It's easy to over-simplify and make generalizations when we're talking about something going on in third-world countries. But there are decades of harvesting history and political realities that need to be dealt with in order to solve the problem of dwindling supplies of ebony. At least Bob Taylor is tackling the problem by investing heavily in the region, doubling the salaries of the local workers who sometimes support up to 20 people in these impoverished areas, and doing everything he can to balance out the supply-versus-consumption reality that his and other guitar companies now face.
It's a fact that all guitar companies use ebony for fingerboards, bridges, bridge pins, and headstock overlays. It's also a fact that all of these guitar companies will face a severe shortage of ebony, the one wood that's ideal for all of the above-mentioned uses. How many of these companies are lifting a finger to do something about the future supplies of ebony? The answer: very few.
In the central African country of Cameroon, ebony has to be hand-carried (no trucks or animals) from the forests to the mills, a journey of about 8 kilometers. Since variegated ebony (that is, ebony with marbling or striping) fetches a price of roughly 20 percent of that of solid-black ebony, it was felt that it wasn't worth it to carry that ebony to the mills, which is why it was left to rot in the forests. That appalled Bob Taylor, and he decided to buy all the variegated ebony he could get his hands on. And to make it worth their while to carry it, he offered to pay the same price for it as he was paying for solid-black ebony. He knows that his end-customers prefer solid-black ebony, and that it's a tall order to convince them otherwise. But at least he's going to try.
It's so easy to suggest simplistic solutions when you're sitting in an air conditioned house drinking a glass of shiraz thousands of miles away and you know nothing about who owns the ebony forests or how the local government controls the use of that land. But you can learn a lot by simply reading the article about ebony in the latest issue of Wood & Steel. You can find it here:
https://www.taylorguitars.com/wood-and-steel
Every now and then, we get a flame war going in this forum when someone asks about whether or not they should buy a specific brand of guitar. I never, ever participate in those wars because I believe that almost all brands of guitar, in the right hands, can produce beautiful tones. In fact, I own multiple brands of guitars: Martin, Guild, Taylor, Epiphone, and Yamaha. But I have a feeling for Taylors that I have for none of the others, and a big part of the reason is the way Bob Taylor runs his company. He's as humane a person and as good a corporate citizen as I've ever seen run a large company, and for that reason alone he gets my admiration. The fact that he also happens to make some brilliant guitars earns him my loyalty.
As I said, I have absolutely nothing against any other guitar company, and I have admiration for most of them. But if I'm in the market for a new guitar, and I test a Taylor and some other brand, all things being relatively equal, I'm going to buy a Taylor. That's how I show my support for a guy who treats his employees and vendors with utmost respect, who has delivered many of the guitar industry's most important innovations, and who actually does something about the world's supply of wood and the lives of the people who earn a meager living working with it.