The following three posts [edited somewhat for clarity] come from Glenn Ashmore, a frequent poster over on rec.boats.building, and were stimulated by a query much like the one which occured on Paddlewise a couple weeks ago, to wit: "is okoume being harvested on a sustainable basis?" They are reproduced here with Ashmore's permission. Apologies to all, particularly Ashmore, if the editing I have done misconveys anything. I suspect this dialog will continue on r.b.b., for those who wish to keep it going. I am posting his remarks here because they seemed to be based on a modicum of research into the sustainability of okoume harvest, and may be useful to others. Naturally, some of his conclusions may differ from those of others who have the same facts. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR -- ONE: Subject: Re: Building and the environment Date: Tue, 07 Nov 2000 17:09:50 -0500 From: Glenn Ashmore <gashmore_at_mindspring.com> Reply-To: gashmore_at_mindspring.com Newsgroups: rec.boats.building The problem is not that the harvest is not ecologically sustainable but that logging in general provides access to the interior of primal forests which increases poaching and collateral damage. The latest stink about Okoume was primarily the results of logging plans made by one German owned company, Leroy Gabon, to cut into the center of a primal area. The Forest Stewardship Council pulled their certification a couple of years ago. There are currently over 100 companies logging in Gabon, most of which are far more responsible in their practices than most other tropical hardwood harvesters in Africa,Central and South America and SE Asia. Gabon, which has a virtual monopoly on the supply of Okoume, harvests approximately 2 million cubic meters of Okoume per year from a nation wide stock of a bit over 300 million cubic meters. At that rate it would take 150 years to harvest the existing stands. Okoume is a very sucessful self seeding tree that quickly becomes the dominant vegitation in a clearing The Gabon government also operates a fairly active reforestation program. As Okoume is a relatively fast growing member of the mahogany family, reaching harvestable stages in about 25 years, it is highly doubtful that we will run out any time soon. . Relatively speaking the woods collectively known as "luan" , meranti and even American white cedar are far more endangered. The government of Gabon is relatively stable (if corrupt) by West African standards and per capita income is the highest in the area but the entire economy is based on the export of oil and timber. If the tree huggers were to stop the harvest of okoume the economy would suffer a 10 to 15% reduction in GDP. History has shown that a poor citizenry and an unstable government will do far more damage to the environment than organized and controled harvest. In short. If you want to save the environment, buy the okoume. (The above data was summarized from reports by the US State Department, CIA and the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana) -- Glenn Ashmore I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.mindspring.com/~gashmore -- TWO: dennis meulensteen wrote: > Great sources, could you post the links, particularly to the state dept. and > CIA's info? > Dennis. Both the CIA and the State department maintain ecconomic and political summaries of all countries. State's ecconomic reports are at http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/business/com_guides/index.html The CIA Workd Factbook is at http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html I had heard conflicting stories about the environmental impact of Okoume harvests so I did a search on Altavista and Google and several environmental sites presenting the other side came up. Unfortunately most of them are in French. Search on on "Gabon and Okoume" together. "Okoume" by itself primarily comes up with plywood references. -- Glenn Ashmore I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.mindspring.com/~gashmore -- THREE (which was sent to me, not the newsgroup): Dave Kruger wrote: > Glenn, OK if I post this message and your initial response on Paddlewise, a > listserv for sea kayakers? Many of us have built stitch and glue boats of > okoume, and there has been a debate about whether okoume harvest is currently > "sustainable." You have obviously researched this more than any of us has. Sure, but be aware that it will not settle anything. While okoume is not in danger of extinction, logging of primal forest is inherently damaging. There is a fine line between responsible and irresponsible logging and the FSC attempts to define this line and influence respect for it through market pressure The factions that insist on absolute preservation of all rain forests will not be placated by this but boycotting Okoume is not the way to protect it. We became a great nation by eradicating our primal forest and the European colonial powers did the same by attacking the Sub-Saharan forests. Developing nations resent our attempts at changing the rules once they have a chance to capitalize on their own resources. The problem is the endemic corruption and poverty in the area. Corruption results in less respect for controls and poverty takes advantage of the access that logging produces which results in poaching and unwise settlement. South American hardwoods logging and government encouraged settlement cause far more damage to the environment than Okoume harvesting in Gabon. It is hard to do much about corruption but If we really want to protect the forest we have to help them them develop a better economic situation. For example, Gabon exports 97% of the Okoume as raw logs. 65% to Asia and the balance to France, Israel and Belgium. Only 3% is processed in Gabon. Increasing that to 10% with more plywood plants would proabaly double the local ecconomic benefit derived from forest products and, not altogether altruistically, probably reduce the price we pay for okoume plywood. ;-) -- Glenn Ashmore I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. 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