The investigative journalism by BBC Africa Eye summarizes the plight of one of the most trafficked species the Rosewood tree. This tree is distinct for when it’s cut it bleeds a blood red sap. The tree belongs to Dalbergia genus nested within the legume family. Dalbergia species can have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antimicrobial, antidiarrheal, anti-ulcerogenic, anti-spermicidal, larvicidal and mosquito repellant properties used in traditional medicine.The genus has a wide pantropical distribution, native to the tropical regions of Central and South America, Africa, Madagascar and southern Asia. The 2019 assessment of IUCN has listed 23 species of the Dalbergia genus as threatened by overexploitation.
Until recently Madagascar was the epicenter of illegal rosewood trade. For instance, the Dalbergia abrahamii is only restricted to 5 small populations in the north of the island. Forty-seven of Madagascar’s 48 species of Dalbergia are endemic. However, the sourcing of the market has shifted to west Africa. African forests have been under massive pressure for charcoal production. In Senegal it is illegal to harvest or export Rosewood trees. However, as the BBC report shows the trees are cut from the forests of Casamance and smuggled across the neighboring Gambia in plain sight. China is the main destination for the smuggled trees.
Rosewood is one of those trees that can be cultivated and farmed and is tolerant to urban conditions.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement signed by 183 countries. CITES forbids or restricts trade in the most threatened species. In 2016, it added to the list all the rosewoods belonging to the genus Dalbergia. Traders must prove their rosewood sources are legitimate. Authorities are developing a reference sample library for the world’s endangered forests and are developing cutting edge methods including mass spectroscopy to identify trees and their origins. Using these techniques it has been revealed that up to 40% of barbeque charcoal used in Germany was coming from Paraguay and Nigeria. In 2016 Lumber Liquidators had to pay a $13-million penalty for using illegaly sourced Mongolian oak (Quercus mongolica). Accurate tools for identification are there. It is now time to put the enforecement pressure on all parties of the timber industry and show that they can no longer get away with those crimes.
You may also be interested in:
If a Tree Falls: The Mozambican Forest at Risk – Mike & Sam Goldwater (2010)
Protecting Forests – Equator Initiative (2015)
The Queen of Trees – PBS (2006)
0 Comments
You can be the first one to leave a comment.