Ipé – an endangered species of wood

According to information from the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the popular terrace wood Ipé could soon be officially classified as an endangered species of wood. On the initiative of some Latin American countries, there is a discussion about including the wood of the subgenus Lapacho in the list of the Washington Convention on Endangered Species (CITES) record.

The strong demand in recent years has led to a massive destruction of the pink and yellow flowering tree in the South American tropical forests. Even today, the wood from sustainable forestry is hardly available anymore because it is already severely endangered.

From May 23, 2019, the next Conference of the Parties to the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species will take place in Colombo. Should Ipé be placed under protection here, it will probably take a few more months before the requirement becomes EU law.

For the conventional timber trade, the listing of Ipé (for ipe entry in the wood lexicon) is significant, since the wood will probably no longer be imported into the European Union on the regular route.

Betterwood does not have any decking or other products made from Ipé in its range, as the tree has been considered endangered for years. Good alternatives to Ipé are Cumaru or teak wood, which also achieve the highest resistance class (at least 25 years durability outdoors).