Furch Guitars has formed a partnership with the Panamanian indigenous community Arimae, dedicated to protecting local tropical forests and cultivation of exotic woods, the Czech Republic based maker reports. Under the partnership, Furch will provide the community with financial assistance to care for six hectares of exotic woods, the annual growth of which corresponds to the guitar maker’s yearly production needs.
Every year, Furch makes approximately 8,000 guitars, which on average requires 43 cubic meters of exotic woods. The company says exotic woods account for two thirds of all materials used in the manufacture of acoustic guitars – the making of one acoustic guitar requires 0.00734 cubic meters of materials, including waste, of which exotic woods account for 0.00537 cubic meters.
‘In view of its production needs, Furch has established partnerships with the Panamanian company Planting Empowerment and with the Arimae community, where the aim is to replenish the amount of wood the guitar maker uses in the production process with a view that ensures environmental sustainability. Under the partnership, Furch will provide the community with financial assistance to care for four hectares of cocobolo (dalbergia retusa) and two hectares of mahogany (swietenia macrophylla), where average annual growth amounts to 39 cubic meters’ the maker says.
‘Even though wood is the most easily renewable raw material in the world, we must treat it with respect and preserve it for future generations. By forging a new partnership with the Arimae community, we want to compensate nature as well as society for the amount of wood we consume. Apart from cocobolo and mahogany, we plan to extend our support to other wood species in the future,’ says Furch Guitars CEO Petr Furch.
The new partnership is a part of Furch Guitars’ broader concept for environmental protection. All woods used in the manufacture of Furch guitars come from verified suppliers. In addition, a number of models are made from materials that provide an alternative to exotic woods. An example is black walnut, which is used for the back and sides of a number of models instead of Indian rosewood. Furch says it plans to expand its activities in this area by the introduction of various ecological processes and technologies. For example, several years ago, Furch developed the Full-Pore High-Gloss Finish, a state-of-the-art alternative to traditional solvent-borne finishes, which contains no chemical solvents and causes no air pollution.
Info: www.furchguitars.com
