http://www.tonic.com/article/gibson-guitars-receivesguidance-rainforest-alliance/
By
Katie Leavitt
Efforts are being made to make sure strings are only being plucked on sustainably-sourced wood guitars.
In 2009, the
US Fish & Wildlife Service uncovered some rosewood from
Madagascar in the Gibson USA production facilities in
Nashville,
Tenn. The legality of the wood is still pending, however Gibson Chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, is making sure the company doesn't run up this tree again.
Gibson has
joined forces with the
Rainforest Alliance for help with their legality issues and to receive guidance on their wood sourcing. The goal is to eventually source from only
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forests. Gibson has also set product control measures to rid itself completely of any illegal wood coming through its supply chain.
The guitar company is banning future purchases of ebony or rosewood from Madagascar, requiring all purchases to be from documented legal sources and trying to implement alternative resources
such as composite materials and recycled woods.
In their efforts to move toward a completely FSC-certified supply, the
Gibson Foundation has provided $240,000 in support for community, indigenous and smaller enterprises working toward FSC certification in
Guatemala,
Honduras,
Nicaragua,
Peru and
Bolivia.
Knowing those sweet guitar riffs could be coming from illegal, environmentally damaging sources can quickly turn a note sour. Gibson's collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance and the company's continuing efforts to source sustainably may, in the words of The Beatles, take a sad song make it better.
Photo by Justin Brockie via Flickr
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