Trees felled by Eunice under the hammer: “I want to turn it into a table and chair”

About sixty interested parties, mainly local furniture makers, come to the event to see if they can score a nice batch of wood. So is a man with a slightly sweaty head. “I had to rush to get there on time,” he says, somewhat breathlessly. “I’m looking for a nice straight trunk for a garden bench. To make it myself with local wood seems super cool.”

A young lady inspects the dozens of logs parked outside the Amsterdamse Bos with a sharp eye. “I’m looking for a maple tree,” she explains. “I want to make a table and a chair out of that.”

Keeping wood in the region for the sake of sustainability

Where, as a rule, batches of wood are often shipped from far and wide to their destination, the municipality of Amsterdam wants this wood to remain in the region. The logs are also offered at market prices: at the auction the starting prices per log vary between sixty and two hundred euros. The proceeds of the auction will go entirely to the maintenance of the Amsterdamse Bos.

After the first sixty trees have been reviewed during the auction, the auctioneer takes a short break. The first satisfied faces can already be identified among the bidders, such as the man who is planning the garden bench. “I’m happy,” he says. “I was able to get my tree for one hundred and sixty euros. I was somewhat surprised at how fanatical bidding was, but it worked.”

A young man from the goat farm near the auction location has also succeeded in his mission. “I scored two tribes,” he says. “I’m going to make a playground for the kids.” Incidentally, after collecting the loot, the next challenge follows: the buyers are responsible for transporting the logs themselves.