Pacific rainforest wood

Turbo, Colombia – December 2019

An Afro-Colombian carrier (cotero) balances on rough sawn timbers floating in the water during wood transportation in the port of El Waffe in Turbo, Colombia. Tropical hardwood is extracted from the Pacific rainforest, driven down the Atrato river to the sawmills and then sold in the ports to wood merchants. Low quality wood is transported throughout the country, used mainly for construction purposes, while the fine woods (choiba, mahogany etc.) is exported exclusively to China.