Wood conservation

Irish Flute
1

Since this got buried in a thread about flute cases and which might turn some folks off, I thought it might be good to start this one.

I’ve learned from one poster here that Patrick Olwell donates $10 of each flute’s price to the African Blackwood Conservation Project, and Dave Copley reports that he’s considering something similar.

Info on the project (thanks, Dave Copley!) can be had at:

http://www.blackwoodconservation.org/

Do other makers out there support this effort, as well, or try to ensure that their woods come from sources that support the conservation of these trees?

Although it wouldn’t be the only factor in my choosing a particular flute, I’d be more likely to put my money with a maker who actively participated in such efforts, to ensure that the blackwood trees remain in Africa, and that there will be sufficient wood to provide for instruments for years to come without seriously harming the environment.

Thanks for the info, guys, and thanks in advance for any additional sources.

–Aaron

2

While it’s great that some makers are contributing to this cause, I see it as more the customer’s responsibility. Why are those trees cut down? Because flute players want to play blackwood flutes. The makers buy the wood that the players want. The customers are the ultimate force driving the cutting of these trees. If nobody wanted blackwood instruments, the trees would remain standing (unless of course they’re cut down for other purposes)

Makers certainly have an interest in blackwood conservation, because they want to ensure a continuing supply or, in some cases, because they want to minimize the environmental impact of their business. But I think flute owners need to recognize their role in the equation.

If Flute Maker X doesn’t contribute to the blackwood conservation fund, no big deal: you can always make a contribution yourself when you purchase the flute. It’s a great idea, thanks for bringing it to our attention.

[ This Message was edited by: bradhurley on 2003-02-19 13:28 ]

3

[quote]
On 2003-02-19 13:19, bradhurley wrote:

Makers certainly have an interest in blackwood conservation, because they want to ensure a continuing supply or, in some cases, because they want to minimize the environmental impact of their business. But I think flute owners need to recognize their role in this.

[quote]

Absolutely. But as customers may be unaware of the precarious status of blackwood (I wasn’t until I read some posts on this board a while back), I appreciate those makers who draw attention to and support the conservation efforts, as well.

Certainly you’re right, though, that responsibility lies with the customer, as well. The demand-side of the equation is as important as the supply-side.

4

Good point (about educating customers) One good way might be for the blackwood conservation society to print one-page informational brochures, along with a donation form, that flute makers could slip into the flute box when they ship their flutes to customers.

Makers might also consider offering matching donations up to a set amount: if the customer contributes $10, the maker will contribute another $10, for example.

5

First, I think conservation efforts are indeed very important, and I think it an honorable and praiseworthy thing to support and donate to such efforts both for makers and for players.

That said, I can’t help but point out that only a tiny fraction of instrument-grade blackwood is used for flutes. Far more is used for other orchestral woodwinds such as clarinets and oboes.

Best wishes,

–James
http://www.flutesite.com

6

Here is some of the information I have been able to piece together on the status of African blackwood. The species is widespread in Africa, but generally grows as a small shrub. There are small regions in Tanzania and Mozambique where it grows large enough to be useful for making instruments. It is slow-growing, and takes about 70 years to grow large enough for cutting.

The main reason for concern is that not enough young trees are reaching maturity to replace the ones that are being cut. One major cause of this is wildfires, which the mature trees can survive, but the young trees cannot. The incidence of fires has increased with population pressure. Some fires are accidental, and some are set to clear land for agriculture.

An associated problem is that only a tiny fraction of the income from sale of blackwood ever finds its way back to the local economy of the growing region, so there is not much economic incentive for protection or conservation.

Governments have recently begun to regulate the cutting and exporting of blackwood, requiring licenses for cutting, and issuing quotas. They are also trying to promote the export of processed or value-added products rather than raw lumber (get ready for the Tanzanian flute!!).

The African Blackwood Conservation Project appears to be doing a very effective job in raising awareness at the local level, and setting up replanting projects. Their office in the US is run by hard-working volunteers. The ABCP works in Tanzania - I have not heard of any similar organization in Mozambique.

James made a good point that the amount of wood used by flute makers is small compared to clarinet and oboe manufacture. A cubic meter of wood is enough to make 600 flutes, so I would guess that one decent sized tree could supply all of the world’s flute makers for a year or so.

Dave Copley
Loveland, Ohio

[ This Message was edited by: dcopley on 2003-02-19 21:57 ]

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Have any of the conservationists looked at growing blackwood in any other region than Tanzania? Can those trees survive or thrive in other environments?

I think it would be neat not only to slip a tenner to the cause, but to try to grow one of the trees around home, just for grins. Something to tell your grandkids, “Just think kids, one of these days that tree will grow up to be a flute”. Can you even get the seeds, or seedlings, over here?

8

Great info! Thanks.

I passed on a link to this thread to the ABCP

9

On 2003-02-19 23:35, Ronbo wrote:
Have any of the conservationists looked at growing blackwood in any other region than Tanzania? Can those trees survive or thrive in other environments?

I remember reading that the trees are very persnickety about their growing environment, and that nobody has succeeded in growing them in plantations. Most attempts to cultivate them anywhere have failed.

10

The baroque flutemakers Folkers and Powell put out a newsletter called The Traverso that recently had a very interesting article about blackwood and the challenge of conservation. The article appears in the sole issue of the newsletter that is available for free downloading on the F&P website.

The issue of conservation is certainly weighing into my decision with regard to a keyed flute. I’m on Hammy Hamilton’s list for a keyed flute, but I’m wondering whether to have my existing flute retrofitted with post-mounted keys or to have Hammy build me a new block-mounted body. The environmental impact of post mounting appears to be significantly smaller, since it would not require the consumption of another (larger diameter) piece of blackwood for the block-mounted body. The tradeoff between aesthetics and environmental responsibility is a tough one. I’m leaning toward the post-mounts at the moment.

11

Yep, that other thread was getting really hard to take.
My opinion on the blackwood situation is that probably most of the danger to the blackwood supplies comes from human ignorance. As with all ignorance, I do not see how throwing money at the problem is going to solve it. Clearing land for agriculture mostly means grazing of animals for slaughter. That will not change as long as the third world countries want to copy the rich and opulent American and European diet.
So, the solution I see is growing the wood in a more hospitable environment. We have done that with cashews and even kiwis. So, blackwood farms should be springing up in different places as soon as American ingenuity takes over. Can’t see the conservation effort working in Africa though unless there is a huge influx of dollars and I mean huge dollars from western countries. It all boils down to money and I don’t mean $10 here and there.

12

The loss of habitat in Africa has arguably more to do with an exploding population than with beef consumption in general. The traditional diet (which is still the norm in such areas) requires arable land for the production of sorghum, corn (“maize” to those of you across the pond, “mealies” to those in English-speaking Africa), and whatever other crops are important to a given group. Certainly arguable is the proliferation of beef consumption in highly developed urban areas, but these are Westernised and not the overall norm. So-called “bush meat” is day in and day out offered in nearly every market because the availabilty and cost of domesticated meat sources is out of reach to the average African. This further exacerbates the environmental problems Africans have to face; much bush meat is reported to include endangered species, notably among those primates hunted, just so that people can hope to feed their families. The situation is a matter of concern; most populations that tend cattle and/or goats use them primarily for milk, and cannot afford to sacrifice such assets except under special conditions such as weddings, etc.

I believe that it is incorrect to assert that a taste for Big Macs or Boeuf Bourguignon is the culprit here. The simple need for more land just to get by with the status quo, however, is.

N, takes in a big breath

13

A few notes from a (somewhat dated) fact sheet on Dalbergia melanoxylon, from the Tanzania Forestry Research Institute:

"Dalbergia melanoxylon is not gregarious and may be difficult to establish in pure plantations.. Rapid loss of seed viability (seeds remain viable for only a few months) might also make it difficult to establish plantations in new areas.

"The species is extremely slow-growing: trees obtain timber size in 70 to 100 years.

“Logs are almost invariably defective and the wastage is considerable in conversion to top-grade dimension stock.”

I remember reading elsewhere (I think in a Scientific American article) that efforts to establish plantations had failed, and that the tree had proven to be virtually impossible to cultivate. The fact sheet from the Tanzanian Forestry Research Institute says that some success had been reported in planting two-year-old stumps during the rainy season.

These trees are a valued economic resource in Africa, I doubt anyone’s cutting them down frivolously. As long ago as 1993, round logs were going for up to $18,000 per cubic meter, according to the fact sheet (I wonder if that’s a typo?), though of course we can guess that only a small portion of such prices went back to local landowners.

[ This Message was edited by: bradhurley on 2003-02-20 15:30 ]

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On 2003-02-19 21:53, dcopley wrote:
The African Blackwood Conservation Project appears to be doing a very effective job in raising awareness at the local level, and setting up replanting projects.

A laudatory effort. Quite a lot can be done by a few dedicated people if they have the resources. (As a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator who’s seen firsthand the real good that can be done even by fairly small groups, I’m always heartened by the successes of others working for the general good.)

James made a good point that the amount of wood used by flute makers is small compared to clarinet and oboe manufacture.

Still, even small efforts can have good effect, as wwll as educating others to the problem at hand.

A cubic meter of wood is enough to make 600 flutes, so I would guess that one decent sized tree could supply all of the world’s flute makers for a year or so.

Well, except that according to the Blackwood Conservation Project’s website, about 90% of milled wood is rejected as scrap before it’s even sold to instrument makers, and then an additional 20% or so is discarded due to faults discovered during manufacturing. So for every finished blackwood instrument, nine or more instrument blanks are created and discarded. Agreed, though, that the amount of wood used to produce our flutes is almost trivial compared to that used in other instruments.

Also from the website:

Most of the mpingo harvested in eastern Africa goes to the music trade, its primary economic use. Some rough estimates, such as cited in the “Tree of Music” video, say that there are about 3 million mpingos in Tanzania. Of these, only about 600,000 are suitable for the music trade. Since there are between 20,000-30,000 trees harvested per year, one can calculate that there only remains a 20-30 year supply of harvestable mpingo. Of course, other trees growing may mature into suitable candidates for harvesting, but the natural regeneration of mpingo has been negatively impacted by the increasing pressure of human activity. Set-fires, for agricultural purposes, have a considerable impact on the mpingo population, since its natural resistance to fire is not strong enough to resist the human-set fires which are more intense and occur more often than natural fires."

So whereas harvest for instrument making is certainly a pressure, it’s only part of the problem. However, it’s the part of the problem we can directly affect through our responsible action as musicians and makers. Let us hope that the other pressures, noted already by Nanohedron and others – population growth, agricultural practices, etc. – don’t outpace the conservation efforts.

15

“American Inginuity will step in…”

Dalbergia Melanoxylon seedlings cost like $5 each, plus Phyto certificate to ship of the Island.

http://www.agroforester.com/futfor/pricelist.html#Anchor-4168