Teak and Rain Forests

Teak Seedling

Some of the MegaChess sets are made of teak, and that comes from Indonesia's rain forests. That has concerned us since we founded MegaChess, and we would like to put forward a vision of how we feel we may contribute to the improvement of our environment.

First, let it be known that this reflects the environmental position of the owner. Employees are allowed to disagree, and in fact are encouraged to question our vision, strategy, and tactics. But we are not a democracy as much as a family. Dad makes the decisions and is responsible for the consequences; and like the junior members of any family, the rest get by with intrigue, forming alliances, and the occasional revolt.

My first decision in this was whether to say we want no part of this and walk away. My wife and I did that when we bought front doors to our home. We decided on oak instead of mahogany because we didn't want to come home every day and look at something chopped out of a rain forest. We don't expect that to have an effect on anything (our neighbors got mahogany); it was more of a self-serving decision.

Teak Saplings

For us, and other environmental "activists" to say such feel-good actions do our part for the environment is worse than naive. To say, "if everyone did like us, the problem would be solved", that is to pretend we have a plan, while the forces destroying the environment carry on without effect.

With MegaChess, I decided we would have an effect. The effect was based on my belief that environmental progress takes place in underdeveloped countries after economic progress. We would improve the standard of living of the native people to the amount we could, so that they could afford the environmental awareness we enjoyed in the US.

In my travels in remote parts of Africa (many years ago as a young man with a backpack), I concluded that palefaces cannot preach environmental protection to hungry or diseased people. I saw worms from river blindness in the eyes of children. With the cure costing but a few dollars, we would be pompous idiots trying to convince the father of that child not to cut down a tree for the few coins in it for his child.

Mature Tree on Teak Farm

After their standard of living approaches ours (one day), then environmental awareness will take its natural course, as with almost all humans who would prefer to be good stewards of the Earth if only they could. The environmental mission of MegaChess then became to increase the standard of living of the teak carvers through basic trade and commerce, while at the same time looking to shape the course of inevitable change toward sustainable forestry (in which we now have our tiny vote).

More immediately, we can begin the shift where a dollar earned by the native Indonesian has a smaller material component (teak) to its labor component. We began by shifting teak chessboard sales to chess sets — and discovered a fine partnering opportunity with tile and marble contractors. Selling chessboards is closer to selling lumber — low labor contribution, with most of the product price going to cut teak. Instead we are promoting custom chess sets where the labor component is high compared to the teak.

I wish we could accomplish all this without cutting any more teak, but I do not subscribe to attractive but hollow soundbites without a practical foundation. The Sierra Club, to which I have belonged for many years (Member ID#: 40039709), is as guilty as any of taking the high moral ground at the expense of making environmental progress. Too often, the motivation for environmental activism is just the camaraderie of the us-vs-them battles. I've seen many must-win environmental issues lost because it was more important to hate the enemy than look for common ground. Our environmental champions seemed to look forward to defeat so they could continue to be the professional victims, the sympathetic underdog proving yet again the wickedness of their corporate adversaries.

Village Kids Where MegaChess Pieces are Hand Made

My environmental goal is that Indonesia follow the US model of national parks, to set aside large sections of rain forest once they are not surrounded by desperately poor people. The reason the bears are safe in Yosemite is because the park visitors have no trouble affording hamburgers. The reason Yosemite has become a national treasure and is so well protected is because so many voters enjoy its grandeur and beauty every year. The down-side can be a valley of wall-to-wall tourists, but a back country with miles of trails that teach us why we protect the environment, and to show us a plan that works.

Not far from Yosemite is Hetch Hetchy, also known as Little Yosemite because of the towering mountains surrounding its valley. Environmental activists succeeded in isolating Hetch Hetchy's valley from any development; no hotels, no restaurants, no traffic — no voters. And then the collective "we" voted to put all that at the bottom of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. We can rattle about what is right and wrong, but that sometimes diverts us from the argument about what works and what doesn't.

As much as I have never forgotten Chief Seattle's admonition that man is but a thread in the web of life, and strive to keep it in mind on a personal level, I now feel we collectively have to strive for more. We are not Suquamish Indians, and no matter how politically correct it would be, we are not going back to that world. We must become more than a thread, we must become the fabric that holds together the web of life. And to do that we must have a better plan than to just lay down in front of bulldozers. It is not enough to know what I am against as to know what I am for, and to work to make that happen.

Let me conclude by saying this document should not have the finality of a "statement". It is merely a report along the way of my personal path of enlightenment on the matter. To those who can provide more than slogans or wishful thinking, I am open to fresh ideas.

If you need a slogan, here's mine, "People will protect what they love, and MegaChess will inspire them to love teak."

——— Peter Shikli, 15 January 2003

Btw, I did ask for guidance in the matter from the Forest Protection Section of the Sierra Club, the Forest Stewardship Council, and others. So far, they have been too busy with more important matters to respond.