Is it always better to buy plantation timber than native forest timber?
Not always. A plantation may be established after clearfelling an old growth forest. Before buying plantation timber, verify whether forests have been cleared to create the plantation (such as in Indonesia and Tasmania). The Forest Stewardship Council set a cut-off date of 1994 for conversion of forests to plantations, so avoid uncertified plantation timber cleared after this time. Native forests can be harvested ecologically and sustainably by indigenous communities to produce Good Wood (for example, ecotimber). Ecotimber helps forest communities control their own resources and fight illegal and destructive logging.
