Save the rainforest ! Let's build with FSC-certified tropical wood
The earth is covered by 30% forests, or 4 billion hectares. Tropical forests account for around half of this, with 1.8 billion hectares. The disappearance of tropical forests accounts for over 90% of global deforestation.
What are the main causes of deforestation?
1 - The main reason is the conversion of forests to farmland.
According to the FAO, it is responsible for at least 50% of global deforestation, mainly for the production of palm and soybean oils.
2 - Overexploitation of wood resources is the second reason, with the use of wood as fuel (charcoal) to cook food, and illegal logging.
There are several ways to reverse this trend
1 - Buy wood at fair value
At Felix, we are convinced of the importance of assigning an economic value to wood.
Only by buying forest products at their fair value, and sharing this value equitably between logging companies and local populations, will local populations be motivated to protect and secure forests for the next generation.
2 - Certify forest concessions
Concessions must be operated according to sustainable management rules, under the supervision of a third party, and therefore certified. Sustainable management means harvesting as much wood as can be regenerated naturally, taking care not only of the flora and fauna, but also of the indigenous population, with health care, education and housing.
3 - Processing timber in the country of origin
The sale of locally-processed forest products should also create more value for the local population. This means more work, and therefore additional resources.
To understand what this means in concrete terms, I'll use a specific example: the production of our Mukulungu decking boards from our partner OLAM's FSC-certified operation in the Congo Basin.
Felix & Olam, a 20-year partnership!
For over 20 years, FELIX has been partnering OLAM and its subsidiary CIB (Congolaise Industrielle du Bois), the largest FSC-certified forest concession in West Africa. We have shared the same values in terms of sustainable forest management since 2003. With CIB OLAM, we have initiated the import of the first FSC-certified Mukulungu deck boards under our Felixwood brand.
German-born Dr. H. Stoll, 3rd generation of a German timber trading and importing company, initiated the first plan for sustainable management of tropical forests in 1968. With his company CIB, he set his own rules for sustainable logging in his concession in the Sangha and Likouala regions of northern Congo. CIB built roads, a hospital, schools, a library and sports facilities for its employees. Thanks to the visionary policies of Dr. H. Stoll, within CIB, the Kabo forest concession was the first 300,000-hectare concession in the Republic of Congo to receive FSC certification in 2006. With the acquisition of OLAM in 2010, the total area of FSC-certified forest concessions increased to 2.1 million hectares.
The Congo Basin, the world's second largest tropical forest with 180 million hectares, currently boasts 6 million hectares of certified forest, divided between the Republic of Congo (3 million hectares), Gabon (2.5 million hectares) and Cameroon (0.5 million hectares). The threshold of 10 million hectares certified as being under sustainable management should be passed by 2025 (Source: ATIBT).
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What is sustainable tropical forest management?
As initiated by Dr. H. Stoll, it begins with an inventory of the concession plot by plot to count the timber to be exploited, list it on a plan and then draw the main and secondary roads so that it can be harvested without damaging the forest.
As soon as the trees on the plot have been counted, the indigenous people who live off the forest are involved in the identification process. They identify medicinal trees and those that provide them with a livelihood, so that they can be protected.
Exploitation voluntarily limited to 1 tree per hectare.
CIB OLAM harvests only 1 tree per hectare, which is significantly less than what is officially allowed by the Congo government and even the FSC management plan. This allows the forest to regenerate rapidly. Only trees over 80 years old are felled, as they generate the most added value.
Inventory of felled tree stumps in the forestry plan
It's important to understand that in well-managed tropical forests, the felled forest is not replanted. It regenerates itself!
Access to each plot is then closed for 30 years.
After the trees have been felled, the plots and the secondary roads leading to them are closed again. The young trees are then able to develop fully thanks to the light wells created. Fauna and flora are not affected. Wild life quickly reclaims its rights. The population cannot establish itself.
Wood processing in the country of origin
Our Mukulungu timber is processed on site at the Pokola sawmill. It is cut, air-dried, dried in an artificial kiln and then planed into deck boards. We haven't been importing logs for 50 years. The raw material is transformed on site into finished products, thus providing work and added value to the country of origin.
Our wood policy!
Felix is committed to sourcing only certified timber to ensure that forest products are harvested only under sustainable forest management plans that preserve (tropical) forests, protect indigenous populations and wildlife, and prevent land conversion.
65% of the tropical wood we import is FSC-certified, and our aim is to reach 100% certified wood by 2028.
In conclusion
Around 13% of the world's forests are now eco-certified, but only 6.5% of tropical forests. (In the EU, over 60% of forests are already certified and sustainably managed).
It has been shown that certification is the only way to be sure that the removal of a cubic meter of wood is replaced identically by natural regeneration.
Fauna and biodiversity are protected. It also ensures that the local population has access to better living and working conditions, such as better housing and healthcare, better employment contracts and medical insurance, and greater purchasing power.
Building with FSC-certified tropical woods means saving the forest!
Nicolas Tant