Each piece in Tanya’s ‘Africa East’ collection is hand carved from African blackwood.

Using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)–certified wood ensures Tanya’s collection, which she designs under the name Candescent, features only wood from trees that are grown and the forests managed sustainably according to an international standard.

“My designs always begin with the environment and sustainability in mind,” Tanya says, “The narrative of culture, style, beauty and colour in my range are not compromised by my decision to use only fair trade materials – in fact this adds to the beauty.”

Fair trade fashion has risen in popularity over the past decade, but is still frequently overlooked.

London Fashion Week’s Good Fashion Show will feature 44 international designers, all with an ethical objective.

The Good Fashion Show is a new addition to London Fashion Week – and is unique in that it is open to the public.

The Good Fashion Show is on Saturday 18 February, and runs as part of London Fashion Week.

Many of the world’s tonewood species have been pushed to the brink of extinction by illegal logging.

Musicians need to be responsible stewards of the world’s forests, both for their own sake and to ensure that future generations of musicians have access to these materials.

The US Lacey Act is an important tool in this effort – it bans import of illegally logged wood and other forest products, helping ensure that no musician has to worry that his or her guitar, violin, or any other instrument is made from wood that is illegally harvested.

According to a recent report by Chatham House, the Lacey Act is succeeding – helping reduce illegal logging by 22 percent around the world.

But huge industry forces – both US and international – are working hard together with their Washington lobbyists to attack the Lacey Act’s forest protections.

These companies want to continue to convert rainforests into pulp and paper and other products and still have access to the giant US market for products made from irresponsible and illegal practices.

Help ensure a future for forests and music by standing up against efforts to weaken the Lacey Act and other forest protections by calling on the music industry and Congress to protect our forests and ensure a future for great music.

Sign the petition against downgrading the Lacey Act which aims to combat the illegal trade in timber

Under a regulation that will come into effect in the European Union next year, companies will have to verify the legality of timber from the harvest country onwards, said Chen Hin Keong, Global Forest Trade Programme Leader at TRAFFIC.

While the impact of this rule on illegal logging is unclear, there are already “certain developments you can see in the global markets: industries want to learn about the regulations,” said Chen.

The EU regulation follows the inclusion of timber in 2008 under the US Lacey Act, which bans sale of illegal plants and animals in the United States.

The EU and US are among the biggest markets for wood products from producing and processing countries in the Asia Pacific, like China, Vietnam and Indonesia.

TRAFFIC, an organization that monitors wildlife trade including timber, is helping to provide a tool to assess legality for small and medium enterprises and the timber industry to deal with the new requirements to track and verify the processes, documents and permits needed to prove timber legality.

“The idea is that with the legality framework, you can ask your suppliers the right questions and know what the right answers should be”, said Chen.

The emphasis in timber trade will move from legality to sustainability after these regulations are adequately absorbed and implemented, particularly with increased consumer awareness and demand for sustainably-harvested products.

“There will be more and more mechanisms in place in the next 10 years to continue to close the loopholes that are currently allowing illegal timber trade and illegal logging to continue.”

This interview was originally published on the CIFOR Forests Blog

An edited transcript of the interview with Chen is provided below.

Q: What will be the impacts of the new timber regulations?

A: The new regulations, especially the US-Lacey and the EU timber regulations, will have an impact on the timber trade from the Asia Pacific and elsewhere partly because the US and the EU are very significant markets, not only from the producer countries, but also processing countries, such as Vietnam and China, that transform those raw materials into higher value products like furniture.

The most important impact is that they require proof of legality. That means the companies cannot do business-as-usual, where they just buy the products and hope and expect them to be legal. Now they have to follow through and get verification of legality so that they do not fall foul of the law. They have to do a bit more work and not business-as-usual.

Q: How do the producers feel about that?

A: In terms of industry, there’s a lot of grumbling, of course, because they feel that now they have to do more to get the proof of legality. (This requires) not only time of their own staff, but also resources. They may need technical support to understand the timber trade and the forestry sector and may have to call in experts help to do that. All this increases costs.

On the government side, they think that this could be a form of imposition on their own people in doing business, because not many other countries have imposed such legislation. But we have to bear in mind that the EU and US legislation applies to their own citizens as well. From that perspective, this is not a (trade) barrier, because their own people have to follow it too.

Q: Buyers have said that there won’t be a premium price for the legal timber. Why is that?

A: The market is not paying a premium because by rights all companies should be dealing with legal products. It’s by law; you have to follow your law. What the market requires now is that you have to verify and to show proof that your timber products are legally obtained and sourced. To the buyers, this should be your suppliers’ job in the first place to meet the legal requirements of the country that you operate in, so there’s no reason to pay a premium.

In reality, there may be a premium because this depends on supply and demand. If (there are) not many companies that can supply verified legal timber, then there’s a good chance that there will be competition for those timber products and prices may go up. So it would depend on the market, the particular buyers and what products they’re looking for.

Q: How effective will these regulations be in preventing illegal logging?

A: Since the EU regulations have not been enacted yet, we do not really know how it’s going to impact illegal logging. But there are already certain developments you can see in the global markets: industries want to learn about the regulations; they want to see how they will impact operations and so on. So there is already some impact. We will know better once the legislation is up and running.

In terms of US-Lacey, it has been around since 2008, so there has been a concerted effort to create capacity building and awareness programs. TRAFFIC has done that as well. I’ve gone through 5 countries conducting training about Lacey as well as the EU regulation, training about 1,000 people. The only concern right now is that there are very few cases involving Lacey infractions so we don’t know how effective Lacey is as a deterrent to ensure more of the supply chains are legal.

Q: Will these regulations actually promote smuggling or sale to countries that don’t require such proof of legality?

A: I don’t think there will be a backlash. The developed countries – in this case the US and the EU – are very significant markets for timber products. Most of the other countries are smaller, so in a sense, there’s not much choice of markets. You can try to develop your market outside the EU and the US but you can only develop a little bit. Individual companies may be diversifying, but the sector as the whole will find it more difficult.

Q: What do you expect will happen in the next 10 years in timber trade?

A: There has been a lot of pressure on companies and governments to ensure the timber supply is legal and sustainable. The emphasis now is in legality, but it will move on to sustainability. There will be more and more mechanisms in place in the next 10 years to continue to close the loopholes that are currently allowing illegal timber trade and illegal logging to continue. There will probably be more consumer awareness and demand for legal products and sustainably-harvested products. So it will still be a two-pronged approach: looking to change the mindsets of people and through enforcement and legislation.

The trend will go towards sustainability also in many countries that are producing timber because the governments and the people will want to make sure that their resources are preserved not only for timber but for other uses: recreational, water, soil protection etc. All those things will take precedence as there’s a squeeze on land as the human population grows and the forests get smaller and smaller. Those governments will want to keep the remaining forests that they’ve got, so a lot of timber production will come from plantation and there’ll be a shift. Whether that will happen in 10 years or not, or longer, I don’t know.

African blackwood is the primary component in many woodwind instruments including clarinets, oboes, flutes and recorders. The species is under severe threat due to over-exploitation almost entirely for the music industry.

However, a pioneering project in Tanzania has given communities ownership of the forest and they are now managing the resource in a sustainable way whilst also earning money to pay for community development including clean water systems and healthcare facilities.

During Music and Sustainability, James and Huw will demonstrate how this project is making a huge difference to the lives of people in Africa and explain the  role that musicians play in sustainable development and the preservation of forests.

Available dates:
12th – 16th March 2012
19th – 23rd March 2012

Feedback on previous Sound & Fair music colleges visits

Belinda Gough, Head of Woodwind, Chethams School of Music: “The presentation was wonderful. It provided our students with engaging ideas and clearer understanding of the context of the changing world we live in and that taking individual responsibility is paramount.

“It was such a treat to meet James Laizer, whose message was poignant. To think that our instruments have the potential to provide communities with the things we take for granted, such as a midwife and clean water, is something quite special.”

READ ABOUT THE SOUND & FAIR MUSIC COLLEGE TOUR 2011

Music and Sustainability – National Curriculum connections

Music and Sustainability provides an opportunity for students to learn through the cross-curricular Global Dimension and Sustainable Development aspect of the National Curriculum. Our assembly presentations and workshops raise awareness about the global trade that is intrinsic to musical instrument manufacturing and the challenges of ensuring both Fair Trade and the responsible management of forests.

Assembly presentation / introduction to Music and Sustainability (20-40mins)
Students will hear the distinctive voices of different woodwind instruments and see images of the stunning trees that provide the timber for their manufacture. Students will learn about the qualities of different woods that make them suitable for different parts of musical instruments and where this timber originates from. With group participation, our presenters will draw young people into seeking answers to the following questions: Why are modern woodwind instruments made from tropical timbers? Can this wood be harvested in a sustainable way? How can local villagers benefit from selling the wood they responsibly cut down? What can young musicians do to support sustainable development?

Workshop 1: African forest management role play workshop (20 mins)
After a briefing from an African forest manager, the group divides into groups of five and within each group, students take on the role of: timber merchant, village chief, midwife, lumberjack, and politician. Each group debates the issues and considers
change from the point of view of their allocated roles. A spokesperson from each group reports back their debate and students compare the different results from each group, finding that balancing interests is far from straightforward.

Workshop 2: musical timbers, properties, uses and qualities (up to 40mins)
During this hands-on workshop, students consider the properties of a variety of different woods – in particular the wood used to make the musical instruments they are familiar with, handling, describing and responding to the wood. Students experiment with the wood to find out how dense it is. Using a map of the world, they find each wood’s country of origin and consider the impact harvesting may have on local communities and ecosystems.

Workshop 3: mind maps for the trees that make music (up to 40 mins)
Students draw out mind map diagrams for the trees that make an instrument. For instruments made of many trees, such as the string family and piano, the mind map is complex, and students are able to make links between instruments, and understand the unexpected and conflicting interactions that they find around the edges of their mind maps.

Learning outcomes

Students are able to:
• Describe different perspectives and debate the challenges of Fair Trade and sustainable forest management;
• Develop critical skills to analyse the political and social causes of destructive forest clearance;
• Make links between music, geography and citizenship in terms of how musical instruments are manufactured
and at what cost to global natural resources;
• Develop their cultural understanding of the development of modern musical instruments.

The Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill (2011), now being debated in Parliament, carries other significant penalties for importing illegally logged timber or processing illegally harvested domestic raw logs, including large fines.

Senator Joe Ludwig, Australian forestry minister, said the legislation showed how far the Australian government was prepared to go to stop illegal logging.

Illegal timber imports “directly threatens” Australian timber jobs by undercutting the price of legally logged timber, he said.

“This legislation will lead to an even economic playing field for the purchase and sale of legally logged timber products in Australia and will give consumers and businesses greater certainty about the legality of the timber products they buy.”

Importers of regulated timber products and processors of domestic raw logs will have to prove that the timber they source has not been illegally logged. There is now a two-year grace period while they establish their systems and processes.

To date, Australian industry has relied on self-regulation to verify the legal origins of imported timber through a mix of voluntary procurement policies and procedures.

The government said its law aligned itself with other similar international initiatives against illegal logging, such as the Lacey Act in the US and the EU Timber Regulation.

This article original appeared in the Timber Trade Journal

The order is in line with the company’s firm policy of only buying wood from legally verified, sustainable and independently cerified sources.

These environmental principles have been communicated via a series of Wood Summits hosted at Martin Guitar headquarters in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

Tom Roche of Sound & Fair partner, Just Forests, attended the last Wood Summit in May 2011 and was left in no doubt of Martin Guitar’s intentions with regards to sustainable wood sourcing:

“There was no doubt whatsoever that Martin meant ‘business as usual’ was not part of their plans.

“They told the North American and European timber traders gathered at the Wood Summit that unless they can prove without any shadow of doubt that all woods supplied to Martin Guitars is both legal, sustainable and independently-certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, Martin Guitars would not do business with them.

“They also emphasized the importance of all their timber suppliers complying with the US Lacey Act and the new EU ‘due diligence’ timber regulations, due to come into force in 2013, which makes it an offence to trade in timber and wood-based products from illegal and questionable sources.”

The FSC®-certified wood originates from community-managed forests in Tanzania and with Martin Guitar already being FSC chain-of-custody-certified, the wood can be used to make FSC 100% instruments carrying the FSC logo.

Tim Teel, Martin Guitar Director of Instrument Design said: “I was delighted to find a beautiful solid wood ebony substitute while attending the Musikmesse in 2011, which is harvested in a responsible manner under FSC.

“This discovery will aid in producing high-quality instruments that will last lifetimes. Many thanks to all those involved.”

Martin Guitar already produces a range of FSC-certified instruments although none have to date used African blackwood.

Martin Guitar’s specific plans for use of the African blackwood in products are as yet unconfirmed. However, African blackwood can be used in similar ways to which ebony is commonly used in guitar making, fingerboards and bridges, for example.

Linda Davis-Wallen, Martin Guitar Sourcing Specialist, said: “C.F.  Martin & Co. was very excited to finally discover an FSC 100% certified, legal source of supply for African blackwood fingerboard, bridge and head plate stock for use on our acoustic guitars.

“It is also exciting that this traditional tone wood is a true rosewood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) with the properties of ebony, and is also being managed in an ecologically responsible manner.

“We are quite anxious to receive our first shipment and to make plans for its use on our instruments.”

Background on Martin Guitar

Martin Guitar is committed to corporate responsibility and environmental stewardship, and to support this commitment Martin maintains FSC chain-of-custody certification FSC® C008304.

In 2009 Martin was one of the first acoustic guitar manufacturers in the industry to produce a guitar model comprised entirely of FSC-certified woods.

Particularly misleading has been the widespread suggestion that musicians could have their instruments seized on suspicion that they contain illegally harvested wood, even if those instruments were built many years ago.

Some commentators have even suggested that Michelle Obama could be arrested after giving France’s First Lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a gift of a Gibson guitar during a recent state visit.

Peddlers of such myths fail to understand the fundamentals of the Lacey Act, most significantly the rule that in order for a prosecution to take place the buyer of wood must be aware of illegality.

For example, if Gibson can prove that they were unaware that the Madagascan rosewood they bought in 2009 was illegal in any way, they will be proved innocent.

This means that musicians will in most cases be entirely innocent: after all instrument manufacturers are rarely in the habit of sharing the finer wood purchasing details with their customers and only a fool would buy an instrument from a maker who told them that wood contained within it was illegal.

However, the above scenario is mostly hypothetical because the Lacey Act targets instrument manufacturers not individual musicians.

And in response to the hysteria whipped up in the blogosphere since the last Gibson raid on 24th August, US lawmakers recently sought to clarify this crucial distinction and put a stop to the nonsense debate.

In a letter addressed to US congresswoman, Marsha Blackburn, Republican representative for Tennessee, home of Gibson HQ, who has been leading the political assault on the Lacey Act in recent weeks, the Department of Justice and Department of the Interior sought to allay fears:

“People who unknowingly possess a musical instrument or other object containing wood that was illegally taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of law and who, in the exercise of due care, would not have known that it was illegal, do not have criminal exposure.

“The federal government focuses its enforcement efforts on those who are removing protected species from the wild and making a profit by trafficking in them.”

The Department of Justice and Department of the Interior’s statement comes at a time when many music and wood industry representatives are starting to find their voices in support of the Lacey Act.

The Future Policy Award provides valuable international recognition of the Lacey Act as one of the world’s most inspiring and innovative forest policies.

This recognition comes at a time when the Lacey Act is under pressure from a coalition of musicians, instrument manufacturers and right-wing politicians and commentators as a result of the on-going investigation of Gibson guitars under the Lacey Act.

Neil Bridgland, Sound & Fair Campaign Manager, said: “It’s a real shame that the Lacey Act has become so politicised when it’s doing the job it was designed to do: force wood importers to a pay full attention to their supply chains and implement responsible purchasing policies.

“In the past, few manufacturers were concerned with where wood came from, how it was harvested, were the correct fees paid, just as long as the quality was OK.

“The Gibson case is a game changer for the music industry and about time too.”

Environmental Investigation Agency Executive Director, Alexander von Bismarck, described the Lacey Act as: “a landmark act that has had such an extraordinary effect on the ongoing battle against illegal logging.

“With the Lacey Act, the US is closing the door on illegal wood, and sending a huge signal that our market power will support both good governance and forest protection”.

The amended Lacey Act is the first law in the world to prohibit trade in wood products made from trees that were illegally harvested.

As a result of the international effort to curb trade in illegal logging, the practice is estimated to have decreased by over 20% worldwide.

The Lacey Act of 1900 focused on wildlife trade and has been a leading tool in efforts to control smuggling of products derived from endangered species. The 2008 amendment added plants to this law, which made it applicable to the one trillion dollar global wood products industry.

The first enforcement action under the new law occurred in 2009, when a search warrant was executed on Gibson Guitars to investigate the import of ebony and rosewood from Madagascar.

Madagascar was at the time shown to be losing up to 300 trees a day from its national parks, the last habitat for unique species of Lemurs, birds, and chameleons.

Chris Martin, Chairman and CEO C.F. Martin Guitar, said: “I think it’s a wonderful thing. I think illegal logging is appalling. It should stop. And if this is what it takes unfortunately to stop unscrupulous operators, I’m all for it. It’s tedious, but we’re getting through it.”

And in a recent interview, Bob Taylor, the co-founder and president of Taylor Guitars, said: “The Lacey Act requires more due diligence on the part of the receiver of the wood than there was in the past. We can’t just take someone’s word that the wood we’re buying is legit. Even if your act was already clean, you’re going to have to clean it up even more.”

Taylor also had a response to those critics who question the relevance of the Lacey Act for instrument manufacturers: “We’re living through a time of transition from one type of economy to another economy. Many builders view the Lacey Act as flawed and more trouble than it’s worth. We’re at a tricky in-between stage, but the situation will become easier again in the future once we know what the rules are.”

“We should embrace it and go with the flow instead of trying to fight what we can’t change. If it’s good, we should see what we can do to make it better. This is just one more step toward working in a global world with a global mindset. Hopefully we can build some great guitars and do some good along the way.”

Chris Martin also commented on his company’s buying policy with regards to Madagascan rosewood, the purchase of which has caused so many problems for Gibson guitars: “What we heard was the international community has come to the conclusion that the coup created an illegitimate government. That’s when we said, ‘Okay, we can not buy any more of this wood.’”

Following a 2009 military coup which saw the overthrow of the environmentally progressive President Marc Ravalomanana, huge quantities of rosewood and ebony were stripped from Madagascar’s rapidly shrinking National Parks.

While Gibson guitars is claiming that they have legal export papers for the rosewood seized under the Lacey Act, there is little doubt that the most of the precious hardwood exported from Madagacar, post-coup, originated from protected areas and hence was illegally logged.

Quotes taken from articles in Guitar Aficionado and NPR.

GIBSON AND THE LACEY ACT – A GAME CHANGER IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY