Illegally felled tropical trees near Madagascar's Masoala National Park. (Picture provided by Rainforest Rescue.)
The American Gibson company uses allegedly illegally harvested tropical ebony and rosewood to ornament its legendary guitars – and that’s got it into trouble with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which has raided Gibson plants in Nashville and Memphis twice in less than two years, most recently on 24 August.
The illegal wood is alleged to have come from Madagascar and India. Illegal felling is threatening extinction of the protected species.
It’s alleged that Gibson buys from an international wood mafia which harvests illegally in the Madagascar jungle. Madagascar’s breathtaking natural beauty is in great danger generally.
On 24 August the federal agents seized guitars of tropical wood, certified timber and documents. Gibson is alleged to have received 12 deliveries of illegal ebony and rosewood from India over two years. The previous raid in 2009 yielded rosewood illegally felled in Madagascar.
Many music stars – including John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Frank Zappa – have promoted the fame of Gibson guitars, which cost thousands of dollars.
As well as in its US factories, Gibson also makes guitars in China and most of the illegal wood from Madagascar goes there.
Gibson's chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, has defended his company's manufacturing policies, accusing the US Justice Department of bullying the company. "The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier," he said.
Many critics decry the Forest Stewardship Council as being under timber industry control. FSC's certifying bodies are paid by the companies that want to get certified, i.e. the FSC is in effect funded by the logging industry, deceiving environmentally conscious consumers.
If you’re concerned about the Gibson case, why not write to Henry Juszkiewicz, CEO Gibson Guitar Corp., 309 Plus Park Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37217, USA,
henry.juszkiewicz@gibson.com and ask him to switch to non-protected woods. In North America he has a choice of 240 varieties.
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