Masaya & Company
Wood…from seedling to finished product.
Masaya & Company is dedicated to design and sustainability. We integrate classic, modern and contemporary design with traditional artisan production methods and sustainably sourced tropical hardwoods. Our sustainable model vertically integrates our reforestation and sustainable forestry practices and our finished products. Our products are handmade from sustainably sourced solid wood and offer a responsible alternative to mass production goods.
We plant 100 trees for every product we sell…
Our company was founded upon principles of social and environmental sustainability and we measure our success by how many trees we have planted…. 350,000 trees to date.
Our 100 Tree Pledge…
We will plant at least 100 trees for every sold product. In 2015 we planted 130,000 new trees and our goal in 2016 is 200,000 trees. We want to be part of the global environmental solution and take this challenge very seriously.
Company History
Aram and Michael Terry founded Maderas Sostenibles, our sister company in Nicaragua (maderassostenibles.com) in 2008 for the purpose of planting trees. Aram was assigned by the U.S. Peace Corps to Nicaragua in 2002 and remained with the goal of creating a socially and environmentally sustainable business. From 2008 to 2012 the company began to establish tree farms on deforested land; and also began to process and export wood products from a tropical forest destroyed in 2007 by Hurricane Felix.
Maderas Sostenibles today manages over 1100 acres of reforested land that will sequester carbon dioxide, be a long-term source of timber and a sanctuary for wildlife. Maderas Sostenibles plants teak, mahogany, Spanish cedar, rosewood and many other valuable hardwood species and organic agricultural products. In 2012 Maderas Sostenibles opened a furniture and wood products factory in Managua to serve the Central American and U.S. residential and hospitality markets with high-end furniture and wood products.
In 2015 Masaya & Co. was formed. Justin Terry, an American artist and designer, and Abril Zepeda, a Nicaraguan designer, brought their creative abilities. Abril’s hometown of Masaya has a craft and artisan tradition and became inspiration for our identity. Our team now includes Nicaraguan architects and 70 skilled local craftsmen who produce Masaya & Co products, as well as custom hospitality and residential projects. Our first two showrooms opened in 2015 in Managua and Nashville.
What is Sustainable Forestry?
At Masaya & Company our passion is the forest. We love to plant trees and we are dedicated to reversing the culture of deforestation. By reforesting land ravaged by cattle farming and unsustainable agriculture we play a part in the restoration of the natural eco-system. We are part of the solution.
Wood is one of the few renewable raw materials for furniture. Metal, plastic, concrete, and stone come from finite sources. They are not renewable in the short term and are energy intensive to produce. Wood can be cultivated and harvested several times in one lifetime. When wood is cultivated carbon is captured and stored.
Masaya & Company wood comes from two sustainable sources:
1) Timber plantations or tree farms. We have been planting trees since 2007 and our tree farms now include 1100 acres. We also process wood from existing mature plantations owned by others. The plantations are all reforestation projects. Timber plantations restore the forest to areas previously clear-cut, and then manage the resource and preserve the forest. The forest is the natural use of the land. Cow farming is not. We have returned many acres to its natural use.
2) Sustainable standing forest management plans. After many decades of forest abuse the Nicaraguan government now strictly controls the harvest of wood from natural forests. Government certified sources are primarily community based forest management plans on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua in an area destroyed by Hurricane Felix in 2007.
These marginalized, primarily indigenous communities, must often decide whether to protect and use their forest assets in a sustainable manner, or sell the land to cattle farmers and agricultural interests who will clear cut. The only way to prevent the forest from being cut is to dedicate it as a long-term source of wood. Wood from their forest must become an ongoing source of income and jobs or the forest has no value, and will be clear-cut for income producing agricultural activities or cattle farms.
Once established, a sustainable forest is a carefully managed system that replants selectively harvested trees with seedlings that eventually grow into mature trees. The forest is a working environment, producing wood products, jobs in forestry and production, and a sustainable culture based on respect for wildlife and the natural environment. Sustainable forests are the result of common sense policy to restore and then preserve the forest for the benefit of all. Once established, the forest or plantation continues forever providing environmental and economic benefits. Deforestation for livestock and agriculture are unnatural and destructive uses and contribute to climate change. A sustainable forest promotes the natural use of the land while restoring wildlife and the natural eco-systems, and assuring their survival.
Sustainable forestry is at the cutting edge of the various responses to global warming and climate change. Nothing addresses these problems more precisely than planting trees. Tree planting replaces ravaged barren land with forest and restores the soil, water, and wildlife habitat. Carbon is sequestered and the climate is cooled naturally. Jobs are created at four times the rate related to cattle farming. Our farms and processing facility employ over 120 Nicaraguan workers.
Our business model is integrated from seedling to finished product…
Masaya & Co. offers an alternative to the current global production systems where raw materials, labor, and design are fragmented across the globe to lower cost. Wood is often cut and shipped from Africa or Brazil to China where designs are manufactured at a low cost, and then again shipped across the world for American or European brands.
Our integrated sustainable model begins with the germination and planting of seedlings, and includes the maintenance and harvest of timber from our farms, the milling of logs to usable wood, and the year round production of quality solid hardwood furniture, handcrafted by local artisans and skilled workers.
Our seedlings are planted with two hours of our mill where some of the wood will become beautiful handcrafted furniture twenty year later…
Masaya & Company furniture delivers high quality at a reasonable price. Our solid wood designs are crafted from kiln dried tropical hardwoods, noted for superior qualities. Our hardwoods are dense, handle various climates well, are incredibly comfortable, and have rich grains and hues that deepen over time. All of our products are solid wood. No MDF, no plywood, no veneers, just solid hardwood. When you buy from Masaya & Company you are funding jobs in reforestation, helping to restore the natural environment, and choosing a very good handcrafted product over mass-produced alternatives. Masaya & Company is about wood and sustainability from seedling to finished product. We are part of the solution and invite you to join us.
View Our Complete Collection of Sustainably Harvested Wood Furniture