The Sound & Fair campaign aims to realise a sustainable trade in African blackwood through a fully-certified chain of custodylinking village communities in Tanzania to woodwind instrument musicians in the West.
By safeguarding a hugely valuable natural resource, Sound & Fair will help lift some of the world’s poorest people out of poverty.
On the outside it looks ordinary, often short and spindly – you certainly wouldn’t stop to marvel at it.
Strip away the bark however and something extraordinary is revealed: dark, lustrous heartwood, perfect for local wood carvers and for export to manufacturers of woodwind instruments, such as clarinets, oboes and bagpipes.
Naturally something so valuable is very much in demand and African blackwood has already disappeared from many parts of East Africa.
The forests of Southern Tanzania remain a stronghold for African blackwood but they will not remain so at current rates of deforestation.
Welcome
The Sound & Fair campaign aims to realise a sustainable trade in African blackwood through a fully-certified chain of custody linking village communities in Tanzania to woodwind instrument musicians in the West.
By safeguarding a hugely valuable natural resource, Sound & Fair will help lift some of the world’s poorest people out of poverty.
For the people living in the forests of Southern Tanzania, the African blackwood tree has the potential to be worth its weight in gold. In fact, a recent harvest increased local incomes by 400 times.
On the outside it looks ordinary, often short and spindly – you certainly wouldn’t stop to marvel at it.
Strip away the bark however and something extraordinary is revealed: dark, lustrous heartwood, perfect for local wood carvers and for export to manufacturers of woodwind instruments, such as clarinets, oboes and bagpipes.
Naturally something so valuable is very much in demand and African blackwood has already disappeared from many parts of East Africa.
The forests of Southern Tanzania remain a stronghold for African blackwood but they will not remain so at current rates of deforestation.
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