The Sound & Fair campaign took a major step forward at the end of June 2010, when a batch of the world’s first FSC-certified African blackwood was processed at a Tanzanian sawmill.
The timber was cut into woodwind instrument billets at Sandali Wood Industries, Tanga, ahead of importation to the UK by Klicksi Ltd. Read More
The EU has reached agreement on new legislation that will ban the importation of illegal timber by 2012.
EU companies will be obliged to carry out “due diligence” on their timber supply chains to ensure that imported timber is legally harvested.
Companies that fail to comply with the regulations will face fines based on the environmental damage caused by the activities.
“Substantial penalties would apply in cases of non-compliance, which could be calculated on the basis of environmental damage caused,” the European Parliament said in a statement.
It is hoped that the new legislation will have a similar impact in the EU as the Lacey Act has had on the timber market in the US, where high-profile companies including Gibson Guitars have face investigation.
MEPs and the European Council have reached a provisional agreement that there should be a “prohibition” on illegal timber in the EU and MEPs will vote on the proposal in July before it is presented to the European Council in the autumn.
Finnish Green MEP, Satu Hassi, said: “I am delighted that the Parliament was able to secure fundamental improvements to the draft regulation on illegally harvested timber.”
Celebrated oboeist and conductor, Nicholas Daniel, has become the Patron of Sound & Fair, a campaign that aims to persuade the woodwind industry to use sustainably harvested African blackwood, the key component in the manufacture of oboes, clarinets and other woodwind instruments.
African blackwood was once common across east Africa but is now confined to a small area of southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique. The disappearance of the species threatens the livelihoods of some of world’s poorest people who rely almost entirely on the resources of the forest for their survival.
Sound & Fair and it’s international partners, are now promoting a source of sustainably harvested timber, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and Nicholas Daniel has committed his support to persuade both instrument manufacturers to use it and consumers to demand instruments made from it. Read More
The Sound & Fair campaign was featured in the Observer on Sunday 7 June 2010.
Read the story written by Lucy Siegle on the Guardian website.
The new Conservative – Liberal Democratic government coalition has made a pledge to introduce measures to make the import or possession of illegal timber a criminal offence. Read More
Sound & Fair has launched a partnership with Just Forests, an Irish non-governmental organisation, to raise awareness of the availability of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified African blackwood, which is widely used in traditional Irish musical instruments.
African blackwood is the most commonly used wood in the manufacturing of instruments such as traditional Irish flutes, as well as other woodwind instruments such as clarinets, oboes and bagpipes. Read More
The achievement of the Mpingo Conservation Project in facilitating the world’s first FSC certified African blackwood harvest has been recognized in Oryx, a conservation journal published by Fauna and Flora International. Read More
Clarinet players will soon have the choice of buying environmentally and socially sustainable instruments after Hanson Clarinets became certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in March 2010.
The FSC-certification of Hanson Clarinets, the UK’s largest clarinet manufacturer, completes the world’s first FSC chain of custody for sustainably harvested African blackwood. Read More
Representatives from the Sound & Fair campaign will be attending Musikmesse, the world’s largest music industry conference, in Frankfurt, Germany, from 24-27 March 2010, to lobby the woodwind industry to adopt Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) principles. Read More
EU VOTES BY HUGE MAJORITY FOR BAN ON ILLEGAL TIMBER
The European Parliament has voted overwhelming to pass legislation banning the import and sale of timber obtained through illegal logging.
The parliament voted 644-25 in favour of the legislation, paving the way for the new rules to come into effect from 2012. Read More »