New technologies and ways of industrially processing bamboo have made a big difference, enabling it to begin to compete effectively with wood products for Western markets.
It is estimated that the world bamboo market stands at around $10bn (£6.24bn) today, and the World Bamboo Organisation says it could double in five years.
The developing world is now embracing this potential growth.
In eastern Nicaragua, bamboo was until recently regarded by most of the local population as valueless - more as a nuisance to be cleared than a boon to them and their region.
But on land that was once under dense forest cover, then turned over to slash-and-burn agriculture and ranching, new bamboo plantations are rising.
Rio Kama plantation
"You can see the little holes where the bamboo has been planted. At this moment the bamboo is like the young girl with the pimples that has not overcome puberty," says Nicaraguan John Vogel, who runs the local operations of a British-based enterprise investing in bamboo.
This is the world's fastest growing plant, ready to be harvested annually and sustainably after four to five years in contrast to the typical tropical hardwood that takes many years longer to mature and can be harvested only once.
"This was once a tropical jungle full of trees through which you could not see the sunlight," Vogel says.
"But the egotism of man and short-sightedness made people believe that by depleting all this it would mean a quick income and they did not need to worry about tomorrow.