Assi del Cansiglio, the virtuous example of forest independence
In the past year, Italy has begun to think about the concept of forest independence. For a country like ours that imports 80 percent of its domestic wood needs, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has inevitably sent the import of the raw material into crisis. A recipe has emerged, but it is not an immediate solution: to create strong and autonomous supply chains, ranging from production to first and second processing to marketing. The input then is to start rethinking (preferably quickly) the globalization of the wood supply chain.
A few projects in recent months have started. A few others are already strong with more than a decade of experience. Such as Assi del Cansiglio, which Itlas launched at the end of 2009 and which stems from a public-private agreement with the managing body of Veneto's regional state forests (Veneto Agricoltura) for the use of the trunks of beech trees cut during the periodic cleanup of the Cansiglio Forest, which is PEFC (Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification) certified and therefore managed in a controlled and sustainable manner.
Also known as Grande Bosco da Reme of the Republic of Venice-because its beech wood was used to make the oars of galleys at the time of the Serenissima-the Cansiglio Forest has historical, botanical, wildlife and landscape values of extreme interest. With the Assi del Cansiglio project, the company founded and led by Patrizio Dei Tos had as its first objective the re-purposing of a wood, the Cansiglio beech wood in fact, which until then had been sold and used as firewood. The result was a precious, unique wood floor, made of totally Italian wood and from a short, indeed very short, supply chain. A project of great foresight, which was clearly ahead of its time. On the day of the presentation of Assi del Cansiglio Patrizio Dei Tos declared, "To give more and more expression to man's new and growing need to live in a state of well-being that includes the quality of living but first and foremost a total integration with the environment and the territory to which it belongs, Itlas chooses today to put on the market a product that, to the certified quality of all time, adds the inestimable value of a completely Italian forest heritage. A strong response to a demand that asks for guarantee and clarity at three hundred and sixty degrees."
A choice that today, in light of the growing need to rethink the Italian wood supply chain, appears even more valid and successful.
