Fair Trade Culture

August 1st, 2007 by Amanda

In a small village in northern Thailand, just outside of Chiang Mai, lives a cooperative of artists and their families who make beautiful vases and other wood carvings from the mango tree. Each piece is unique and handmade by a skilled craftsman, who shapes the wood with hand held cutting blades as the wood spins on a turning wheel. The shaped piece is dried in a kiln before adding the designs or colors. The mango wood used is harvested from the older trees, which after 20 to 30 years, no longer bear marketable fruit. Using the older trees for the crafts, and replacing them with younger ones, provides responsible management for this valuable resource.