Pucte Timber

Product Highlights

Product: Pucte timber or “Bullet Wood”

Origin: Maya Biosphere Reserve, Petén, Guatemala

Community: Carmelita, AFISAP and CUSTOSEL Community Concessions.

Certification: FSC Certified

Mission: Partners in the Carmelita forest concession strive to protect the forest from clearing and degradation and support the local community by harvesting and selling sustainably produced forest products, including timber, xate, and chicle.

Sustainable
forestry

Wildlife
friendly

Product Overview

Carmelitas’ FSC certified pucte comes from the Maya Biosphere Reserve located in the Petén region of northern Guatemala. The reserve is the largest protected area in Central America, covering close to 2.1 million hectares and housing globally important biodiversity and cultural heritage sites. It is also home to 180,000 people. Harvesting trees from the forests’ Multi Use Zones is done using community forest management plans that mandate low-impact timber extraction.

These operations also provide job opportunities and support health and educational facilities in the community. Pucte is rated as very durable with excellent insect resistance, and is a good choice for infrastructure that will be subject to heavy use. Pucte was used as the beach boardwalk material at New York City’s Coney Island, lasting for 25 years before needing to be replaced.

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Useful links

Discover more about the Carmalita Cooperative here

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Read about how concessions operate in the Maya Biosphere Reserve

Get more information about the harvesting practices in the Maya Biosphere

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Read about how Guatemala’s practices have inspired forestry practice change in Indonesia