Central Java is a long way from recessionary, wintry Teesside. In the sweltering forests of the former, villagers are learning how to grow, safeguard and eventually sell valuable timber from saplings. Mango, teak and mahogany, much of it destined for dining rooms in Britain, will be sold to local manufacturers. At the end of the wood's long journey down the supply chain, the customer will be able to check the provenance of the furniture on the internet.
 
 
Marcus Leroux - The Times, January 26, 2009
 
Central Java is a long way from recessionary, wintry Teesside. In the sweltering forests of the former, villagers are learning how to grow, safeguard and eventually sell valuable timber from saplings. Mango, teak and mahogany, much of it destined for dining rooms in Britain, will be sold to local manufacturers. At the end of the wood's long journey down the supply chain, the customer will be able to check the provenance of the furniture on the internet.
 
 
In the latter can be found James Barker, managing director of Barker & Stonehouse, a family-owned business in Middlesbrough. He believes that Indonesian communities, such as those in Java, and independent furniture retailers, such as his, have a chance to lend each other a helping hand and therefore has helped to establish the Trees-4-Trees foundation, a non-profit reforestation programme, to enable those retailers to source ethical and sustainable materials.
 
“Lots of independent companies don't have the wherewithal to put in place programmes for themselves,” Mr Barker said. “It's not that they aren't bothered about sourcing — it's just difficult for them to be able to do anything about it. It's hard for them to pay the premium.” The furniture is available through Barker & Stonehouse's eight stores in the Midlands and North and through its wholesale business.
 
Perhaps most impressive is that the scheme will enable other independent companies to harness ethical spending at a time when most are simply fighting for survival. “Ethically sourced furniture has been prohibitively expensive, especially to the independent retailer,” Mr Barker said.
 
With Trees-4-Trees, we have a range of products that are high-quality, affordable and desirable while originating from a programme that makes a real difference to communities in Indonesia. It is important to us, as the suppliers of furniture, having this link with the producers, the growers of the timber.” Under the programme more than 100,000 saplingshave been planted since it was founded 18 months ago and its furniture range is launched this month.
 
Simon Greenaway, the Australian reforestation expert who founded the programme with Barker & Stonehouse's backing, said: “Trees-4-Trees exists to make a real difference to communities in Indonesia while offering a credible ethical badge to consumers.
 
The programme gives farmers the saplings and demonstrates how they should be cultivated and sold. The foundation hopes to gain the Forest Stewardship Council kite-mark, which guarantees the sustainability of the timber, and to develop a system that allows consumers, using a unique tag that comes with the furniture they have bought, to trace it back to the plantation it came from.
 
Trees-4-Trees says that visibility over the provenance of the furniture is a key issue in ensuring that timber is ethically sourced - without it, even well-meaning consumers will inadvertently fund unsustainable practices that undermine communities.
 
The World Wide Fund for Nature estimates that up to 19 per cent of the European Union's wood-based imports are from illegal sources: after Russia, Indonesia is the most common exporter of illegal timber and Britain trails only Finland in Europe's league of illegal wood use.
 
With a slump in demand and the weak pound pushing up costs, the danger is that furniture retailers will take an ask-no-questions approach to sourcing. Yet even as conditions deteriorate, one corner of the North East sees no reason why ethical sourcing should be a victim of the downturn.