Welcome to the International Conservation Society's Timber Conservation Homepage.

Timber has always been a vital aspect of human civilization. It is an indispensable building material, particularly for homes and furniture. It is also needed for pulp mills to produce paper.

Present cutting practices, however, are anything but sustainable. Entire forests are being obliterated in the name of avarice and profits. Most of this occurs in the form of illegal and irresponsible logging. A good portion of this is committed by the furniture industry.

Many governments either fail to legislate responsible logging practices. Many which do still often accept bribes from offenders. This corruption is wiping out entire forests in many third world nations.

Deforestation and inadequate timber conservation also are a major form of habitat destruction, as many species of animals depend on the forests for their homes, some actually using the trees themselves as their habitat. This habitat destruction also has a direct negative impact on wildlife conservation.

There are many responsible alternatives to illegal logging. Timber can easily be farmed, or at the very least sustainably cut and always replaced before more is harvested. That the companies are too greedy and impatient to do this is reprehensibly inexcuseable. Let us each stand up to these corporate bullies and compel them to behave in a responsible manner.

Development is also another prime cause of deforestation. This can be for anything from commercial and residential development to agricultural development. Whatever the purpose, we should call for sustainable development that allows for timber conservation.

Links to be added soon. In the meantime please see the links in our forest and rainforest sections, as well as our illegal logging links on our Indonesia page for more information.