More than one of my childhood birthday presents included a balsa wood airplane. They came as assembly kits that were fun to build but not as much fun as tossing them into the air and watching them ...

When a project requires wood, balsa wood is a go-to for a reason; it's lightweight, easy to work with, and affordable. It's also considered relatively strong for its weight, but that doesn't mean it's ...

For centuries, the fast-growing balsa tree has been prized for its light weight and stiffness relative to density. But balsa wood is expensive and natural variations in the grain can be an impediment ...

Where does the balsa tree grow? Why is it so lightweight? What is it good for? Why do I even want to talk about it? Balsa trees were mentioned a few times in a story of jungle survival by a group of ...

Seizures of illegally harvested balsa wood more than doubled in Ecuador between 2019 and 2020. Timber mafias operating along Ecuador’s borders with Peru and Colombia have been profiting from the ...