Green Success Stories sat down with Aram Terry, Founder and CEO of MasayaCo, makers of modern furniture and ADUs, all handmade from reforested Nicaraguan teak. We discussed their heirloom-quality designs and how their “Seed to Seat” business model, built on sustainable practices, benefits consumers, supports the local economy, and contributes to the fight against climate change.
Tell us a bit about your sustainability journey.
It’s important to understand that MasayaCo, Masaya Homes, and Masaya Teak all began as a reforestation project. After my Peace Corps assignment in Nicaragua, I wanted to create a business that was both socially and environmentally sustainable. Our reforestation efforts started in 2008, focusing on restoring degraded cattle pastures with sustainably managed forests to combat deforestation and its harmful effects.
In the fight against climate change, we believe it’s crucial to develop alternative land use methods that provide economic benefits while promoting sustainable practices that protect natural resources for future generations.
Deforestation is often simply driven by a farmer’s need to earn an income and feed their families. They clear forests to create pastures because it’s profitable. For reforestation to achieve the same scale, it must also be profitable.
Our “Seed to Seat” business model uses reforestation to create economic viability for people in rural communities. Historically, these areas have relied on land rental agreements for cattle farming and large-scale agriculture. These practices require clear-cutting and significantly contribute to land degradation and global warming.
Our product line is designed to utilize reforested wood, which has different characteristics from native forest wood. We aim to use the whole tree, which means the whole harvest from the tree farm including young eight-year-old thinnings. This will make reforestation more viable, profitable, and encourage more people to get involved.
Tell us a bit about the product or solution you offer.
We offer handmade furniture through MasayaCo and prefabricated homes through Masaya Homes. All products are crafted from solid FSC®-certified teak grown on reforestation projects in Nicaragua. Our company mission is to combat climate change through reforestation and sustainable design.
Our products are not just beautiful, heirloom-quality, modern furniture pieces; they are part of an integral cycle of planting and reforestation. Teak is planted on previously degraded land, and as it grows, it captures carbon from the atmosphere, storing it within the wood. Reforestation alsocools and revitalizes the land, helping to mitigate the effects of deforestation. This regenerative approach is what we call our “Seed to Seat” business model. Additionally, our reforestation projects, which span over 1,300 acres, include 35% native forest reserve, providing a refuge for local flora, fauna, and wildlife species.
Share a green success story with us – how have you helped customers or other businesses in the fight against climate change?
To date, we’ve planted over a million trees on more than 1,300 acres of previously deforested land in Nicaragua. Every time a customer purchases a piece of MasayaCo furniture or a Masaya Homes ADU, they’re not just acquiring a beautiful, handmade, solid teak piece that can be passed down for generations—they’re also making a direct contribution to reforestation efforts in Central America.
We’re not a company that manufactures products in China and donates a small token of our profits to a cause for a tax credit. We are the reforestation project. We grow the trees, germinate the seeds, and manage the entire process from planting and managing to harvesting, milling, designing, and fabricating everything ourselves. As a fully vertically integrated company, purchasing from us means direct participation in sustainable forestry and reforestation efforts, in support of a replenishing cycle of renewable wood use.
What would you do with $1 billion dollars?
If someone gave us $1 billion, we would plant between 800 million to 1 billion trees. I can’t think of a better way to use such a sum. This effort would cover approximately 2.5 million acres and capture around 300 million tonnes of carbon!
We would find immense satisfaction in watching how this would transform the landscape. We’ve never operated at this scale, so it would be fascinating to see how economies of scale could impact tree planting.
Reforesting degraded land is one of the most important actions humans can take to improve the planet’s health. It would be incredible to see how much land could be restored with $1 billion and the profound impact it would have on the environment. You could restore a vast amount of damaged land with that kind of money.
What do you envision your industry looking like in ten years?
We operate in three core industries: Furniture, Construction, and Forestry.
- Furniture – We hope to see the fast decline in fast furniture. Our vision is for consumers to demand higher quality items—pieces they don’t discard with every move but keep for generations because of the inherent beauty of the materials and the quality of craftsmanship. We want to see a stronger emphasis on using materials that are not harmful to the planet or the people who manufacture and use them.
- Construction – We believe that wooden prefab structures are the future of building. Wood is 50% carbon, so when you build with wood, you’re effectively storing carbon in buildings for decades or even centuries. Nature’s photosynthesis offers both the simplest and best solution to climate change: trees absorb CO2 (carbon dioxide) from the air, release oxygen back into the air, and store the carbon in their wood.Moreover, prefabricated structures produce less waste, as any waste produced at the factory is more easily contained for reuse or recycling. Additionally, prefab construction significantly reduces the number of trips to the site—unlike conventional construction, where tradesmen often drive to the site daily for a year. Our reduced on-site time also minimizes disruption for customers (and their neighbors), allowing us to complete projects in under two months… Wood prefabs just make too much sense!
- Forestry – In recent years, investments in reforestation projects and timber production through afforestation have significantly decreased due to a lack of financial viability. However, we believe that through carbon credits and a solid offtake market for products like ours, we can drive large-scale reforestation and encourage people to start planting trees again!
What would you like readers to take away from this article?
We want readers to know that there are fantastic alternatives to the big, well-known furniture brands offering items produced overseas with questionable materials and manufacturing practices. We hope they learn about our sustainability mission and commitment to reforestation. We also want to highlight the difference between companies that greenwash their products and companies like ours, which are vertically integrated and deeply committed to rethinking the product cycle through a regenerative lens that considers the entire life of the product.
How should readers get in touch with you and/or your organization?
MasayaCo: www.masayacompany.com
Masaya Homes: www.masayahomes.com
Masaya Teak: www.masayateak.com
Showrooms: https://www.
For sales inquiries: sales@masayacompany.com or (615)-953-9373
For media inquiries: media@masayacompany.com
Kudos
Many thanks to Aram Terry and to MasayaCo. Green Success Stories is happy to support and highlight your efforts! We invite you the reader to do the same.
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