Supporting Reforestation & Responsible Forestry

Metropolitan Hardwood Floors supports the following programs:

Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) works to reverse rainforest destruction in Central America with direct replanting programs and training of local farmers in sustainable land-use practices.

In many tropical countries, the primary cause of deforestation is not commercial logging, but slash and burn agriculture and the use of wood for cooking fires.

In the last decade, SHI has planted more than 2 million trees in deforested areas of Central America. They have also worked to reduce new deforestation by teaching sustainable agricultural techniques and encouraging use of high-efficiency wood-conserving stoves. The combined programs are highly effective in both restoring and preserving tropical forests.

Since 1997, SHI has worked with more than 1,000 families and 900 students in Honduras, Panama, Belize and Nicaragua implementing alternatives to slash-and-burn farming, a leading cause of rainforest destruction in the region. Working with local field personnel trained by SHI, program participants have:

• Planted more than 2,000,000 trees.
• Converted 6,000 acres to sustainable uses, thereby saving 30,000 acres from slash-and-burn destruction.
• Improved nutrition through the establishment of more than 200 organic vegetable gardens.
• Increased farm income up to 800%.
• Built 165 wood-conserving stoves (saving 1,650 trees per year)

For more information, please visit www.sustainableharvest.org

Tropical Forest Foundation (TFF) is a non-profit, educational institution dedicated to the conservation of tropical forests through sustainable forestry. TFF has become widely recognized for establishing demonstration models and training schools to show the advantages and teach the principles of sustainable forest management.

The TFF was formed in 1990 as a result of a Smithsonian Institution workshop that brought together leaders of industry, science, and conservation to address the growing concern for the protection of tropical forests. The focus of the TFF is to promote tropical forest conservation and management through education and training. The key component of their program is the “Reduced-Impact Logging” (RIL). Since 1996, more than 3500 individuals from logging companies, universities, and government agencies have completed the RIL Field Training Program.

In addition to improving logging practices, TFF is engaged in research to increase the commercial value of tropical forests that have been logged. TFF also assists companies in developing chain of custody programs to ensure the legality of their log purchases.

For more information visit www.tropicalforestfoundation.org.

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