Read the passage below carefully and evaluate the statement that follows:
In the lush bamboo thickets of Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia, indigenous communities have traditionally utilized highland bamboo for temporary fencing and domestic fuelwood. However, rapid deforestation across neighboring hardwood reserves has recently reshaped local resource management. Recognizing the plant’s rapid regeneration cycle and high tensile strength, regional forestry cooperatives established decentralized solar-kiln processing centers. These facilities dry raw culms under controlled thermal conditions, significantly mitigating the internal moisture retention that historically rendered raw Ethiopian bamboo vulnerable to fungal decay and beetle infestation within months of harvest. Additionally, by structural density treatment, processed bamboo culms now match the load-bearing capacity of seasoned eucalyptus timber, allowing local builders to construct durable multi-story modular housing. Crucially, the transformation process also captures bamboo offcuts, converting them via low-oxygen pyrolytic kilns into dense bio-char charcoal briquettes. This dual innovation has not only reduced rural reliance on old-growth forest timber by over forty percent in surrounding districts, but it has also established a sustainable carbon-neutral fuel source that commands a premium in urban energy markets.
Statement: Prior to the establishment of solar-kiln processing facilities, the vulnerability of untreated Ethiopian bamboo to biological decay was directly driven by its retained internal moisture.
Answer: Answer