Batu (or red balau) wood comes from a few endangered tree species native to South and Southeast Asia. Due to high demand and lax regulation, these species have been under decades of overexploitation. Illegal logging and unsustainable practices reduce the tree population and the invaluable biodiversity of their native habitats. So we had to ask: How sustainable is it to buy products made of batu wood?

Batu wood is generally sustainable thanks to carbon sequestration and carbon offset. But the decline in natural habitat, the widespread illegal logging (with its adverse impact on the ecosystems), and long transporting distances make it less sustainable than timber from local temperate forests.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the life-cycle of batu wood used for furniture and decking. Then, we evaluate its sustainability, potentials, and shortfalls. And in the end, we’ll show you tips for buying sustainable batu (or red balau) wood. 

Here’s How Sustainable Batu Wood Is

Batu wood is a sustainable material for two main reasons. The first reason is the potential for carbon sequestration from cocobolo trees. Secondly, it is the carbon offset value at the end of any products made with batu wood. 

Conversely, tropical forest deforestation, which is partly driven by timber trade, has mounting ecological costs that we can’t ignore.   

It is important, however, to note that wood is better for the environment than plastic, providing that it is sourced from sustainably managed forests.

“Sustainable: The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level | Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance”

Oxford Dictionary

To understand the sustainability of batu wood, we assess the life-cycle of batu furniture. This life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a method to evaluate the environmental impacts of each stage in a product’s life-cycle, from the making to the recycling. Over the years, companies have strategically used LCA to research and create more sustainable products.  

In this article, we’ll use the cradle-to-grave perspective of the LCA, examining the five stages of the life cycle of batu wood. 

We’ll say that it is possible to find sustainable batu wood for your furniture or floor. However, the actual environmental impact of a particular product depends on many factors, especially the distance and mode of transportation. Let’s dive deeper into each stage and find out how it can be more sustainable. 

How Sustainable Is the Growing of Batu Wood

Growing batu trees in their native habitats is sustainable because of carbon sequestration (carbon storage) in the trees and their rooting system. However, logging practices are a cause for concern because of the rampant illegal logging and unsustainable practices.

What Type of Wood is Batu Wood and What Does This Mean for Sustainability

Batu trees are also referred to as red balau. As the name implies, they belong to the balau group, which itself is a part of the meranti (or lauan) subgroup containing species in the genus Shorea in the family Dipterocarpaceae. 

These tree species grow slowly, and their wood is typically reddish-brown (in contrast with the yellow-brown color of yellow balau timber). 

How Sustainably Does Batu Wood Grow

The alarming issues that make harvesting batu wood less sustainable are the species’ dwindling population and the diminishing of the earth’s critical natural habitats. 

• Dwindling population: The high demand for batu timber drives unsustainable and illegal logging practices in South and Southeast Asian tropical forests – the epidemic home to batu species.
  

In just two generations – or about 160 years, from 1959 to 2119, the batu species – Shorea inaequilateralis, for example, is estimated to experience a 50% population deduction in its single location in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Such a drastic reduction in two generations drives IUCN to put it on the Red List for endangered species. 

The population decline of many batu species results from excessive logging, slow growth (and thus slow recovery rate), and the loss of natural habitats to agriculture activities. In Sarawak – a Malaysian state on Borneo, the habitat of the species has declined by 46% between 2000 and 2019, according to Global Forest Watch. 

A dwindling population means sustainable harvesting of batu would require a longer felling rotation to give the forests more time to replenish. If it is not the case, harvesting is not sustainable. 

• Eco-cost of land use: Many red batu species are native to Southeast Asian tropical forests, including peat swamp forests and limestone forests. These habitats have incredible and unmatched biodiversity. 

When loggers bulldoze roads into those pristine forests to cut down trees, they kill wild animals and threaten their habitat. 

Cutting, killing, and displacement lead to the mass distinction of earth’s million-year-old plants and animals. The biodiversity loss, especially in old-growth rainforests, has a very high eco-cost.

When batu trees are harvested from sustainably managed forests, their timber can be more sustainable than materials like wood plastic composite. It is due to carbon sequestration and carbon storage in tree trunks and roots (as well as in timber and wood products). 

• Carbon sequestration: As batu trees grow, they absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere while releasing oxygen. They act as a carbon sink during their lifespan. This means that they are taking greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere, helping to mitigate the climate crisis. And they can store a significant amount. Batu species such as Shorea superba or Shorea guiso can reach over 200 feet in height and 6 feet in diameter. 

Where Is Batu Wood Usually Grown

Batu wood trees grow natively in South and Southeast Asia. Below are some of the commonly traded batu species: 

• Shorea balangeran is native to the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in Southeast Asia 
• Shorea guiso is found across Southeast Asia nations, including Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia
• Shorea superba, endemic to the island of Borneo 
• Shorea inaequilateralis is endemic to the island of Borneo 
• Shorea maxwelliana is endemic to the island of Borneo 
• Shorea collina is native to Singapore and Malaysia
• Shorea superba is found in India and Nepal

The natural habitats of these batu species include lowland dipterocarp forests, hill forests, peat swamps forests, and limestone forests. Specifically, 

• Shorea balangeran grows in Borneo’s peat swamp forests. 
• Shorea guiso’s native habitat is limestone forests. 
• Shorea robusta dominates the Indian and Nepalese sal forests (tropical moist deciduous forests). 

Harvesting batu wood from natural forests can result in biodiversity loss regarding the tree species and wild animals that feed and shelter in the forests. 

One example is when loggers only cut down the biggest and tallest trees. That pattern would cause a reduction in the genetic diversity and quality of the trees within the stand, leading to gradual degradation of tree quality. 

Cutting down batu wood trees also disrupts the forests’ wild animals, which depend on the forest for food and shelter. Diptocarp trees, including batu trees, can live more than 100 years and host hundreds of insects.

Southwest Asia has nearly 15% of the world’s tropical forests and at least four of the 25 most important biodiversity hotspots. The region is, however, amongst the highest in terms of biodiversity loss caused by deforestation. 

Borneo’s peat swamp forests – the natural habitats of batu species like Shorea balangeran, are important habitats for several wild cats (including leopard cats, marbled cats, and flat-headed cats) and endemic primates (such as the Bornean orangutan, proboscis monkey, Southern Bornean gibbon, Bornean banded langur, and red langur). Large mammals like orangutans and elephants need vast areas to survive. Consequently, deforestation has a serious impact on their population.  

Limestone forests, home to the batu species Shorea guiso, have extremely diverse floral with many endemic species.

Scientists from the Delft University of Technology have developed an indicator for the “eco-costs of land-use,” factoring in the environmental price of biodiversity (loss) in harvesting and using wood for furniture. Their calculation shows that: 

• The cost for a window frame made with old-growth meranti (a timber tree group including batu) – from an FSC-certified forest is 22 times higher than when the window is made with wild pine. 
• Using meranti wood from a plantation reduces the eco-cost significantly, resulting in a reduction of the eco-cost by 11 fold. 

Illegal logging and unsustainable logging are rampant in Southeast Asia rainforests. For example, in Indonesia, illegal logging happens even in protected areas where the government bans logging to protect the endangered orangutan. According to a report from the Guardian, only four of the 300 timber concessions currently logging in West Kalimantan have written procedures regarding sustainable practices. 

The only way for consumers to tackle problems caused by illegal logging is to source sustainable woods. We will point you in the right direction with batu wood at the end of this article. 

In total, logging of forestry products from plantations accounts for 26% of forest loss, a combination of deforestation and forest degradation. However, in tropical climates, the loss in bio-diverse forests is more significant (and sometimes less properly recorded) than that in temperate, well-managed logging forests. 

How Sustainable Is the Manufacturing of Batu Wood

Turning batu wood into furniture or decking can have a relatively low carbon footprint when wood waste is utilized to make by-products or biomass pellets to offset the carbon emissions during harvesting and processing. Significant reduction in carbon emissions can also come from using fossil-free energy. 

The first step of manufacturing batu wood furniture involves cutting down trees and turning them into lumber in a sawmill. Sawing is an electricity-consuming step. 

The next step is to dry lumber and turn it into furniture. If a piece of lumber can be air-dried to the desired moisture content, no added energy is needed for this step. However, if a kiln is used, it requires extra energy, which could mean higher carbon emissions. 

Batu timber dries slowly though the rates vary between species. For example, the batu species Shorea Guiso is reported to dry very slowly, often requiring air-drying before kiln-drying. Its timber is prone to checking and splitting. 

If fossil fuel is used to operate a kiln, it adds to the total carbon emissions. However, burning wood waste (biomass) generates energy that could replace fossil fuels. Luckily, at least 90% of all thermal energy used for kiln drying in the US hardwood sector comes from biomass (instead of fossil fuels). 

How Sustainable Is the Transportation of Batu Wood

Transporting is a carbon-intensive stage in the life cycle of batu wood furniture due to the emissions associated with operating the hauling vehicles that take timber to sawmills and factories, then furniture to stores.   

As batu wood furniture in the US would come from South or Southeast Asia, transporting batu wood products has a higher carbon footprint than furniture made with regionally available wood, like maple or pine.

The actual emission during the transporting stage depends on the type of vehicles used, the fuel they need, and the distance the wood travels. Calculations made by the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute showed that smaller wood hauling trucks emitted more CO₂ per transported cubic meters of timber: 1.25 times more than larger wood hauling trucks, 1.3 times more than sea vessels, and six times more than freight trains. Therefore, the sustainable transportation option would be rail or large trucks running on biofuel. You can check with your wood suppliers how their products are transported to and within the US and opt for the more sustainable option. 

How Sustainable Is the Usage of Batu Wood

Using batu wood furniture can be sustainable thanks to the carbon capture during the product life. 

Batu wood is not considered highly durable regarding decay and insect resistance, however, durability varies amongst different species. Decking made with red batu can last around 7 years if it is used above the ground. 

When batu wood is decayed, either naturally in the forest or because of damage caused by usage at home, the carbon stored in the wood is released back to the atmosphere. Therefore, long-lasting furniture can be considered a good way of keeping carbon out of the atmosphere. If the wood is then reclaimed for making another piece of furniture, its positive carbon storage environmental impact is even higher. 

How Sustainable Is the End-of-Life of Batu Wood

The end-of-life stage for batu wood furniture is sustainable when the wood is reused or burned as bioenergy. 

There are a few scenarios for wood products – furniture and flooring at the end of their life. 

1. They can end up in landfills and don’t decompose. In this case, it keeps its role as carbon storage.
   
2. Wood products can also be upcycled and reused, extending their role as carbon storage and reducing the fossil CO₂ emitted as much as four times when comparing, for example, a recovered hardwood flooring with a new one. New wood products often travel much further to their markets, compared with recovered wood products. The latter is typically made in urban centers and sold locally, which lowers the transportation environmental burdens.
   
3. In another end-of-life scenario, products like a batu wood cabinet can be burned for biomass energy displacing coal or natural gas in generating electricity. 

With smaller items, the offset won’t be as high as there is much less waste for burning. However, if such products are made from wood waste as by-products, their carbon footprint is minimal. 

How Can You Buy Batu Wood More Sustainably

The key to sustainably buying any wood is to check on relevant environmental and original certifications. Reliable certifications for sustainable woods are: 

• Forest Stewardship Council: 

An FSC certification ensures that the batu wood comes from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social, and economic benefits.

• Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification: 

PEFC’s approaches to sustainable forest management are in line with protecting the forests globally and locally and making the certificate work for everyone. Getting a PEFC certification is strict enough to ensure the sustainable management of a forest is socially just, ecologically sound, and economically viable but attainable not only by big but small forest owners. 

Why Is It Important to Buy More Sustainable Wood

Buying sustainable wood also means helping to prevent illegal or unsustainable logging, which harms the forests’ biosystems and accelerates climate change. 

Logging of forestry products from plantations accounts for 26% of forest loss. Cutting down trees for wood has a lesser impact on carbon storage than digging up the whole forest floor and turning it into farms or mines. However, if logging is not sustainably managed, it can badly damage wildlife.

When logging happens in tropical forests – the bio hotspots of our planet – the biodiversity loss can be much more damaging. Subtropical and tropical forests are packed with unique wildlife – endemic mammals, birds, and amphibians. The displacement of such wildlife during poorly managed logging would be a major contributor to global biodiversity loss. 

Sustainable management of forests also means that trees are cut down for timber only when they are mature. These trees will then be able to regrow and eventually replace the loss of canopy, absorb carbon from the atmosphere and reduce the effect of climate change. 

Final Thoughts

You can buy sustainable furniture made from batu wood as long as the material comes from sustainably managed forests. Batu wood is, however, an imported tropical wood. It has a much higher transporting carbon footprint than hardwoods from US temperate forests. The extreme level of batu wood’s exploitation and poor natural regeneration means it is best to avoid this timber. 

If you can’t find an alternative wood for your project, source recycled batu wood with sustainability certification, such as one from the Forest Stewardship Council – FSC. It would be a much better option than timber from old-growth forests. 

Most importantly, make sure you use any batu wood furniture and decking for as long as possible, upcycle the material to extend its usage, and arrange for it to be recycled fully.

Stay impactful,

Sources

• Reuters: Ditch metal and plastic and turn to wood to save the planet, says U.N.
• Science Direct: Life-cycle assessment (LCA)
• MIT SMR: Strategic Sustainability Uses of Life-Cycle Analysis
• European Environment Agency: cradle-to-grave
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• Britannica: Dipterocarpaceae plant family
• Research Gate: Shorea inaequilateralis, Red Balau THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™
• IUCN: THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES
• Oklahoma State University: What is Wood Plastic Composite? 
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