RE: [GBlist] Sustainable Teak

[Kerryn Wilmot <kerrynw@mel.spowers.com.au>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Dohlin, Jon [SMTP:jdohlin@wcs.org]
> Sent:	Tuesday, April 30, 2002 6:20 AM
> Subject:	RE: [GBlist] Sustainable Teak
> 
	<cut>

> Leaving aside discussions for the time being of whether or not
> anything harvested and shipped  halfway around the world could be
> called "sustainable"-- has anyone satisfied themselves that, in a
> situation where there are radically different sources for a product
> (like teak), there is any reliable way to ascertain that the product
> sold to you by from an unseen supplier is indeed the one harvested
> from sustainably managed teak forests (and all that implies) as
> opposed to, say, clear-cutting the cambodian highlands?  
> 
Jon,

There is no timber certification system here in Australia and
conservation groups regard all our forestry practices as suspect. On a
recent project we specified a hierarchy of preferred timber sources,
starting with recycled and finishing with non-native plantations and
excluding old-growth and rain forests altogether.  We monitored this by
requiring chain-of-custody documents for all timber supplied to site.
The builder found a recycled timber merchant who complied.  They
provided photographs of the buildings with the timber in-situ before
salvaging, invoices for the purchase of the timber (or salvage rights)
and truck dockets to prove the delivery from that site to their yard.

The same technique could be used with forested timber - provide the
documentation from timber cutter through to delivery vehicle to prove
the source.

Regards,

Kerryn
____________________________

Kerryn Wilmot
Spowers Architects
120 King Street, Melbourne Vic 3000 Australia


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