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THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Feb 10 2010 04:43 | LAST UPDATED Feb 10 2010 04:43 |
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Criminal gangs are stripping Madagascar's poorly-protected national parks every day of precious hardwood worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, two environmental campaign groups have said. In a report issued this week, Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency said between 100 and 200 rare rosewood trees were cut down each day with only a fraction, about 1 000 cubic metres, being exported each month. Much of the wood was being stored until further export authorisations were granted for illegally cut timber, the report said. "Timber traders have effectively bought the right to pillage the country's parks with impunity. They are extracting up to $800 000 a day worth of timber," said Reiner Tegtmeyer of Global Witness. In September, the government authorised the export of 325 containers of timber. Conservation groups say the order legalised the sale of illegally cut wood and collected wood. The government denies legitimising the plunder of the forests. Conservationists say Madagascar's biodiversity is being wiped out at an alarming pace as gangs profit from a security vacuum to pillage rosewood and ebony from supposedly protected forests and trap exotic animals, mainly for Asia's pet market. Eco-tourism has become the backbone of the Indian Ocean island's $390 million-a-year tourism industry, but months of political turmoil this year have devastated the sector. The report accused members of the forestry administration, the police and the authorities of complicity with the traffickers. Rosewood furniture sells for tens of thousands of dollars in Europe and Asia, with local communities seeing few benefits.  CONTINUES BELOW "Some of the world's unique forests, and the communities that rely on them, are being degraded beyond repair to feed our demand for luxury goods," said Andrea Johnson, director of Forest Campaigns at EIA. Conservation groups last month accused the government of legalising the sale of illegally cut timber and said it opened the door to the embezzlement of funds in the name of environmental protection. The authorities have denied legitimising the plundering of the forests. Decades of logging, mining and slash-and-burn farming have destroyed up to 90% of the ecology on the world's fourth largest island. The report called on the government to place rosewood and ebony under the protection of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. - Reuters TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE
Comments
And rather a lot of it is intended for China and Asia, rather like they are stripping Mozambique's forests for the Eastern market.
Alisdair Budd on November 29, 2009, 7:12 pm
I was in Madagascar recently and visited the areas where much of the Rosewood is being pillaged. I wrote an article that will be appearing in the December Issue of Africa geographic. According to people we met there, the wood is exported to China, but much of it ends up as manufactured furniture in Europe and North America. Very sad to see what's happening to such a unique and beautiful ecosystem. The local people do not benefit much from the logging, and it is actually against local customs to cut down trees, trap animals, and eat them. There are many of the so-called gang members who come in from other parts of the country, and the bsuiness is being run mafia style. This is only one example of many resources that are being pillaged in Madagascar, which is actuall a microcosm of what's happening on the rest of the planet, but because of it's uniqueness, the impacts are all the more staggering. Think about where the things you buy come from, starting with the food you eat, the clothes and the furniture you buy. mostly we don't pay enough attention to the source, or couldn't find out even with the best intentions. Time to start being responsible about what you buy and consume, yes?
Stephen Davis on November 30, 2009, 1:36 pm
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