A short documentary film premiere featuring the sustainably-managed tropical forest in Uaxactun, Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve
The Brooklyn Bridge Forest initiative proposes replacing the aging boardwalk of the bridge with one of the world’s most sustainably harvested tropical hardwoods, grown in the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) of Guatemala. The dense species of hardwood, called manchiche, would be harvested in the MBR’s Uaxactun community forest concession. Since 2000, Uaxactun’s inhabitants have learned how to manage their 208,000-acre forest to strict FSC standards. Trees are harvested on a completely sustainable 40-year cycle. The Rainforest Alliance heralds their practices as a worldwide model for sustainable forestry. The timber harvest is a crucial economic element to the prosperity of the community, which, though remote and small in population, has lived sustainably from their forest resources for 100 years.

Robert Maass May 24, 2018