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Where does the wood come from?

Kezzab

Member
Joined
18 Jan 2016
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1,492
Location
Carlisle
Just curious if anyone can shed light on where and how the various wood types that are sold are sourced? Is it sustainably done, or is some forest/bog somewhere being annihilated for our "piece of nature"?

This discussion is had about livestock, but not seen much about hardscape.

K
 
I've often thought about that too. The short answer is probably no it's not sustainable, especially as the hobby grows and demand increases. I sometimes wonder where Tom Barr gets all his manzi from, and I imagine him having to range further and further in to chaparral to find it. But I'm guessing it's treated pretty much like a weed since it has no value as timber, and is often cleared to make way for fir and pine, and to create firebreaks to prevent wildfires from spreading.

Not a wood example, but it perhaps illustrates the point... I read somewhere that Seiryu stone was originally imported from Japan, but it's no longer available due to ecological/landscape conservation concerns.
Apparently, it's been substituted by a similar rock imported from China called Yingshi for some time. But I'm not sure how true that is.
 
Just curious if anyone can shed light on where and how the various wood types that are sold are sourced? Is it sustainably done, or is some forest/bog somewhere being annihilated for our "piece of nature"?

This discussion is had about livestock, but not seen much about hardscape.

K
i hope this thread goes far.
I dont think in my years of doing forum's i have ever seen someone ask this.

Following.


Edit: can verify that seiryu is now highly illegal to export from japan.
Most of the Seiryu stones being sold outside of Japan are typically Ryouh Stones and are just commonly misidentified. Even through Ryouh Stones are still worth their lbs, there is a difference between the two.
 
I just now remembered this, and its not related to wood, but it just goes to show how some things in the hobby come to be:

I used to (about a year ago) know a guy who lived in or near thailand, forget the name of the area, was out of my vocabulary. But he used to collect wild buce, and sell it across the nation for good profit (for his location it was "good profit") and after knowing him for a while he told me he also sold endangered types of buce and some other plants. Cant remember the names (again, out of my vocab) but anyway point is he would illegally collect them and resell for decent money.

Having been in the hobby for a while and knowing a Lot of people, i know about.... 7 people that if i needed Illegal plants or things done, i could get it. But obviously i dont because
A: illegal
B: immoral as hell.


I'm not in that life, as far as tree's/wood go, i'm not sure, and i have never known anyone who wanted to sell me a rare type of wood or an endangered type at that. Etc etc. I just know plants.


*if its not obvious i dont like peeps who illegally collect/sell
 
Spiderwood comes mainly from China and or its surrounding countries, its Azalea (Rhododendron) in this region of the world this plant is already cultivated for ages by budhist monks. For it's medicinal propperty and the flowers symbolism as a gift. I believe the Chinese common name for this plant is "Think about home plant". I have to guess now, but because a shrub can gat rather big and old, nurseries cultivating it likely use the plant only till it reaches a certain age than cut it, dig it out and replant young ones again.

The roots go as a by product to the pet industry.

Wood under the name Savanna wood comes from Africa.. Mopina and Opuwa are a few i know of come under this name but there likely is more.
Probaly dug up from farming and mining fields etc. Instead of burning it, it goes around the wolrd for the pet industry again.

Yati Wood is Teak.. I guess it doesn't need explaination if you sit at or on teak furniture.

Cholla wood, is from the Cholla cactus, the flowers are edible and also have medicinal propperties. Cultivated and farmed in and arround Mexico.

Bog wood comes from the Peat mining sites wherever it is dug up.

Mangrove, grows all over the wolrd Africa has the most of it... And for example Brazil has a huge Urban mangrove site, a Manguetown build smack in the middle of a Mangrove swamp. Guess what..

There likely is much and much more, as a by product from a variety of undustrial sites. If we weren't there to buy it they would still dig it out and burn it

As Tim wold say, in it for a fast buck. :)
 
zozo

These pieces of Drift Wood are on the shore of an Australian Island just of our northern coast.
I can assure you they were not grown on that Island but another country, washed down a river then into the ocean and finishing up on the islands shore.

20041208_0656.jpg


20041208_0653.jpg


20041209_0596.jpg


The same goes for the Dug Out Canoe
20041208_0649.jpg




Keith:wave::wave:
 
@zozo interesting, but im not 100% convinced that all the wood we have access to is just a byproduct of another process. The volume for sale seems too high and consistent for that. Its a little too neat. This is just my gut feeling though.

Yes i've seen pictures, i believe it was Oliver Knot German aquascaper searching for wood in a warehouse. Several piles metres high in all sizes. i have no idea where it was, looked like asia..

But if you imagine reports about areas as big as several football fields get deforested for soy farming on a daily basis in Asia alone. I guess that would cover a large percentage of our wood. Than we still have Africa, farming and mining and South America doing the same. Not even to mention wood logging for the furniture and building industry. They all take down trees and the roots have to go somewhere too if you need the ground for other purposes.

I guess you are underestimating the numbers a bit, sizes of football fields per day per continent is quite a pile of root material as left over. :)

At least 10,000 square miles of primary forest and peatlands — the equivalent of five islands the size of Bali — have disappeared since the moratorium.
In one country only..

https://e360.yale.edu/features/despite-government-pledges-ravaging-of-indonesias-forests-continues

A trivia, long forgotten.. Can you iimagine, Spain ones was covered with huge Oak forests. Go look for them now.. Can't find them.. Its the dryest country of Europe, pretty empty in regards of forests.. All cut away to build the fleet to colonize other countries and start cutting down their propperty.. That's what people do.. Bonkers isn't it..
 
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Btw same goes for the Netherlands, also a seafaring nation, with a VOC fleet. Our country once was one big forest.. Now you can't drive a mile without seeing a building.. It's no longer a country, it's one big city.
 
You might be right. Heartwarming to know we're playing a part in the rampant deforestation of the planet...

I think it would be great if suppliers/shops provided this information as part of an attempt to become a bit more ethical/sustainable.

I find it ironic that our desire for something 'natural' in our living rooms doesnt always seem to translate into a general desire to protect wild habitats.
 
Lon time ago i had a chat with a Hippy running around yelling world peace, same rights and treatment for all poeple on the planet. We drank a beer and i got to know him a bit better, he was a fasionable hippy and his hobby was playing DJ at house parties. He liked to undulge a good life..

Than i asked him, what are you willing to sacrifice to fullfill your hippy dream you stand for so fanaticaly? He looked at me rather strange and asked what do you mean?. I said simple, in comaprance to 3th world country you live like a king..If that should be equal in every aspect to everybody on the planet, you probaly could not afford that fasionable jeans you are wearing and likely would not have a CD player to play DJ at the house party. The world is so divided you probably have to give more than 50% away from wath we have right now to give that poor chap assembling your CD player an equaly good life. It would reduce your good life for 50% to give the other half away. Are you willing to sacrifice that?

He said you are to honest mate i don't want to talk to you anymore.. And i answered Ok kid go on living your dream.. ;)
 
I don't know if it has to do with beeing guilty.. I'm rather tankfull to mother nature winning the lotery and beeing born where i was born.. I didn't ask for it..
I feel like doing enough possitive and try to be as responsible as possible.. But to change the world, change humanity?. I'm afraid words don't do it and in regard of action it takes collectivity.. But survival of the fitest is a rather selfish instinctive concept we can't get around. It's probably something the majority of todays generation in the west doesn't think about because they never suffered a day beeing realy hungry.
 
The thing is though, even if these are just normal by products from other industries, is it the best thing to be shipping them half way around the world so we can use them in our tanks. For me it would be better to use locally sourced materials that are probably abundant and not damaging to the environment. Rock and wood weighs a lot and I've seen pictures of containers stack high, with each size of each type of wood filling them. These warehouses go on for seemingly ever and there are lots of them in China (check out aquarium product sourcing in China vlog on youtube).
But that comes from someone who is not a true aquascaper. I don't have the skill or wish to create a lovingly crafted scape with a specific type of rock that I've seen the great masters using. So getting a local rock with less character isn't an issue, nor is using wood that I've pruned from my fruit trees or picked up in the woods, as I know I won't see them under the plants if all goes well.
 
I sometimes wonder where Tom Barr gets all his manzi from, and I imagine him having to range further and further in to chaparral to find it
He has actually seek local authority permission to collect it, has a fire prevention method of eliminating the dry wood. Lucky guy :)
 
But that comes from someone who is not a true aquascaper. I don't have the skill or wish to create a lovingly crafted scape with a specific type of rock that I've seen the great masters using. So getting a local rock with less character isn't an issue, nor is using wood that I've pruned from my fruit trees or picked up in the woods, as I know I won't see them under the plants if all goes well.
I'd agree with this. I haven't bought wood or rocks for a few reasons - a) i'm tight fisted and they are EXPENSIVE! b) i'm fortunate to live in a part of the UK that is overflowing with wood and rocks c) sustainability etc

I appreciate that i can be accused of whistling in the wind on the last point, but it makes be feel fractionally less bad about everything else.
 
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