Legal Brazilian Walnut Wood was Used to Rebuild Venice Pier

Ipe Wood, also known as Brazilian Walnut, is popular for its durability. When Venice Municipal Fishing Pier decided to fix it after the damage Hurricane Irma did, they chose Brazilian Walnut Wood.

The wood is very strong and that’s the reason it has been grown illegally too. It has a long history of illegal harvesting. IPE woods were used by Infinite Construction to rebuild the pier. The person responsible for the rebuilding of the pier -Venice City engineer Kathleen Weeden, mentioned that for the pier construction, Ipe wood wasn’t specified.

Weeden said- “The city always wants to be a good friend to the environment. We were told that the Naples Pier uses Ipe and Disney uses Ipe on all their boardwalks.”

Infinite construction purchased the Ipe wood from Decks & Docks Lumber, Sarasota to repair the pier. And the Lumber sourced its wood from Alijoma Lumber. This lumber is owned by Universal Forest Products Company. It is a 64 year old Global company that serves retail and construction services. And is based out in Michigan.

On Wednesday, the Alijoma Lumber reported that it was the one who provided wood for the reconstruction of Venice Pier. Both the Lumber and Universal forest have Forest Stewardship Council chain of custody certification.

Universal Forest does not carry out tree harvest but it has policies that guarantee that hardwood lumber they buy is harvested well. Also it manages its vendors through independent certifications and regular site visits. Tree harvesting in Brazil is monitored by the BIERR. And every responsible lumber needs the certification to harvest wood.