Teak Wood from Bali & Lombok
 

Teak Wood from Bali & LombokI hear that there are really nice teak wood furnitures for sale in Bali and Lombok at bargain prices. Would like to get my hands on some for my new home. Does anyone have any leads to share/recommend?

Depending on where home is - it may or may not be a good idea to ship home wooden furniture from the tropics. Do some reading on the issues. The most common complaint is cracking - which will occur if you live in a temperate climate and will occur if the wood has not been seasoned.

Please do not buy teak.

From "The Independent": " SUSTAINABILITY: Environmentally sound teak is hard to come by. Burma is the only country that still exports teak from natural forests, mostly illegally. Buying anything from Burma provides its brutal military dictatorship with foreign currency. African teak is at risk of becoming endangered "

From Rainforest Relief: " Teak from Burma and teak products from Thailand are not only environmentally-unsound, but associated with some of the worst human rights violations in the world. The market for Burmese teak and teak products helps keep one of the most brutal military regimes in power, as teak is one of the only sources of foreign exchange for the Burmese military. In order to bolster its army, the Burmese military government is rapidly selling off its teak and other natural resources because the U.S. and other nations canceled foreign aid due to the junta’s 1988 massacre of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators.The Burmese government has also sold teak concessions to Thai logging companies, who then export the teak. Thailand has imposed a ban on logging since massive deforestation caused flooding which killed hundreds of people. So Thai loggers have moved their operations to the Burmese border, which still has large tracts of teak. This area is home to ethnic minorities who are fighting to defend their homeland. The roads built by the Thai loggers have helped the Burmese military gain access to this area. "

The teak furniture that is sold in Bali (and presumably Lombok though I'm not familiar with the market there) is mostly made in Java. It is usually made from sustainably grown tropical hardwood or re-processed from "old" wood. Exporters that regularly ship to temperate climates understand how to season the wood appropriately to counter pests and contraction. You need to ask a lot of questions and get customer referrals.

Transportation from Indonesia to wherever you live will add a significant amount to the total cost. You might be better off buying from an importer in your home country.