Cameroon
Decolvenaere is OLB certified, which guarantees full traceability of the origin of wood, sustainable forest management and 100% legal and verified sourcing of hardwoods such as ayous and fraké from their own Cameroonian tenure. The highest requirement is traceability. Each tree must have its own ID stating the height and width of the tree. GPS coordinates have to be assigned to every tree, which are then indicated on a map. All of this leads up to infallible traceability of each cut tree.
OLB is a licenced European system for verifying the legality of wood.
Cameroonian sourcing process
Which trees will be cut is stipulated and presented to the OLB board each year. After approval, the following steps need to be carefully caried out:
Roads are constructed, taking into account topography, waterways and wildlife.
The crowns of the trees keep touching each other so that the monkeys can smoothly cross the road by air.
Trees are cut. Each trunk receives an ID-tag. A 60 inch stump is left. The same ID is attached to the stump.
All stumps are traceable. They are catalogued and archived for future reference.
Logs are collected in open squares.
The logs go to 1 of the 3 sawmills where they are first split and left to rest for 4 months before being quarter sawn.
Lengths up to 20 feet are the objective and are exactly what makes Decolvenaere so unique.
All sawn timber is checked and categorized into quality classes.
Only timber that meets the highest quality class will be exported to Belgium for thermal treatment.
The reforestation program replants the open squares.
The jungle takes over the roads and squares.
Dedicated team
The three sawmills are close to the rural communities. To facilitate easy access, education, healthcare and well-being, Decolvenaere provides housing, schools, hospitals, food supply, sports facilities and furniture manufacturers for the more than 800 workers and their families. In total, Decolvenaere houses over 4,000 people.
Scandinavia
Preserving our planet begins with preserving our forests. Forests play a crucial role in the environment, in people’s lives and in the global economy. Preserving our planet’s forests is essential to global efforts to reduce poverty, address water scarcity and biodiversity loss, and mitigate climate change. Our spruce and pine partners are therefore all FSC® or PEFC certified.
Scandinavian sourced wood
With the goal of optimizing what the forest gives us so it will last for many generations to come, the sawmill manages their forests from an early age to ensure optimal yield, recovery, and overall forest health.
When the log arrives at the sawmill, it is measured, sorted and merged with similar logs that are cut to optimize the amount of usable wood.
The logs are cut into boards and then dried until the desired moisture content is reached.
Materials that do not qualify as wood products go to pulp mills or are used as biofuel, an environmentally friendly alternative to oil
and coal. Chips from the planing mills are made into animal bedding.
By making maximum use of the forest, the forest owner gets the best possible compensation, while the sawmill takes responsibility for the entire forest cycle, from sapling to finished product.
