Betterwood at Yale University

At the conference “Tropical Forests in a Connected World: Collaborative Solutions for a Sustainable Future” at the renowned Yale University in Connecticut (USA). Betterwood invited to show the perspective of European consumers for the first time.

Every year the event is organized by "The Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters" organized. Guests and scientists discuss and exchange ideas about sustainability and forestry.

Christian Körting (Managing Partner) represented our company at the conference with his presentation “Sustainable Timber Trade in Germany”. Betterwood is an example of how sustainability can be promoted in the forestry and timber industry and is economically worthwhile.

It was an interesting exchange because we showed the European end customer and commercial customer perspective for the first time. The scientists, the WWF, Rainforest Alliance, The Forest Dialogue, CIFOR and certifiers such as SGS were therefore very interested in how German end customers and commercial operators react to the offer of wood from sustainable forestry.

Consumer power

It has become clear again and again that raising awareness of the problems in the tropical rainforests increases the demand for wood from sustainable forestry. The forest will only survive if the indigenous population can use the rainforest to earn a living in a resource-saving manner. Otherwise it will be completely cleared for short-term profit.

What remains is arable land that is no longer fertile after a few years, areas for livestock farming or palm oil plantations - where the rainforest that is vital to our climate once stood. The customer therefore has the power to change the market in the timber industry too. Without the end customer's demand for sustainable products, it would hardly be possible for NGOs and local governments to preserve the forest as an ecosystem.

Christian Körting also emphasized in his presentation how important the partnerships with organizations such as the FSC, the STTC, the GFTN of the WWF and the GD Holz association are for Betterwood are: Cooperations help to publicize and strengthen sustainability in the timber business.

Innovation award for Prey Lang

The 2017 Innovation Award from the Yale School of Forest and Environmental Studies went to the initiative "Prey Lang - It's our forest too"They are committed to preserving the forest in Cambodia - and are fighting for it with creative means. For example, with a mobile phone app. However, the initiative has so far received little support from other government NGOs and the work for the forest takes place under life-threatening circumstances. The initiative has been threatened for years and there have even been deaths.

We are all the more pleased that Prey Lang has received the award this year and is thereby encouraging other people to preserve the forest ecosystem for humanity.