As part of our local environmental-awareness program, I’ve been careful to use only sustainable wood in the manufacture of Bramble products, wood approved and certified from the Indonesian Government. In 2005 we took that a step further, by actively re-planting trees.
Since its conjunction with local Indonesians, we have planted over 30000 to plant o trees. 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. Trees have been cleared for uses other than furniture production, such as for building materials, firewood, medicinal uses 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 diverse forests, rather than plantations. The variety encourages the villagers’ interest in the trees, which often bear fruit and other by-products useful to everyday life. In this way, the villagers become actively involved in nurturing the young saplings.
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; this diversity creates an environment close to the original one which was displaced and encourages the return of wildlife to old habitats.
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 than to teach them the importance of replenishing the earth’s natural richness. |
