Teak

Let’s have a chance to really relax on our teak sun loungers…

Relaxing on your sun lounger, think about the story behind it. Where does the wood come from, where is the forest where it grew, who are the people who living there and did they benefit from the tree being cut? These are just a few of the elements part of the sun lounger's story.

One of the most popular species used in garden furniture is Teak.  Its natural oils make it resistant to weather conditions and to insects and very durable.  

This versatility means it is very popular.  So popular in fact that teak will sometimes be sourced at any cost financially, as well as environmentally and socially.  As a result much of the products found in stores today are linked to deforestation of natural forests, to social issues and in general to very negative and damaging circumstances that, still today, many producers, manufacturers and consumers are not aware of or choose to ignore. We need to change this story.

To make sure that responsible Teak products with a better story are on offer, TFT has worked to increase the number of responsible sources.  We have helped develop viable community plantations for teak in Indonesia and Laos, helped improve the management practices of existing plantations and developed traceability systems to track the product all the way to end consumers.

These Teak projects include the successful community cooperative KHJL in Indonesia and the state plantations Perum Perhutani in Java, Indonesia.

KHJL
The KHJL - or ‘Koperasi Hutan Jaya Lestari” Cooperative for Sustainable Teak Forests' –in Southeast Sulawesi, was Indonesia’s first FSC certified cooperative.

TFT has been working with KHJL since 2003 offering technical assistance and guidance on sustainable forest management, business enterprise and helping communities delivering responsible teak to international markets.
Since achieving FSC certification in 2005, the cooperative has continued to grow - with more members, hectares of forest as well as in terms of household income.  Overall the project has brought  benefits in forest conservation and improvements in the social and economic situation for cooperative members.  Since TFT first started working with the communities, the farmers have experienced a 5 fold increase in the price they receive for their sustainably produced FSC teak logs.  This two-way relationship has benefited the cooperative members but also TFT member companies who have been able to secure responsible teak.

From a teak story mostly causing destruction and poverty, we have worked with partners and the communities to change this to story which now benefits the community and the environment.

Perhutani
Perum Perhutani (PHT) is a large Government controlled forest management company in Indonesia managing teak, as well as mahogany and pine plantations on Java since the 1960s. For most of those years the story of the products sold by PHT was story tainted with violence and social conflicts. PHT and TFT have been working in partnership since 2003 to change this story, with the aim of providing responsible teak sources to the international market and improve the lives of the communities living in and around the plantations. Reducing social problems is a big challenge in Java due to the extremely high population density. The partnership is active in six of the 57 districts that the company manages, although activities to improve the management of the company as a whole have been implemented.

Although the story can still be turbulent at times, the situation has dramatically improved and PHT is getting close to supplying responsible teak.