Precious Woods
2009In the era of climate change when efforts intensify to find a way to include protection for tropical forests in carbon credit schemes, as part of a new global climate conference to replace the Kyoto protocol in Copenhagen; there are perhaps few more controversial industries as the logging industry.
Images of bulldozers destroying virgin rain forest of chain saws cutting down century old trees are potent symbols of modernity advancing against nature.
Some people may not sit so comfortably in their hard wood garden chairs if they knew that the demand for wood products, is threatening the long-term survival of tropical forests and communities living in this precious environment. Against this background the Swiss company Precious Woods as one of the world leaders in the sustainable management of tropical forests sticks out as the exemplary kid on the bloc.
In their sustainable way of managing the forest, the quantity of timber harvested is not more then the quantity that grows back within a harvest cycle of 25 years. This is achieved with a maximum harvest volume of 2–3 trees per hectare. Before a new harvest will take place the forest will be left growing for the next 25 years.
At the core of sustainable management stand the operational principles of FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) an internationally recognized label that sets standards, audited by independent certification bodies, on forest management, workers and community rights.