As even a quick scan of its website shows, Ecochoice more than lives up to its name.
The largely West African and Brazilian specialist timber supplier lists more than 100 tropical species in its product portfolio (plus, among other lines, western red cedar, Organowood modified Nordic pine and recycled plastic wood-look composites).
So much for the choice. As for the eco aspect, all Ecochoice’s tropical wood is FSC-certified or, in the case of French oak and other species, PEFC certified. Critically, a large number of the company’s timber varieties are also lesser known species (LKS), as they have been since its 2005 launch. The increasingly accepted environmental arguments for using these more is that it reduces supply stress on traditional market favourites. At the same time, it increases the timber offtake for a given area of certified forest, so making sustainable management more economically viable.
Ecochoice was established by managing director Mike Bekin after he visited FSC forest operations in his native Brazil.
“The work they were doing was incredible – finding a balance between having an income from reduced impact logging, while also protecting a wild and natural forest from illegal logging, encroachment and conversion to soy or cattle farming,” he said. “The main message I heard was that, while the forest offers hundreds of different species, only a handful enjoyed the attention and interest of international markets.”
He coined this ‘the mahogany effect’, whereby a handful of big name species become the market default, the pre-eminence of which it’s difficult to shake. Cambridge-based Ecochoice clearly sees as its task, and a business opportunity, to help challenge this.
The arguments for using LKS, said Mr Bekin are many and varied – and commercial as well as environmental.
“They’re cheaper and less prone to stock fluctuations than the famous few. So it just makes sense to push them as a viable alternative to any suitable enquiries we get,” he said. “Forest operators would also benefit from their take-up since their yield/ha would increase. This in turn provides vital funds to continue exploring and protecting the natural forest sustainably.”
The problem is convincing clients of the merits of these timbers – and Ecochoice’s customers range from merchants, manufacturers, builders and landscapers, to civil and marine operations.
“They’re usually relying on old and narrow species specification documents and have become risk averse,” said Mr Bekin “We need to incorporate new species into designs and specification so that the library of permissible species grows. There’s plenty of test evidence on the performance of LKS, most times even case studies of their use, albeit abroad.”
The key to widening the spectrum of species on the market, he maintained, is to use this data so timber is specified and selected based on technical characteristics rather than name only.
“We use every possible source of scientific literature to assist specifiers in incorporating LKS into their projects,” he said. “We’ll also hunt high and low for projects where our recommended LKS has been previously used. All of this with a view to assuring designers that using them is not such a great risk.”
Ecochoice’s strategy is to target the right LKS at the right specifier or user.
“We find a softer approach works best,” said Mr Bekin. “We introduce LKS to customers who seem, or could become interested.”
The company finds the aesthetics of LKS is not the major factor that ultimately wins over customers and end users. It is their proven durability, notably untreated in exterior applications.
“Our thermo modified frake cladding is often ordered for its beautiful colours,” said Mr Bekin. “But [our focus] is on actively educating customers on the natural process of weathering. Embrace the grey!”
In the current challenging market, Ecochoice actually sees opportunities for growing the LKS market.
“Right now we think the world is heading towards economic slowdown, but we’re cautiously optimistic,” said Mr Bekin. “With budgets already or set to be restricted, LKS can provide great value for money.”
BROADENING BRAZIL’S SPECIES BASIS
Brazil’s Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification Institute, Imaflora (www. imaflora.org), has drawn up a list of 30 “less commercialised, alternative” timber species it sees has having market potential – https:// bit.ly/3zAwZCF. In a recent edition of its Timberflow bulletin, it says these varieties were selected on a range of criteria, including technical performance, looks, abundance and non-vulnerability. It also highlights which more widely used species could be substituted by these alternatives – ipe by jataibepa for instance. Valorisation of the diversity of species with timber potential, it states, is essential for achieving sustainability in forest management.
