Tom Bedell Presents at World Forestry Congress

Tom Bedell is currently in Durban, South Africa participating in the World Forestry Congress.  

Now in its 14th Year and with a focus of “Forests and People: Investing in a Sustainable Future” more than 1,700 leaders coming from governments, civil society, business and academia are meeting to discuss the future of world’s forests.

Tom is the only representative from the guitar industry to attend this year’s conference, held once every six years.  He presented on Bedell Guitar’s commitment to sustainably and ethically harvesting tonewood for guitars.   “I advocated for accountability of protecting our forests and the economies of the people of the forest,” said Tom Bedell, Founder of Bedell Guitars.  “Bedell Guitars seeks to connect the musician to the tree where his/her instrument began – as much as 500 years ago.”

The conference has four goals this year – to bolster political will for restoration, improve forest legality and governance, generate new strategies for the forests and people of Africa and drive home the importance of transparency and open data.

Together Tom, Chip, and Andrew share the same goals to protect the forests and are partnering on many of these initiatives as well.