Sending/buying wood from Tunisina (N. Africa)

[Treecycle Hardwoods]

Hey guys,

I recently met a guy on facebook from Tunisina which is a small country on the Mediterranean sea in north Africa. he is pretty fluent in English and is willing to trade wood. Is there any known species that we can't send there or they can't send here. He has oodles of olive wood from his region of the world. Are there any other goodies i should ask him about from the neck of the woods?

 

[Alan Sweet]

The only wood I know from there with endangered species warning is thuya wood or citron wood. I don't think it looks very good. Kinda bland. I think the root burl is in demand which probably why it is endangered.

 

[Kevin]

Ask him if he has any WWII era German uniform insignia or memorabilia. The deserts are littered with artifacts.

I'm not familiar with the wood species there though.

 

[Treecycle Hardwoods]

I will the next time I talk with him. He is 7 or 8 hours ahead of us in time. We started chatting this afternoon and he kinda trailed off on me as the afternoon wore on. He was actually the 2nd foreigner that wanted to do business with me today. A guy in Indonesia wanted to try and sell me a bf of rosewood for $620 bucks. When I told him Indian rosewood grows in FL and I could get it for less than 1/10th that price he backed off.

 

[ssgmeader]

Thuya definitely either burl or non burl (still red just not figured). Olivewood obviously but also Carob. There's Holly Oak and Holm Oak but which is abundant all over the Mediterranean used for making casks but I don't know if its any better than our oak.

 

[ChrisK]

Thuya grows in Morocco, namely in the Essaouira region. Here: https://www.google.be/maps/place/Essaouira, Maroc/@31.5109436,-9.7623825,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0xdad9a4e9f588ccf:0x57421a176d5d7d30

Different country, different region. Now (maybe I'm wrong) but I never heard of Thuya from Tunisia.

Another fact is that Thuya is slowly becoming a kind of protected wood by Moroccan authorities. From last year on, its price was up more than 30% here in Belgium.

 

[Molokai]

Thuya definitely either burl or non burl (still red just not figured). Olivewood obviously but also Carob. There's Holly Oak and Holm Oak but which is abundant all over the Mediterranean used for making casks but I don't know if its any better than our oak.

I use holm oak for firewood sometimes and its three times stronger than normal English oak. Not much of a figure, just plain oak.

 

[Alan Sweet]

It is native to northwestern Africa in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, with two small outlying populations on Malta, and near Cartagena in southeast Spain. It grows at relatively low altitudes in a hot, dry subtropical Mediterranean climate. It is the national tree of Malta.

 

[Treecycle Hardwoods]

the guy I met in Tunisia said he could get it for me. I asked about thuya in general not just the burl. I haven't spoken to him since last week I should drop him a line and see what i can work out with him.

 

[ChrisK]

Sorry I was referring to thuya burl. As for thuya, it grows in France too.

 

[ssgmeader]

Alan Beat me to it. The Mediterranean biome that Thuya grows in stretches all along the northern parts of Africa. Morocco is only separated from Tunisia y Algiers. It might not be plentiful but it's there.