Deforestation and mahogany use

[chris pearson]

Okay, I'm hearing that they are really ramping up cutting the forest again in the Amazon. This is hugely disturbing to me and got me wondering about South American Mahogany I occasionally use as well as runabout boat builders/restorers. I thought because it costs so much that they saw value in replanting. Anyone have insight to this and educate us here? I think since the majority of us are people that care deeply about paddling in unmolested waters that we should be asking questions like this. Thoughts?

 

[pklonowski]

Re-planting may or may not, in fact, be occurring, but how long does it take re-planted trees to reach "harvestable" size? The cycle time on sustainability may be longer than our lifespans. I use reclaimed mahogany, if at all.

 

[Fitz]

Good question. I would like to know more about this myself. I think WoodenBoat Mag did a series of articles or at least an article about mahogany and sustainable wood. I think quite a bit of genuine mahogany is farmed, but don't quote me. I almost think that buying cheaper "meranti' may be more destructive. They wholesale log everything that looks like that and sell it.

 

[dtdcanoes]

Fiji plantations have the solution it seems as they have a lot of sustainable material. I suspect we are covered here. Dave