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GreenWood trains artisans to make high-quality wood products, adding value to forest resources and creating incentives to protect biodiversity.
We foster self-sufficiency by promoting sustainable forest management, the use of lesser-known species, inspired designs, skilled hand-tool production and access to markets.
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LATEST NEWS:
GreenWood Launches New Mahogany DNA Pilot
Jurassic Park: Coming Soon to a Neighborhood Near You?
by Alex Karney
From blockbuster movies to a variety of CSI-inspired crime shows, the use of genetics to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks has absorbed the popular imagination. In the 2002 Spiderman film, even Peter Parker was bitten by a genetically-modified spider, rather than the radioactive specimen that was fueled by 1960s nuclear paranoia. Such fantasies may be plausible enough to attract audiences, but they make it difficult to separate fiction from fact.
In reality, genome mapping is becoming much more accessible. The cost has fallen precipitously in the last decade, and the trend is expected to continue. What might this mean for tropical forest management?
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MaderaVerde Chief: “Outstanding Forester of the Year”
MaderaVerde Executive Director Melvin Cruz was awarded the distinction of “Outstanding Forester of the Year” by his peers. At a ceremony held on May 29, 2010, in Siguatepeque, Honduras, the College of Professional Foresters of Honduras (COLPROFORH) recognized Melvin for his “excellent service in the field of forestry science.”
Melvin is a tireless and dedicated pioneer of the social forestry movement in Honduras and an inspiration to all who have seen him in action. GreenWood extends its hearty congratulations to Melvin and his family and to all of our friends and colleagues at Fundación MaderaVerde—GreenWood’s longstanding partner in Honduras—for this well-deserved recognition.
Melvin is shown (in the vest) at center, in the photo above, with a group of indigenous Pech para-technical foresters, trained by MaderaVerde in Santa María del Carbón, Olancho, Honduras.
PlanetShifter.Com Interviews GreenWood President
Launching the New Year and a new decade, PlanetShifter.com founder Willi Paul posted an interview on January 4, 2010, with GreenWood President Scott Landis, entitled "The Sustainable Heart in GreenWoodGlobal.org: Timber-Tracking to Furniture Making." PlanetShifter is a "think tank for cutting edge green news" and, along with its companion eMagazine, GreenCatcherUnion.com, the website provides a green portal for artists, musicians, writers and inventors from around the world to post their work and exchange ideas.
Go to: www.planetshifter.com/node/1458
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Yanesha Scorp: Reinventing Traditional Tools in the Amazon
A new GreenWood tool is changing the way Yanesha carvers in the Peruvian Amazon are attacking their work. Observing the limitations of the traditional, curved hand adze, which is difficult to control and sharpen and leaves a roughly textured surface, GreenWood mentor, Brian Boggs, set about reinventing the wheel. The sculptor's adze has been in use since at least the Bronze Age, but Brian hasn't met a tool or technology he wasn't tempted to refine. A preeminent chairmaker and designer in Asheville, North Carolina, Brian has patented designs for such venerable woodworking instruments as the spokeshave and the shaving horse. At a GreenWood workshop Brian recently conducted in Peru with Yanesha artisans from the Palcázu Valley, he introduced a simple hand tool that produces a much smoother surface than the adze, with a lot less energy and risk.
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