nmbmesia@gmail.com

Nicole (Nicky) Bunga is French, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she has been involved in bamboo activities since 2012, and more actively since 2016. More specifically, her father hails from the Province of Mai-Ndombe (Black Water), with its capital Inongo, formerly a private domain of the Belgian Crown, and her mother is from the Provinces of North Ubangi and Mongala. These three provinces are rich in bamboo, but it remains underexploited and underutilized. Active within the World Bamboo Organization since 2016, she was appointed World Bamboo Ambassador in March 2018, discovered by Susanne Lucas in February at the Azpitia Workshop in Peru.

She founded the NGO LECOBAF, which she presides over, as well as Innovations Bamboo & Environment SARL. With a background in Political Science and International Studies, Economics and International Trade, as well as Sociology and Development Policies, fate gave her a nod towards bamboo, and she is passionate about it. She initiated a bamboo mapping project in the DRC, currently focused on three pilot provinces, and undertook the planting of bamboo species. The project is currently on hold but is expected to restart soon. She is a pioneer in promoting bamboo in the DRC. She lives and breathes bamboo, thinking, dreaming, and waking up to bamboo. The DRC, a key player in addressing climate change, holds 60% of the Congo Basin, the second-largest after the Amazon. Website under construction.