66 | Sector Focus: Tropical Timber
SUMMARY
■Ecochoice lists more than 100 tropical species in its portfolio
■All its tropical wood is FSC certified ■The arguments for using LKS are commercial and environmental
■Imaflora has drawn up a list of 30 alternative timber species
DRIVING TROPICAL DIVERSITY
Using more lesser known tropical species makes increasing sense from multiple perspectives, says Ecochoice. Mike Jeffree reports
As even a quick scan of its website shows, Ecochoice more than lives up to its name. The largely West African and Brazilian specialist timber supplier lists more than 100 tropical species in its product portfolio (plus, among other lines, western red cedar, Organowood modified Nordic pine and recycled plastic wood-look composites). So much for the choice. As for the eco aspect, all Ecochoice’s tropical wood is FSC- certified or, in the case of French oak and other species, PEFC certified. Critically, a large number of the company’s timber varieties are also lesser known species (LKS), as they have been since its 2005 launch. The increasingly accepted environmental arguments for using these more is that it reduces supply stress on traditional market favourites. At the same time, it increases the timber offtake for a given area of certified forest, so making sustainable management more economically viable.
Ecochoice was established by managing director Mike Bekin after he visited FSC forest operations in his native Brazil.
“The work they were doing was incredible – finding a balance between having an income from reduced impact logging, while also protecting a wild and natural forest from illegal logging, encroachment and conversion
Above: Angelim pedra decking in a London residential development TTJ | November/December 2022 |
www.ttjonline.com
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