Gibson and Rainforest Alliance: SmartWood management from first cut to finished guitar
C - Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Rainforest Alliance reps on site in Guatemala
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When guitarists take possession of a Gibson guitar containing SmartWood/FSC-certified wood, they are acquiring more than a beautiful, handcrafted instrument. They are joining Gibson’s commitment to the environment, as the final link in a chain of responsibility that extends back through Gibson’s manufacturing process, through the wood vendors, all the way back to the harvesting and milling of mahogany trees in Guatamala.

 

Ten years ago Gibson began working with the Rainforest Alliance, whose SmartWood program audits the forest management and chain of custody of certified wood to the standards of the Forestry Stewardship Council(FSC). Gibson introduced the SmartWood Les Paul in 1996 to symbolize this new commitment and to raise industry awareness of the need for responsible forest management. Since then, Gibson has quietly moved closer and closer to a goal of 100 percent certified wood, and the majority of Gibson products now have SmartWood certified content.

 

The Rainforest Alliance is playing a major role in accelerating Gibson’s progress through the work done by staff in  Guatamala, Gibson’s primary source of certified mahogany, and bringing Gibson into closer relationships with the wood suppliers. Rainforest Alliance people in the Peten region have been training the community and the local sawmills to mill mahogany to Gibson’s particular needs. Pieces that in the past would have been thrown away are now milled for Gibson guitar neck stock in the community of Uaxcatunk, for example, which increases the yield from every mahogany tree.
Rainforest Alliance representatives check out a mahogany log destined for Gibson 

 

 

In addition, the Rainforest Alliance is introducing Gibson to suppliers in Nicaragua and Honduras who are in the process of working towards FSC certification process, thereby opening up new sources of high quality mahogany for Gibson guitars.
 

A mahogany log, ready to be cut into neck stock

 

“It’s not just a matter of doing the right thing as a corporate citizen of the world,” said Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz. “It’s good business – and the ultimate level of quality control – to have Rainforest Alliance representatives there at the ‘birth’ of the materials that we use in manufacturing. Thanks to the Rainforest Alliance, we can ensure that our materials are optimized not only for Gibson guitars but for the future of our environment as well.”
 

 
 

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