CRAFT

Add Lantana camara to the list of invasive species being eyed for their potential economic uses. With Lantana having taken over large portions of India, and bamboo reserves on the wane, the organization ATREE has been enlisting Lantana artisans to make furniture and textiles with the South American weed. Earlier this month they held their third annual "mela" (gathering) on the subject, and hundreds of people from all over India were expected to participate. The prolific nature of Lantana makes it a cheap source of cane for creating everything from sofas and chairs to wastebins and apiaries.

Apparently I'm late to the game on the Lantana-as-a-bamboo-substitute front. You can read about more examples of lantana crafts in this 2006 article from The Hindu, this 2005 TreeHugger post, and this 2000 article from The Tribune.