Shipping country
Sustainability by FSC?
We are often asked about the sustainability of our wood.
In the case of many European woods such as maple, fruit trees such as apple, pear, cherry and plum, barberry, birch, boxwood, yew, oak, chestnut, lime, almond, mulberry, bog oak, olive walnut, plane tree, spindle tree and other varieties, all of which are the result of natural age-related European pruning and natural felling due to ageing, stock maintenance, targeted removals for forest regeneration and felling due to construction projects, there are few plantations of native woods, e.g. curly birch, fruit trees, Osage orange and kiri.
Of course, we also stock exotic woods, the exact origin of which cannot always be traced exactly, as we purchase this wood within the EU and do not import any wood from the rest of the world ourselves. For purchases within the EU, the legal requirement applies that the importer importing into the EU must document the legal felling, transportation and shipping precisely and comprehensibly, in accordance with the EUTR Directive.
This means that compliance with such sensible and important protective measures is not our responsibility, as we do not import wood from outside the EU, but only purchase it on the free market within the EU. This means that we are not subject to due diligence obligations for imports.
The following applies to our exotic woods: We trade in natural products and woods that are only available in very small quantities and are absolute niche products. In terms of volume, our timber accounts for 0.000,000,001 % of the global timber trade (2016: 1.98 billion m³) with commercial timber. There are no (FSC) certificates for this.
As the question of certificates comes up from time to time: FSC certificates of origin only exist for the rather cheap mass timber such as bamboo, teak, larch, eucalyptus, meranti, cumaru, jatoba, bangkirai, which are industrially processed and traded in large quantities worldwide. These woods are harvested in large quantities under completely unclear conditions, especially overseas, and exported worldwide. The applications are often for terraces, garden furniture, building structures, windows, doors and floors. And it is precisely such applications, where the alleged longevity of the wood for outdoor use is important, that these timbers are often replaced after 5 to 10 years and are thrown away, even though they have not even come close to reaching their service life. Mrs. Meyer's or Mr. Müller's patio no longer looks as chic as it did in the photo when it was installed, and so everything is quickly replaced. The wood has an FSC seal. This could have been done just as well with local pine, larch, oak or robinia without having to irretrievably cut down entire forests overseas.
We are convinced that FSC certificates are only a poor way of protecting forests; under this seal, overexploitation has only taken on even greater dimensions, as ignorant and uncritical consumers are deceived by this seal into believing a non-existent pseudo-ecology. The whole thing is like a placebo for contemporary green environmental awareness and is often little more than cheap greenwashing: you can find more information on the subject at this link:
http://www.regenwald.org/regenwaldreport/2010/301/die-label-luege-fsc-zertifikat-als-tueroeffner-fuer-regenwaldabholzer
However, if you don't want to share any concerns about using such rarely exotic precious woods, we can only recommend that you don't use any foreign fgoreign woods. Especially as poplar burl, oak, walnut, plum, elm, barberry and cherry are also very beautiful woods - even if these trees are dead forever once they have been felled. However, nature takes care of sustainability all by itself through natural seeding and regeneration.
This has also been happening in Europe for thousands of years, which is why, unlike rainforests overseas, no emergency areas have developed here instead of forests.
In the case of many European woods such as maple, fruit trees such as apple, pear, cherry and plum, barberry, birch, boxwood, yew, oak, chestnut, lime, almond, mulberry, bog oak, olive walnut, plane tree, spindle tree and other varieties, all of which are the result of natural age-related European pruning and natural felling due to ageing, stock maintenance, targeted removals for forest regeneration and felling due to construction projects, there are few plantations of native woods, e.g. curly birch, fruit trees, Osage orange and kiri.
Of course, we also stock exotic woods, the exact origin of which cannot always be traced exactly, as we purchase this wood within the EU and do not import any wood from the rest of the world ourselves. For purchases within the EU, the legal requirement applies that the importer importing into the EU must document the legal felling, transportation and shipping precisely and comprehensibly, in accordance with the EUTR Directive.
This means that compliance with such sensible and important protective measures is not our responsibility, as we do not import wood from outside the EU, but only purchase it on the free market within the EU. This means that we are not subject to due diligence obligations for imports.
The following applies to our exotic woods: We trade in natural products and woods that are only available in very small quantities and are absolute niche products. In terms of volume, our timber accounts for 0.000,000,001 % of the global timber trade (2016: 1.98 billion m³) with commercial timber. There are no (FSC) certificates for this.
As the question of certificates comes up from time to time: FSC certificates of origin only exist for the rather cheap mass timber such as bamboo, teak, larch, eucalyptus, meranti, cumaru, jatoba, bangkirai, which are industrially processed and traded in large quantities worldwide. These woods are harvested in large quantities under completely unclear conditions, especially overseas, and exported worldwide. The applications are often for terraces, garden furniture, building structures, windows, doors and floors. And it is precisely such applications, where the alleged longevity of the wood for outdoor use is important, that these timbers are often replaced after 5 to 10 years and are thrown away, even though they have not even come close to reaching their service life. Mrs. Meyer's or Mr. Müller's patio no longer looks as chic as it did in the photo when it was installed, and so everything is quickly replaced. The wood has an FSC seal. This could have been done just as well with local pine, larch, oak or robinia without having to irretrievably cut down entire forests overseas.
We are convinced that FSC certificates are only a poor way of protecting forests; under this seal, overexploitation has only taken on even greater dimensions, as ignorant and uncritical consumers are deceived by this seal into believing a non-existent pseudo-ecology. The whole thing is like a placebo for contemporary green environmental awareness and is often little more than cheap greenwashing: you can find more information on the subject at this link:
http://www.regenwald.org/regenwaldreport/2010/301/die-label-luege-fsc-zertifikat-als-tueroeffner-fuer-regenwaldabholzer
However, if you don't want to share any concerns about using such rarely exotic precious woods, we can only recommend that you don't use any foreign fgoreign woods. Especially as poplar burl, oak, walnut, plum, elm, barberry and cherry are also very beautiful woods - even if these trees are dead forever once they have been felled. However, nature takes care of sustainability all by itself through natural seeding and regeneration.
This has also been happening in Europe for thousands of years, which is why, unlike rainforests overseas, no emergency areas have developed here instead of forests.