Biodiversity in the Congo Basin awards Interholco

22.04.2023. According toWWF’s Living Planet Report 2022, wildlife populations have plunged an average 69% over the past 48 years. Just as tropical regions are facing a devastating drop, ‘IFO management actions allow the maintenance of populations of priority species Gorilla, Chimpanzee and Forest Elephant and the ecological integrity of the forest.’

Fingerjointed timber Made in Africa, joining high quality with KOMO certification

03.04.2023. Interholco is proud to announce that, since September 2022, its engineered wood product line is KOMO^Ⓡcertified, K-33417 for finger-jointed wood products and K-33418 for three-ply laminated scantlings, respectively. Engineered wood is known to be particularly stable and has increasingly attracted attention even for structural applications. Interholco is no beginner as it holds more than 10 years of experience in fingerjointed wood production.

The Danish island that tells its tale with African hardwood

30.01.2023. At first it was just a terrace made from Azobé in front of NAVITAS, but then Azobé ran all around it. The civil engineering institute of Aarhus University resides within NAVITAS, an authentic powerhouse of research, innovation and excellence on the island of Aarhus, Aarhus Ø in Danish. 

Sustainable Hardwood Made in Africa, our natural ally in the fight against deforestation

13.12.2022. Last 6 December, the European Union agreed a new law that would ban the import of products linked to deforestation. INTERHOLCO's top priority is to ensure that the harvesting and transport of timber has minimal impact, with no permanent or irreversible change to the services provided by the forest.

‘Sustainable Hardwood Made in Africa’, transforming cities into built forests

24.11.2022. The building and construction sector is responsible for almost 40 percent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions globally. Innovation is making it feasible to use more wood in tall buildings and other infrastructure – helping us “green” our cities because wood stores carbon, requires less energy to produce than many other construction materials, and provides good insulation.

Forests, natural capital for sustaining food production

26.09.2022. When you choose Interholco’s FSC^®- certified products (Forest Stewardship Council^®, FSC^® C022952), you’re helping to take care of forests for future generations. Forest ecosystem services – such as the maintenance of biodiversity, climate regulation, water and soil quality, and pollination – are essential for sustainable agrifood systems and feeding a growing global population.

One simple step to truly make a difference for forests and climate

22.08.2022. Every week, the equivalent of all the buildings in Paris are built, globally and the pace is increasing. FSC^® has released a call to action for the construction sector: https://youtu.be/ROpmNhRviL0and INTERHOLCO is proud to be featured in FSC’s video.

The best kept secret in INTERHOLCO's Sustainability report 2022

08.07.2022. Just as 2022 marks INTERHOLCO’s 60^th anniversary, the company launches its latest Sustainability Report. ‘Our wood products are the fruit of a people alliance,’ says Ulrich Grauert, INTERHOLCO CEO. ‘With this publication, we want even people sitting miles away from where we harvest and process our wood to see what our  ‘Made in Africa’ stands for.’  

‘Sustainable Hardwood – Made in Africa’ co-creating a sustainable future for people and planet

29.06.2022. Wood can be used for diverse purposes, with lower environmental impacts than many alternative materials. Wood used once can be reused and recycled, thereby extending its life and further reducing its material footprint.

‘Sustainable Hardwood - Made in Africa’ breaks all records at Europe’s leading timber show

14.06.2022. INTERHOLCO’s ‘Made in Africa’ breaks all records at Carrefour du Bois, Europe's number one trade fair for the wood sector. INTERHOLCO has noted an unprecedented attendance rate and a strong increase in the number of foreign visitors, including several from the United States, Africa and Asia.

All you need is LOBI, to write a story 1300 children in Congo love

31.03.2022. Easter is fast approaching and INTERHOLCO is launching its new campaign: What does it take to write a story that 1300 children in Congo love?Only one crayon: Lobi! For each Lobi purchased, the equivalent of 15 EUR will be donated to the primary school in the village of Ngombé in the Republic of Congo.

Anchoring cities to forests

15.03.2022. Urban forests can transform cities into healthier places to live, not ‘just’ thanks to trees, but also through wood products for furniture and construction.

The future grows with wood

17.02.2022. One month into the new year, wood has turned into the cornerstone of future lifestyles. The ‘digital Neanderthal’ humans have as much of a tendency towards cool technology as they have a compelling desire for coziness, warm materials. In short: high-tech, high-touch – and wood is the natural choice.

For the love of tropical forests: INTERHOLCO at Gembloux JobDAY

14.02.2022. INTERHOLCO brought tropical forests to Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (University of Liège) on the occasion of Gembloux JobDAY. Last 18 November, the not-to-be-missed event brought together more than 200 forest management students, some of whom freshly graduated in forestry, agronomy and environment, returning for the first time after the 2020 pause.

Lobi, the art of writing the future

03.12.2021. INTERHOLCO is proud to present Lobi, the spearhead of its first collection made from FSC®* certified Sustainable Hardwood, Made in Africa according to the most demanding socio-environmental criteria. Lobi means 'tomorrow' and 'future' in the broadest sense; the name is derived from Lingala, the most widely used language in Congo Basin countries.

Central African Forests Forever, the book that grows like a tree, downloadable for free in English, French and Chinese

29.11.2021. Dutch writer Meindert Brouwer has reviewed and expanded his 'Central African Forests Forever', an all-round must-read on Congo Basin natural tropical forests. The book comprises 17 new chapters about opportunities and solutions for their conservation and sustainable use.

Forests for all, forever our way forward

09.11.2021. The Republic of the Congo has a plan: co-creating solutions together with investors and natural tropical forests, not just for COP26 but well beyond. The way forward at bird’s eye view: (1.) Carbon positive forestry is possible in the Congo Basin. (2.) Together, we should compensate Africa’s forests. (3.) Forest and climate finance should share benefits with host countries and local communities.

My human-kind choice: wood!

05.10.2021. FSC^®-certified (Forest Stewardship Council^® C022952) hardwood from Africa delivers so many benefits that it is quite hard to think of a comparably ‘generous’ construction or building material. In several Central African countries, forestry is already the first or second largest employment sector.

Certified wood, my sustainable design ally

27.08.2021. Wood is the only building material that ensures it comes from responsibly managed sources, in this case forests.

Talking wood: "Our wood can tell where it’s from"

18.06.2021. When our wood products reach the port of delivery, their marking allows for identification of the supply, all the way to the forest of origin. This is known as, traceability.

Supporting customers with trust

26.05.2021. In December 2020, INTERHOLCO passed the FSC® audit, which took place in the field. 'At INTERHOLCO, we strive for honesty, integrity,'says Tom van Loon, Head of Sustainability, INTERHOLCO. 'We place utmost importance on successful long-term partnerships with our suppliers and customers.'

Sustainable Hardwood – Made in Africa, good for forest, people and planet

05.06.2021. A forest is more than a question of trees. People live in and from it, shaping their survival, identity and beliefs around it. At the same time, a forest is home to hundreds of species of animals and trees; it feeds water basins, stocks carbon and regulates rain regimes which affect far away countries.

The future needs wood

03.05.2021.More than 1.000 fair trade job opportunities provide 10.000 people with the means to build their future with dignity in one of the most remote regions of the Republic of Congo. That is but one of the solutions that 'Sustainable Hardwood Made in Africa', INTERHOLCO's flagship product, delivers.

Objects of art on a mission: a closer look at Africa’s ‘Forest dwellers’

23.02.2021.According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), between 2000 and 2010, large-scale commercial agriculture (generally related to cattle ranching and the cultivation of soya bean and oil palm) accounted for 40% of tropical deforestation, and local subsistence agriculture another 33%.

Africa’s forest dwellers win Conversations about Climate Change competition

15.02.2021. Gorillas, Bongos, Forest elephants and Chimpanzees team up with British architect Tom Wilson in ‘Forest dwellers’, one of the winners of the Conversations about Climate Change competition. Is it possible to sustainably harvest timber and natural products, contributing to ethical and sustainable economies, as well as safeguarding habitats, biodiversity and the health of the Earth? The four Forest Dwellers have been conceived to ask this very question.

Diverse, interdependent, together: an ALLIANCE to safeguard the future of African natural forests

15.10.2020. To relate to a forest, is to relate to a country and its inhabitants. To the people, with their culture. Their dreams and aspirations, as much as their shortcomings and concerns. Relationships never stop being a work in progress. Dealing with a forest is no exception. We can become more intelligent and wiser, and over time, more fertile, if we work with others to reinvent the way of our future.

INTERHOLCO’s laminated scantlings, high-performing products to make you project proud

16.06.2020. Exterior or interior projects require a strong, stable, long-lasting material. You like wood, but do not want to harm the forest? We love forests, too!And so do our wood products. INTERHOLCO brings you finger-jointed laminated scantlings that won’t cost the Earth. Our new brochure shows how.

Sustainable Hardwood to celebrate forests and protect biodiversity

20.03.2020.The United Nations proclaimed 21 March International Day of Forests and this year shines a light on Forests and Biodiversity. INTERHOLCO offers Sustainable Hardwood 'Made in Africa' as a solution to not only promote better living conditions (construction with wood), but also to reduce climate change, increase social justice and keep forests protected from permanent change to agriculture.

The wood that keeps forest children safe

11.02.2020. Forests worldwide are known to be rich in stories, legends and myths; places hosting unusual turns and transformations. As the most densely wooded part of Africa, the Congo Basin forest is definitely no exception. Many of its plants and trees hold cultural and spiritual values.

INTERHOLCO’s production site speaks Chinese in the latest translation of Meindert Brouwer’s ‘Central African Forests Forever’

Securing gorillas in the Congo awarded with Germany’s highest Nature Film Prize

08.10.2019. ‘Paradise Preserved: Congo – Protecting the Gorilla Forests’, the film which Thomas Weidenbach produced for ARTE, received Germany’s Nature Film Prize on Saturday 5 October 2019. Commissioned by tv-channel ARTE, known to air cultural programmes, the film was broadcast at the end of June.

#Sustainable #Hardwood #MadeinAfrica protects the forest

13.05.2019. Forests worldwide are a public good and forestry students often wonder how far private timber companies are prepared to go, to preserve and maintain natural forests. Mr. Ulrich Grauert, INTERHOLCO’s CEO, showed students worldwide how INTERHOLCO walks the talk, during a webinar hosted by the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) on 16 April 2019.

Protecting the gorilla forest in the Republic of Congo

African voices have their say on how to keep Central African Forests Forever

05.02.2019. With around 120 million people critically depending on the Congo Basin forests for their livelihood, it is baffling how the narrative on tropical forests belongs to voices from the Northern Hemisphere, mostly. With ‘Central African Forests Forever’, Dutch author Meindert Brouwer has finally bridged the gap.

Gorilla-human cohabitation is key on World Gorilla Day

24.09.2018. On 24th September the world celebrates World Gorilla Day. Next time you take one of INTERHOLCO’s wood products, look at it as the result of careful selection and sustainable practices that are key in protecting gorilla in the wild, a glorious species with whom we share 98% of our DNA.

Sustainable Forest Management, the ‘best land-use’ for Congo Basin’s ‘Natural Capital’

27.08.2018. Agriculture, mining and conventional logging stand among the major drivers of deforestation, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO,  State of the World’s Forests 2016). That is because those land-uses are often believed to have more economic allure, compared to Sustainable Forest Management (SFM). But is that really so?

Our beautiful Azobé wood for a sustainable future

05.12.2017. Beautiful Azobé wood from our FSC^®-certified forest concession freshly arrived in Amersfoort in the Netherlands: happy kids can grow up in a healthy, sustainable and secure environment.

Interholco urges for Action Plan to support sustainable management in tropical natural forests

20.02.2018. Interholco CEO Ulrich Grauert addressed over 300 participants in the conference ‘Working across Sectors to Halt Deforestation and Increase Forest Area - from Aspiration to Action’.

Interholco supports ‘Fair & Precious’ brand for certified African wood companies

14.11.2017. Green consumers, look no further: Interholco is proud to support the new ‘Fair and Precious’ brand, launched in Paris on 8 November 2017.

Interholco ranks 1st in ESG assessment of timber, pulp and paper companies

10.11.2017. 'We are delighted to have done so well in SPOTT’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) assessment of timber, pulp and paper companies which values the engagement and efforts of our teams ,’ said Interholco CEO Ulrich Grauert.

Interholco launches its first Sustainability Report

09.10.2017.Sustainable hardwood specialist Interholco presents its first Sustainability Report: the data collected and analyzed cover the years 2014 to 2016.

A Way Forward For The Future of Central African Forests

31.05.2017.Over 140 participants attended a conference on The future of Central African Forest and its people in The Hague, to share lessons learned and look for a way forward together with representatives of the Dutch government, social and environmental NGOs, academia and the private sector.

Natural sophistication in new Interholco brochure

04.04.2017. What would you call the colourful butterfly on the cover of our new brochure, but ‘natural wonder’?

Interholco will sharpen its focus

11.01.2017.The Advisory Board of global hardwood specialist Danzer has named Ulrich Grauert as new Chief Executive Officer of Interholco.Ulrich Grauert, 51 has taken up his new functions succeeding Olof von Gagern, who retired from the company after 21 years of service.

Creative, constructive, convincing: wood does it better at Carrefour du bois 2016

16.06.2016. Defying the strikes and severe flooding that hit France just as the Carrefour started, 10,000 visitors met in Nantes from 1 to 3 June. 

Keeping tropical forests, bettering lives

21.04.2016. In many countries and regions of the world, 'Mother Earth' is the expression used to reflect the interdependence between human beings, other living species and our planet.