Design for Relief & Aid

Sustainable Forest Management

My short term project focuses on deforestation in the Borneo rainforest. There are many aboriginal tribes living there that still depend on the resources for shelter, food, medicines, clothing, tools, and other cultural uses.

I used the Forest Stewardship Council’s current labeling system as an entry point. In doing so I was able to manipulate and refine an existing system. The existing system is as such, “Logging companies must follow the Indonesian government’s rules: no logging of endangered species or any tree under 50cm in diameter. The idea is to leave the forest healthy enough to regenerate so it will be productive and profitable well into the future.” The current labeling system is horrible. The tags are small, there is no oversight, the labels are often dismissed, and there is no connection to the local communities.

The iconographic system and toolkit I created for local communities and the Forest Stewardship council to provides a reconstruction of sustainable forestry labeling system based on use and species, addressing important resources for communities. This iconographic identification and forest protection system physically implemented on the land doubles as a subtle advocacy campaign. The toolkit will consist of stencils, tree bands, paint, instruction manuals (catering to FSC), and warning signage for those logging.

I am quite satisfied with the final outcome of my short term system. In terms of next steps and moving forward, I need to experiment with actual materials. I realized that when creating a stencil set for numbers, the alphabet needs to be modified to account for counters and negative spaces. Hierarchically I need to draw more attention to the fact that “THESE TREES CAN’T BE CUT DOWN IF LABELED”. Although I’m satisfied with my iconographic labeling system, I now realize I could have (and will) brought more attention to the fact that the trees can’t be cut down. I look forward to physically constructing my bands, labels, and signage.