tinydancer
Diamond Member
Ok, I found this really interesting article. Gibson has since 1996 been buying certified wood.
They were the first to do so and have been highly visible with the Rainforest Alliance and have been audited on a regular basis.
This is from 2009. The CEO took a leave of absence from the Rainforest Alliance during this investigation from this raid where property was seized by no charges laid.
Gibson CEO takes leave from Rainforest Alliance board after federal raid - Nashville Business Journal
The Rainforest Alliance says its auditors last visited the Nashville plant in September 2008 and verified that Gibson purchased hard maple, mahogany and muira piranga from rain forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
The woods are used in the manufacturing of Gibsons Les Paul SmartWood and Raw Power guitars, which are sold as FSC-Pure with a certificate of authenticity from Gibson.
According to the Alliance, the wood under investigation is not FSC-certified.
The Nashville plant currently holds the Alliances Chain-of-Custody certificate. According to the Alliances Web site, the certification assures companies handling forest products as well as consumers and other end-users that the FSC-certified products they purchase are from responsible sources.
Under the certificate, Gibson also has the ability to purchase swamp ash and poplar from FSC-certified suppliers.
No other species are authorized to be sold with a FSC-certified claim under Gibsons Chain-of-Custody certificate, the Alliance said, noting that the certificate does not cover wood from Madagascar.
According to the Alliance, Gibson sources mahogany from community-managed forests set aside by the Honduran and Guatemalen governments for conservation purposes.
As a result, illegal harvesting in Honduras Rio Platano Reserve has been greatly reduced, the Alliance said. Local loggers, who once sold wood for less than 25 cents a foot, now sell to Gibson for nearly 40 times that amount.
The cooperatives selling sustainably harvested, high-grade mahogany to Gibson have dramatically increased their profits while conserving the forest around them, the Alliance said.
The Alliance has been working with Gibson since 1996, when the company introduced the first guitar ever to use FSC-certified wood: the Les Paul SmartWood Standard.
In 2007, Gibson pledged to maximize its purchases of FSC-certified wood over the following five years as part of the companys commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative.
Surely in two years the Feds would have been able to determine what the wood was and whether or not it was illegal and laid charges if that was appropriate.
They were the first to do so and have been highly visible with the Rainforest Alliance and have been audited on a regular basis.
This is from 2009. The CEO took a leave of absence from the Rainforest Alliance during this investigation from this raid where property was seized by no charges laid.
Gibson CEO takes leave from Rainforest Alliance board after federal raid - Nashville Business Journal
The Rainforest Alliance says its auditors last visited the Nashville plant in September 2008 and verified that Gibson purchased hard maple, mahogany and muira piranga from rain forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
The woods are used in the manufacturing of Gibsons Les Paul SmartWood and Raw Power guitars, which are sold as FSC-Pure with a certificate of authenticity from Gibson.
According to the Alliance, the wood under investigation is not FSC-certified.
The Nashville plant currently holds the Alliances Chain-of-Custody certificate. According to the Alliances Web site, the certification assures companies handling forest products as well as consumers and other end-users that the FSC-certified products they purchase are from responsible sources.
Under the certificate, Gibson also has the ability to purchase swamp ash and poplar from FSC-certified suppliers.
No other species are authorized to be sold with a FSC-certified claim under Gibsons Chain-of-Custody certificate, the Alliance said, noting that the certificate does not cover wood from Madagascar.
According to the Alliance, Gibson sources mahogany from community-managed forests set aside by the Honduran and Guatemalen governments for conservation purposes.
As a result, illegal harvesting in Honduras Rio Platano Reserve has been greatly reduced, the Alliance said. Local loggers, who once sold wood for less than 25 cents a foot, now sell to Gibson for nearly 40 times that amount.
The cooperatives selling sustainably harvested, high-grade mahogany to Gibson have dramatically increased their profits while conserving the forest around them, the Alliance said.
The Alliance has been working with Gibson since 1996, when the company introduced the first guitar ever to use FSC-certified wood: the Les Paul SmartWood Standard.
In 2007, Gibson pledged to maximize its purchases of FSC-certified wood over the following five years as part of the companys commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative.
Surely in two years the Feds would have been able to determine what the wood was and whether or not it was illegal and laid charges if that was appropriate.
