Welcome! Paul Harrison Technical Advisor to Mpingo Conservation - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Welcome!

Paul Harrison

Technical Advisor to Mpingo Conservation Project

Sound & Fair: A Campaign Developed in Partnership

Sound & Fair ~ A campaign to realise a sustainable trade in African blackwood

For people living in the forests of Southern Tanzania, the African Blackwood tree has the potential to be worth its weight in gold.

Enormous Potential of Blackwood...

Strip away the bark however and something extraordinary is revealed........dark, lustrous heartwood

.... a hidden treasure

East African Blackwood, known in Swahili as Mpingo Named after intense dark heartwood Thought to be the original ebony

• f the ancient Egyptians

What is African Blackwood?

Unsustainable rate of Logging

Blackwood grows all across sub-Saharan Africa … … but only in significant quantities in Tanzania and

• Mozambique. None left in

Kenya Not much in northern Tanzania ...going fast in southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique

Disappearing Forests

First all the valuable hardwoods are cut... Then undersized trees... ....Make charcoal with what’s left ...Remaining scrub cleared for agriculture

Not much in it for communities

Current logging is unsustainable: + 70% is illegal, some areas Shameful price paid to local people If people own the forest, corruption harder – people then have an interest in good forest management

Not much incentive for communities in the past

Communities were previously apathetic about illegal harvesting Blackwood has various local uses … … but for most there are good substitutes

What price a few trees?

Top quality teaks and mahoganies cost around £4,500 per m3 Export quality blackwood costs upwards of £8,000 per m3 A good oboe might cost £2,500 in the shop But the village only gets two pence for the wood

Where MCP works

Tanzania

Kilwa District

Research Based Beginnings...

• “Cambridge

Mpingo Project” 1995 -

• Became MCP in

2002

• Ecological

Research

• Attitudes and Uses

The Mpingo Conservation Project: Objectives & Activities

Community Forestry Rural Development Awareness Raising Priority Research

Instrument Supply Chain

xxx

Starts with village Then loggers Sawmill & Export Import & Export Manufacturing Wholesale/Distribution Retail

Timeline of Supply Chain

Participatory Forest Management

Steps to Community Forest Management

• 1. Obtain a title deed to

the village land

• 2. Assess the forest
• 3. Write a management

plan

• 4. Enact byelaws
• 5. Obtain approval

PARTICIPATION IS ESSENTIAL!

The next stage is the logging - the loggers are usually contracted by a sawmill And the sawmill which turns the best parts of the wood into billets and exports them

Logging & Sawmill

The next stage is the export, the shipping and the import of processed billets Which are bought by Manufacturers Some manufacturers retail direct

Export, Import, Manufacture

The final stages are in the sale from manufacturer to either retailer or wholesaler…. …from wholesaler to retailer in music shops and specialist retailers …& sold to musicians Simple.

Wholesale, retail

Follows the supply chain Group forest management rights of MCP Community forest monitored by MCP Loggers Union part of this Sawmill has own Chain of Custody certificate CoC certificates required across supply chain

Certification

Chain of Custody

Our aim therefore to be giving villages At least £4.50 on a £1,100 oboe (not 1p) Rising to £25 on a £1500 oboe as the market takes shape Not a lot? An Oboe: 00014 of a cubic metre...

Fair Economics

Economics of Sound & Fair: Without any PFM/Certification

0% 0% 0% 0% 70% 7% 8% 15% Price Paid to Village by Sawmill A Price Paid to Sawmill by Exporter A Price Paid to Exporter by Importer A Price Paid to Importer by UK Manufacturer A Price Paid to UK Manufacturer by Distributor A Price Paid to Distributor by Retailer A Retailer Take (exc VAT) A VAT inclusive (Sales Price) A

Village gets one penny on the oboe RRP of £900

Economics of Sound & Fair: With PFM/Certification

Village gets £4.50 on the oboe RRP of £1,100

0% 0% 0% 0% 67% 8% 10% 15% Price Paid to Village by Sawmill C Price Paid to Sawmill by Exporter C Price Paid to Exporter by Importer C Price Paid to Importer by UK Manufacturer C Price Paid to UK Manufacturer by Distributor C Price Paid to Distributor by Retailer C Retailer Take (exc VAT) C VAT inclusive (Sales Price) C

Forests are Life

“Msitu ni uhai” Poor rural communities depend heavily on forest resources in their everyday lives. & with forests making money for communities, they are not only life, but livelihoods

Profitable trade, with managed benefits for African people

Profits will be used by village committees typically to: Drill a new well Replenish the drugs dispensary Build a new classroom Hire some extra teachers Repair the road Invest in local businesses

• 1. Provide forest

dependent people with the security and support needed to harvest the trees at sustainable rates – the sound part;

• 2. Help forest-dependent

people get the best possible price for the wood – the fair part.

A reminder of Sound & Fair Campaign Objectives

Woodwind Musicians Manufacturers Music Retailers Music Colleges Universities Music Events Ethical trade events & Aim for Quality & Aesthetics throughout

Target Audience

Tim Cumine

Timber trade specialist & consultant to Fauna & Flora International

Fylde Guitars Mark Norris Harps Wm Sinclair & Son, Bagpipes

African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) mpingo, grenadilla, (East African) ebony

Or in other words…

…African ironwood, ebbehout, ebene de

Mocambique, ebenier du Senegal, ebony, grenadill, grenadillo, Mozambiq ue ebony, palisandre de Senegal, schwarzholz, Senegal ebony, zebrawood

…babanous, babanuse, babanusi, begboio, bokango, chella, chilutsu, chinsale, dalaban, dialambram, dialam bani, did, dieldianadju, driedoring, endisika, faiti, funiti, gelhelahi, gembe, kafundula, kalgalam, kasalusalu, kel to, Kidamo , kikwaju, Kinti , kio, kissikiinde, koffo, jalh elahi, jeti- ebo, lurr, masojanda , mboranguluwe, mfwankomo, m gembe, mgembya , mhembete, mhembote , mhingo , minday , mkelete, moghano, moghono, mokelete, m

• tangu, msalu, muengo, mufulamba, mufunjo, muhulur

i, mugembe, mugweze, muhati, mukudziti, mukumudw e, mukelete, mumbeze, mumhingwe, munhowe, mupa ko , murwiti, musukachama, musunkomo, mutsonga, muvingu, mwajinde , mwengo, ngembi , ndelemban, n gelgelalu, nyamfunga , nyamfunza, oitiaska , oitlaska , pau preto, poyi, pulupulu, q'oya, red, rit, rugbe, samachi, s ebrahuot, shami, shilutsi, shipalatsi, siebou, swartdried

• ring, tabum, tamumo, tarech, tareh, umbambangwe,

umPhingo, zebe, zibeh, zobbi, zoppi.

Boxwood Flute (1800) and Oboe (1843)

from the New York Times, 15th October 1895

Cocuswood…

…from the Caribbean, was the wood of choice

for woodwind instruments until about 1900, when it was effectively logged out as a commercial species and the alternative found to replace it was East African Ebony, or African Blackwood.

Of 87 timbers in use in UK instrument making, blackwood had the following rankings..

• Bending strength – 1st
• Density - 2nd
• Hardness - 5th
• Crushing strength – 10th
• Shearing Strength – 2nd
• Stiffness – 10th

Clarinets

Oboe & Cor Anglais

Highland Bagpipes

Scottish Smallpipes

Uilleann or Union Pipes

Northumbrian Pipes

Flute & Piccolo

Recorders Whistles

Acoustic Guitars

Guitar fingerboard / Picks / Lute pegs

Timber requires an absolute minimum of 15 months seasoning before an instrument can be produced from it.

Alternative woodwind timbers include, kingwood, co cobolo, ebony, mopa ne, boxwood and a range of fruitwoods

• Global consumption

=150 – 200 m3 / yr

• 20 makers in UK

= 20 m3

• 9 out of 20 interested

in 2006 < 1m3

• Average 25% price

increase

Makers’ Concerns

• Form
• Dimension

• Structural integrity
• Colour
• Grain

Waste Minimisation

Better supply

• cylinders, pre turned,
• gun drilled
• better dimensions

Use of offcuts

• Accessories
• Other Craft uses
• Oil
• Composite

Certification Requirements

• Separation of

Timber

• Volumes in

and out

• Correct

labelling

• Correct use of

certificate

Prospects

• UK trades under

pressure from other markets

• Few certified

instruments globally

• Option of bringing
• ther timbers –

Tanzanian and elsewhere into certification

Photography

Mike Taylor / FFI

With additional photography from

Backun Musical Services, Steve Ball, Stephen Barber & Sandi Harris, Bell Forest Products, Tony Bingham, Phil & Cathie Bleazey, John & Belinda Burke, Dolmetsch, Martin Doyle Flutes, Peter & Joanna Eaton, Richard Evans, Fylde Guitars, Gilmer Wood Co., Julian Goodacre, Andrew Gordon – Maclean, Anne-Marie Gregory, Paul Harrison, TW Howarth & Co, Camilla Iturra / FFI, Ian Ketchin, Luthiers Mercantile International, MacCallum Bagpipes, Adele Marie / Mawazo Art Gallery, Mid East Ethnic Instruments, Hamish & Fin Moore, Monastic Woodcraft, Theodor Nagel, Mark Norris Harps, George Ormiston Flutes, Pamela’s Musical Instruments, Gerald Shepherd, Wm Sinclair & Son, Sleipner Guitars, Ray Sloan, Yamaha.

Lizzie Wilder

Programme Officer - Biodiversity and Human Needs Fauna & Flora International

Fauna & Flora International acts to conserve threatened species and ecosystems world-wide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, are based on sound science, and take account of human needs.

FFI and the Mpingo Conservation Project

A reminder of what we are aiming for in this new campaign: Sound - African blackwood creates a quality of sound and tone like no

• ther…

Fair - FSC instruments will be sold with a price premium – a small addition to the cost that will be given directly to the forest-dependent people to help them improve their lives… A small price to pay.

Working towards...

• Ensuring economic growth for

Tanzanian communities

• Safeguarding the forests and

timber species of southern Tanzania

• Guaranteeing a sustainable supply
• f high quality blackwood for

musicians ..... so that we may still hear the sound of blackwood clarinets and oboes and the like for generations to come

Visit www.sustainableblackwood.org

• r contact us for more information at

enquiries@mpingoconservation.org Thank you all for coming!