of Ethiopia; from bamboo afforestation of a mined area to bamboo as a food and fiber alternative in an island; from bamboo drippers to bamboo wheelchairs; from teaching architecture with bamboo to an international building code for bamboo; from silviculture of Guadua bamboo to flowering of Moso bamboo; and many more. This publication serves to highlight the usefulness of bamboo in aiding developing countries in their sustainable social, economic and environmental development.