Gibson Guitars Receives Guidance From 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