As part of our local environmental awareness program, I’ve been careful to use only sustainable wood in the manufacture of Bramble products, by only using wood from Indonesian Government Plantation’s. In 2005 I took that a step further, by actively re-planting trees.
In 2006-7 the company worked in conjunction with local people in Indonesia specifically to plant trees, together we planted over 60,000. For this year our target is 120,000 Working directly with the villagers, through an outreach program that is proving successful and verifiable; we know exactly which area, regency and village each tree goes to.
Our approach is not only to re-plant tree varieties used for the furniture trade, but also to invest in re-establishing the small woods and forests around villages, where trees have been cleared for other uses, such as building, cooking, medicines and a variety of other village industries, as well as to create agricultural land.
The wide variety of trees being planted by Bramble Co. creates a more real, mixed forest, rather than a plantation. The variety encourages the villager’s interest in the trees, which often bear fruit and other by products useful to everyday life. This way the villagers become interested and, actively involved in nurturing the young saplings.
As well as attracting wildlife to return to old habitats, trees such as Neem, Suren, Mindi (White Cedar), Jengkol, Sonokeling (Rosewood), Sukun (Breadfruit) and Mahogany have a wide variety of uses. As a forest they create a canopy of varying height and colour, with fruit, flowers and shade, a mix that creates an environment close to original forest.
For the coming year we plan to plant a minimum of 100,000 trees. That is just my commitment from Bramble Co. However with help from our customers and friends I believe that we can extend that commitment to 200,000 trees, and year on year grow this venture to reach a million trees a year.
Planting these trees creates a chain of events that educates and enriches people’s lives in myriad ways. Children learn from their elders and peers, there can be no better example to set them than to replenish the earth’s natural richness. |
