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Wood and Forest Products from Tree to Shelf
Follow wood from the standing tree through harvest, sorting, milling and manufacturing to everyday goods, and see how each step shapes what a forest yields.
Managing and Measuring Forests
What comes out of forests and how it is used.
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Follow wood from the standing tree through harvest, sorting, milling and manufacturing to everyday goods, and see how each step shapes what a forest yields.
Bamboo is a giant grass, not a tree. Learn how bamboo groves grow so quickly, how they spread, what they are used for and where harvesting needs care.
Learn how glued and layered wood products such as plywood, glulam and cross-laminated timber are made, and why they are used in modern construction.
Wood is still a main cooking and heating fuel for billions of people. See how firewood and charcoal are used, and when demand strains local forests.
Hardwood and softwood are botanical terms, not measures of hardness. Learn what they mean, why balsa is a hardwood, and how the labels affect uses.
Wood keeps the carbon it absorbed while growing for as long as it stays in use. See how long-lived products store carbon and why the accounting is not simple.
Forests supply far more than logs. Learn about nuts, fruit, mushrooms, fibers and medicinal plants gathered from forests, and how to harvest them responsibly.
See how pulpwood, chips and residues become paper and packaging, how pulping methods differ, and what recycling and forest sourcing mean for the system.
Learn how sawmills cut logs into boards, why the cutting pattern matters, and how lumber is sorted into grades based on knots, defects and strength.
Some forest products come from living trees. Learn how pine resin, maple sap, rubber latex and cork are harvested, and how to tap without harming the tree.
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