Sustainability

What will save forests?

Operations ever made against tropical nature, from dams to roads to mining. Nevertheless, in a document signed in July 1991, the Bank undertook to stop funding any project involving tropical deforestation, giving priority instead to projects for reforestation and for the development and protection of forests. In addition, since when public opinion has become aware of the importance of tropical forests and of how dangerous it is to deforest relentlessly, the timber trade has come out with an ecological wood certificate to meet the requirements of those consumers who are more sensitive to environmental issues. The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) international certificate is the most common in the world and is supported by the leading environmental associations; FSC wood has reached Italy as well. This certificate distinguishes products made with raw materials from sustainable forests according to well-defined and verifiable criteria. In addition, it keeps track of the forest from which each lot of wood comes, despite the long way it has travelled, from the wood to the shop. This certificate has already been granted to 10 million hectares of forest in 26 countries. The timber market is also related to the paper industry. It has been calculated that, in Italy, each individual uses on average 200 kg of paper a year, which means a class of 30 pupils consumes as much paper as the weight of an adult elephant in one school year, and the source of the raw material cannot be easily tracked. If we want to save the forests, we have first of all to reduce waste and accurately separate waste for recycling. In addition, we have to choose recycled paper in lieu of "white" paper, making sure the recycled paper has been produced without ecologically harmful substances: it must therefore bear a “chlorine free” tag. In Germany there is, instead, a symbol that identifies pure recycled paper with certainty: “The blue angel”. The paper that bears this tag is 100% recycled with a poorly polluting process and has certainly not damaged any endangered forest.