Artisan EcoTours
Curious what you’d experience on an Artisan EcoTour?
Take a firsthand look at the inaugural trip and hear what participants had to say:
About the program
Surveying in El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico
Woodworkers and foresters share a fascination with wood, trees and forests. Our groundbreaking Artisan EcoTour program is designed to reinforce those connections, using the natural common ground of working wood to explore our mutual passion and respect for the resources on which we all depend.
Originally inspired by Puerto Rico’s extraordinary tropical forests—and their profound challenges in the aftermath of the devastating hurricane of 2017—GreenWood partnered with the USDA/Caribbean Climate Hub to develop our EcoTour concept. Combining hands-on woodworking workshops under the guidance of expert instructors with a guided immersion in the tropical rainforest, we aim to strengthen the bond between Puerto Rico's diverse forest ecosystem and its vibrant community of wood artisans—two of the island's most valuable resources.
Our first experience, “Forests to Furniture,” featuring woodworking instructors Michael Fortune (Canada) and René Delgado (Puerto Rico), focused on furniture inspiration, design and construction. Looking forward, we plan to develop a diverse menu of collaborative workshops, featuring woodturning, sculpture, carving and lutherie—all linked to Puerto Rico’s tropical landscape. Strengthening the local artisan and forest economy, your participation in GreenWood's Artisan EcoTours will promote the island's recovery and enhance its resilience to the inevitable climate events that lie ahead.
The Artisan Ecotours promote sustainable use of wood resources and are supported in part by the USDA Forest Service Wood Innovations Program, the USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub.