Would you ever consider upholstering a chair in tiger or panda fur? I am sure you are saying “No!” at this moment and recoiling at the thought.
Why wouldn’t you consider the use of these materials? Because these animals are endangered and we know that to kill them is to destroy the last of their species. Did you know that there are tree species that are similarly endangered, tree species that we specify daily for furniture, flooring, and interiors?
Here are some statistics that may surprise you:
- There are approximately 25,000 tree species in the world
- 10 percent of all tree species are endangered, meaning they are threatened with extinction—1,000 individual species qualify as critically endangered.
- 25 percent of all tree species are threatened, meaning their numbers have decreased significantly but not to the point of being endangered.
What can we do? Start with awareness!
Every time you touch wood, take a second to ask yourself, "What species is this? What is the species status? Where did it come from? What are the forestry practices there?"
Not enough of us are familiar with the status of tree species. How can we know if a species is threatened or endangered?
The CITES list is a resource that every designer should learn to use to inform themselves about the status of the species they specify. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an annually updated document which contains over 34,000 endangered plant and animal species.
It is written by the IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The IUCN REDD list identifies the most critically threatened species. The CITES list is searchable by species name, common name and by geographic region; it compiles invaluable information about threatened and endangered species that can't be found elsewhere.
If our goal is to "do no harm" to the unique but disappearing species of flora and fauna that populate our planet, the first step is to be fully aware of what wood we are using, where it comes from, and its status. Referring to these lists should become common practice.
The Eames lounge, made by Herman Miller, used to come in rosewood. Because the species is endangered the company stopped manufacturing the chair in rosewood in 1991.
