Ipe wood and sustainability issues?

Question

I'm designing an exterior deck for a public plaza. I'd like to use Ipe wood for it, but am getting flack from people saying that logging of Ipe destroys rainforests. "Exploited by illegal loggers" someone told me. I called one wood supplier and they suggested that FSC certification didn't mean much. Better to have Brazil's dept of Agriculture certification. In the end, I need some language that I can put in a specification that a wood supplier can follow. If it means changing wood type, that's ok , but I need to know it's comparable to Ipe.

Answer 1

Use one of the newer plastic woods and be done with it.