Woods used in the fabrication of handicrafts for tourism in Costa Rica: Species, density, colour, precedence and workability

Wood is a notable material for handicraft fabrication. This study aims to quantify different kinds of wood used, their characteristics, origins, and workability as evaluated by a tourist handicraft fabricator in the Sarchi region of Costa Rica. A total of 29 different species were identified. Sixty-five per cent of the woods are catalogued as decorative, 52% have a high density, 79% of the species are extracted from natural forests, and 15% come from forest plantations or agroforestry systems. 89.66% of all the woods exhibit well-defined heartwood-sapwood demarcation, and growth rings were observed in 86% of them. Wood colour is the primary characteristic to determine its usage in handicraft fabrication. Multivariate analysis of the colour as a parameter determined four different colour groups: light woods (G1), brown woods (G3), and dark woods (G4), with a fourth group (G2) situated between G1 and G3. Woods from G3 and G4 present problems of sawlog supply.