Rather to my own surprise, I somewhat disagree.

While of course I would prefer that the tropical rain forests remain undisturbed, the fact is that in Southeast Asia the trees are being simply burnt to make way for oil palms. As this seems unstoppable, it makes more sense to cut the trees and export the lumber rather than slash and burn.

So I offer a different suggestion: Buy offsets. That is, purchase existing tropical rain forests and protect those while continuing to obtain hardwoods from the areas which are becoming oil palm plantations.

thx for this!

Regarding the first comment, David, you might be interested to know that those in Indonesia clearing rainforests for oil palm plantations are very often the same companies cutting the trees before doing so to export wood. This is not a 'good' practice any more than it is a good practice to log forests in the Amazon prior to cattle ranches. The reason is that the companies planting oil palm aren't really making money on the palm oil but rather are making the most money on selling the trees. In effect, the demand for the high-value wood creates the incentive to get a license to clear for oil palm. Often, the plantations never happen as the companies, often divided into logging and palm oil companies, but owned by the same entities, are set up just to get access to the trees, and then don't follow through with the plantations.

Be that as it may, the solution to this is both to eliminate the demand for the wood and to eliminate the demand for palm oil.

Neither logging nor clearing for oil palm should be taking place in primary tropical rainforests.

And carbon offsets aren't the answer, either. I've seen with my own eyes the 'plantations' of eucalyptus put up in Costa Rica with money from US power plants. The recipient companies come into an area, log the rainforest trees, then apply for funds from the US/Costa Rica bi-lateral Clean Energy fund, take that money and throw up a few eucalyptus seedlings. Then they put up a sign saying this is a plantation that's part of making the world more sustainable. BS.

tim keating

Hi,,

Sometimes we just do things without thinking much. Last year I myself bought about 1,000 square feet of exotic Cherry Wood called Curupay, to place on our home floor. It is beautiful wood but now I may not like it as much since it did contribute to the removal of one more element of a tropical rainforest..., strictly for our pleasure.

Thanks.. and I will be more careful in the future..., providing that we have one of course..

Jean-Louis Turcot

Tim Keatting --- Thanks for the update. After thinking about it for awhile, I still believe my plan is moderately good. Even if New York City stops buying the hardwoods, the logger will simply sell the lumber elsewhere, say to some Chinese.

My plan asks New York City, Jean-Louis Turcot, etc., to contribute a equal sum to an environmental organization which will buy and protect existing tropical forests, not pale imitation re-plantings.

This topic was discussed before when Atlantic City repaired its boardwalk. Aren't there alternatives in the north? I thought one wood was that of the North American honey locust, Robinia Species. If so, this tree is very easy to grow, even on poor, sandy, rocky places where it is difficult to cultivate trees. Plus, it spreads with its roots, sending out many shoots over an area.

There are options to using hardwoods for decking and board walks if you look and are willing to try something new. Many times, although people may be environmentally conscious and want to do the right thing for our environment, they sometimes make their decisions for their own personal consumptions on what meets their budget and their knowledge and comfort with the product. About 4 years ago, I looked long and hard for an alternative decking product that was truly SUSTAINABLE. There were some options of Composite decking that used recycled plastics and wood fiber. There is also the FSC Hardwoods, however, what really is FSC and can they really stop the deforestation, or are they just a business making money. Looking hard I stumbled on Bamboo Decking. As I learned more about the benefits of bamboo and its uses, I began to see and learn how strong it was, how quickly it re-grows, the ease of re-growth, how it helps the soils, and most importantly, how it cleans the air we breath. When I discovered that some bamboos can re-grow to its original size in 6 months, and be re-harvested in 3-5 years, I knew that it met my needs. I once spoke to a Eco-Builder that had 35 years experience in sustainable building. Her definition of sustainability was as follows. A cedar deck will last 15-20 years if taken care of, however, the tree to replace that deck may grow back in 45-90 years, depending. Consumption of the deck exceeds the regrowth so this isn't good. Now, if a bamboo deck last the same 15-20 years, but bamboo regrowing in 3-5 years, consumption falls far short of regrowth and this is great.

Looking at the benefits of bamboo, I made a decision to move forward with Bamboo decking 3 years ago. I since then have been trying to get the word out that this, in my opinion, the most SUSTAINABLE option in out door decking on the market. Not only is it very strong, but also very eye catching, not to mention GREEN. If you have any questions, comments, or want to know where to get it, please contact me at tim@pacificlbr.com.