AdenWorks.com

Well April has come and is now almost gone, so spring is officially here. So, your customers have one thing on their minds right now… Spring Cleaning. Now, I am going to bet that most people reading this blog aren’t disinfectant and cleaning supplies businesses. Nope, most of you are designing a rustic retreat or trying to promote your rustic furniture store. Either way, that puts us all in the same boat – desiring to successfully promote rustic furniture, more specifically, eco-friendly rustic teak furniture.

Spring Cleaning… What a concept.

If you are like me, the idea of spring cleaning is exhilarating to the point where my family things I am just plain weird. (Then again, you probably aren’t like me.)

Then there are those of you who take on the cleaning because you have too.

And then finally, there are those of you who simply enjoy spring’s coming and going without a single thought of cleaning. So, in the end we all fall into one of these categories when it comes to spring cleaning.

But let’s talk about where you come in as a dealer whether retail, commercial or designer. The idea of spring cleaning can work to your advantage if you know how to attract the buyer. Of course your store isn’t full of various types of bleaches and cleaners but you do offer something that they want and may not realize until they overhaul their home.

Once people have begun and completed spring cleaning they begin to realize how much potential their home and outdoor living spaces have to offer. Before they attempted to tackle the house, it was cramped and a mess. But now it is pristine, and well, frankly in need of something new.

And that’s where you come in to the picture.

Selling rustic furniture is so much fun. As a dealer you get to tug at the adventurous heart in everybody. We all long to experience what our forefathers experienced as the wagon trains headed west. Selling AdenWorks’s rustic teak furniture allows your treasured customers to experience a part of the west through our western collection. We also have furniture for those who love the lodge look and even those that like to mix rustic with contemporary.We have recently been on a journey to determine how Thailand is doing protecting their forests so that sustainability of their forest will be a reality. Today we are going to be discussing what opportunities exist for Thailand. Below are the essential opportunities that must be realized to re-grow Thailand’s forests.
1. The potential of community forestry to help address poverty in rural communities
2. Expand exponentially commercial tree planting on marginal lands given Thailand’s competitive advantages
3. Enhance forest-based environmental services through payment mechanisms to forest managers and owners
4. Expand the production of non-timber forest products in high demand both in the domestic and export markets

By implementing these four suggestions Thailand can begin to positively address reforestation while still addressing the core issue of rural poverty. Obviously I am no expert on the subject. I am merely passing on what studies have shown to be the problem and solution to de-forestation of Thailand. It is easy as Americans to criticize Thailand for not addressing the uncontrolled harvesting of their once vast forests much earlier. Of course we and other western countries contributed to the destruction by feeding our uncontrolled appetites for teak and other woods at the expense of Thailand.

It seems to me that unless rural poverty is addressed first the people will continue to encroach into their remaining forests in an attempt to provide for their families. Most, if not all of us, would do the same if we found ourselves faced with the option of providing for our families or saving the forests. By addressing this need first plus beginning an aggressive re-planting strategy, Thailand can once again find itself with a healthy, vibrant forest. Of course it will not be easy but anything worth doing is never easy.

The wonderful people of Thailand deserve our help in making their economy vibrant which helps alleviate poverty which helps stop deforestation. By you helping to sell AdenWorks’ rustic furniture you to are contributing to the well being of the rural poor and at the same time helping to encourage the government and private sector of the need to address this challenging problem. We are confident in can be achieved. 
 

Selling AdenWorks’ rustic furniture is fun and rewarding. Why? You can be totally confident that you are offering them some of the best quality rustic furniture in the market at fair prices. Knowing that the majority of the teak used to construct our furniture is recycled only further encourages our dealers to push our furniture to the forefront knowing that its ecological impact is minimal. That makes all of us feel great about what we are doing. Finally, it sells and helps our dealers’ bottom lines and that is always a good thing!

The conclusion of the report “Achieving the ITTO Objective 2000 and Sustainable Forest Management in Thailand” recognizes that many gaps and weaknesses in the current situation do exist but it is not a gloomy picture for the country if corrective measures are taken. Thailand has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and there are well-trained professionals who can help achieve develop a sustainable forest management system in Thailand.

Below are major issues that need to happen to move Thailand in the right direction.
1. Net deforestation must be arrested
2. Degraded areas need to be rehabilitated
3. Poverty amongst rural people must be addressed
4. Community forests must be established in greater numbers
5. Industrial wood must be obtained from plantations and be less dependent on rubber wood
6. Wood based industries need to play an active role is securing raw material
7. All timber harvesting be verifiably legal and certifiable
8. Obtain resources outside of the country should be substantially increased
9. Decision making be made on accurate and thorough information
10. Bamboo and rattan being brought under systematic management and focus on sustainability
11. Protected forest be better managed to improve the livelihoods of the people living in and around them.
12. Decision making based on adequate information
13. Forest communities and forest owners effectively organized
14. Civil society well educated and organized on forestry
15. Private sector promoting common interests.

So what is holding Thailand back from making progress in these areas noted above?
1. Bottlenecks inherent in regulatory framework
2. Lack of coherence between public policies
3. Difference in philosophy and view of how Thailand’s forests should be managed and preserved
4. Lack of coherent support to communities and the private sector to manage forest resources
5. Inadequate information and systems to obtain the information
6. Lack of systematic strategies for human development

Tomorrow we will address the opportunities that exist for Thailand to develop and carry out a sustainable management philosophy over its forests so that future generations can reap the benefits.