Wirtschaftswoche reports on Betterwood

The rainforest is burning in the Amazon – how is the timber industry reacting? In its current issue, WirtschaftsWoche (WiWo) reports on how sustainable forest management in the tropics can contribute to environmental protection:

Despite the devastating fires in the Amazon region, Brazilian wood remains a popular building material. This could possibly even protect the rainforest - if fraud and illegal trade could be curbed.

Wirtschaftswoche 37/2019

The concept of Betterwood enables local people to live from and with the forest and thus secure its existence in the long term. The business magazine therefore names our company as a pioneer:

Jaeger and his company [want to] contribute to the change. “Tropical wood has a similar reputation to heavy oil. The worst deal you can do," says Jaeger. "We want to turn that around."

However, the magazine also shows the problems of achieving this goal:

A forest simply cannot compete with the profitability of a soy field or animal husbandry, even if its wood is traded fairly. "Actually, as a wood association, we should call for people to give up meat," says Nils Olaf Petersen from the Wood Trade Association, describing the crude situation.

Nevertheless, the use and promotion of certified tropical wood remains one of the most effective measures to slow down the displacement of the forest:

If suppliers of FSC® wood could no longer find buyers
and therefore would clear their hectares, would not help anyone. (…) And association expert Petersen also wants to hold on to the idea of ​​"protection through use", albeit for different reasons: "Every system has gaps. But sustainability certification is the best thing we have."

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Source: Wirtschaftswoche, 37/2019, pages 58-60.