So now you know that your new Solidor starts its life on the other side of the world. But did you also know that our relationship with our timber suppliers and the surrounding communities goes a lot deeper than just supplier & customer?
We pride ourselves on being a responsible business. We’re naturally concerned with the welfare of our employees and also of those in the whole of our supply chain.
In order to help you to understand the role we play, we’re going to tell you about how we support the plantations and the nurseries that play such a critical part in our business. We’re sure you’re going to find this very interesting too.
In our last blog we talked about how the vast majority of our timber comes from 1,700 hectors of plantations in Indonesia, with the remaining 20% coming from East Java via a Social Forestry programme. The hardwood timber that we source is very fast-growing, which has a number of benefits from a social and environmental perspective.
Firstly, the tree and timber farmers can turn their harvests over sooner, which means that they can re-plant quicker. This not only benefits the environment, it also means that the farmers can generate quicker cash returns, and help to drive their local economies.
Secondly, because hardwood is less dense, it has better thermal insulation values than those doors manufactured with slow growing timbers. This improved thermal efficiency means that less CO2 emissions are generated when it comes to heating the home!
Our supply chain owns four nurseries in total, producing a whopping 2.5million seedlings every year in carefully controlled laboratory conditions.
A large proportion of these seedlings are handed back to the communities for growing on their land as part of a Social Forestry Programme.
What is the Social Forestry Programme?
Well, it began in 1998 and is overseen in each village by the ‘elder’ who governs the local area.
As part of this initiative our timber partners provide seedlings to local families to grow on their own land. Once they are ready for harvest, the farmer is given the opportunity to sell the timber back within 7 years. The logs that are sold are then transferred to a local cutting mill for processing, and it’s from there your new Solidor starts to take shape.
Raising Standards!
The Social Forestry Programme has recently celebrated its 30th birthday and now has over 1,800 members covering 1,000 hectares in East Java. To celebrate this momentous occasion our timber partner established an Educational Foundation. This new foundation awards scholarships to children in the local area and currently houses up to 1,200 pupils; many of which are the sons and daughters of the local farmers. In addition, there’s also an adjoining Kindergarten which again is funded by this important and responsible foundation.
So not only do Solidor carefully source the best materials from across the globe, we also invest in the welfare of everyone involved in the Solidor story. And that is something that we’re immensely proud of.
Phil Taylor (Head of Group Procurement) & Pierre Mifsud (Technical Director) on a recent visit to the KTI Educational Foundation.
