Furch Guitars Supports Care for Exotic Woods

Furch Guitars Supports Care for Exotic Woods
Velké Němčice, the Czech Republic – 19 February 2019 – Furch Guitars (Furch), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of premium quality guitars, has forged a partnership with the Panamanian indigenous community Arimae, dedicated to protecting local tropical forests and cultivation of exotic woods. Under the partnership, Furch will provide the community with financial assistance to care for 6 hectares of exotic woods, the annual growth of which corresponds to the guitar maker’s yearly production needs.
Every year, Furch makes approximately 8,000 guitars, which on average requires 43 cubic meters of exotic woods. Exotic woods account for two thirds of all materials used in the manufacture of acoustic guitars. For illustration, the making of one acoustic guitar requires 0.00734 cubic meters of materials, including waste, of which exotic woods account for 0.00537 cubic meters.
In view of its production needs, Furch has established partnerships with the Panamanian company Planting Empowerment and with the Arimae community, where the aim is to replenish the amount of wood the guitar maker uses in the production process with a view that ensures environmental sustainability. Under the partnership, Furch will provide the community with financial assistance to care for 4 hectares of cocobolo (dalbergia retusa) and 2 hectares of mahogany (swietenia macrophylla), where average annual growth amounts to 39 cubic meters.
“Even though wood is the most easily renewable raw material in the world, we must treat it with respect and preserve it for future generations. By forging a new partnership with the Arimae community, we want to compensate nature as well as society for the amount of wood we consume. Apart from cocobolo and mahogany, we plan to extend our support to other wood species in the future,” said Furch Guitars CEO Petr Furch.
The new partnership is a part of Furch Guitars’ broader concept for environmental protection. All woods used in the manufacture of Furch guitars come from duly verified suppliers. In addition, a number of models are made from materials that provide a full-fledged alternative to exotic woods. An example is black walnut, which is used for the back and sides of a number of models instead of Indian rosewood. Furch is dedicated to conserving the natural world and plans to expand its activities in this area by the introduction of various ecological processes and technologies. For example, several years ago, Furch developed the Full-Pore High-Gloss Finish, a state-of-the-art alternative to traditional solvent-borne finishes, which contains no chemical solvents and causes no air pollution.
About Furch Guitars
Established in 1981, Furch Guitars (Furch) has worked its way up to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers of all-solid-wood acoustic guitars and acoustic bass guitars. The company’s production complex and head office are located in Velké Němčice near Brno, Czech Republic. Furch instruments combine the company’s extensive know-how in building handmade guitars with state-of-the-art technologies, production processes, and proprietary innovations. Thanks to that, the company is able to bring to the market premium-quality musical instruments with outstanding acoustic properties and excellent design parameters. Covered by a three-year warranty, Furch guitars are sold in 32 countries on five continents. Furch employs over 60 luthiers and craftsmen and makes in excess of 8,000 instruments annually. Furch guitars are the preferred choice of such artists as Al di Meola, Suzanne Vega, Per Gessle, Glen Hansard, and Calum Graham. For additional information, visit www.furchguitars.com.