Rosewood imports from Southeast Asia became common when China opened up its economy in the late s. The trade has boomed in the last two decades. From to , it increased fold , according to Chinese customs data collected by the Environmental Investigation Agency. Few tropical forests have been safe from the plunder. The trafficking networks are so efficient that in many cases, by the time a country — or a conservation organization, or a group of local people — realizes it has a trafficking problem, all of its best trees are gone, its forests are under severe threat, and it has no tax revenues or export levies to show for any of it.
Rosewood logging causes problems that go well beyond the removal of rare tree species. In West Africa, it can dry out forests and leave them vulnerable to fires and desertification. They only bring rice into the forest, and they rely on wild foods for the rest of their diet. The rosewood trade has been banned in Madagascar for decades, but the government has issued brief exemptions, most notably during two periods in This muddied the legal waters for years after the fact, allowing traffickers to claim their wood was harvested during an exemption period and therefore legal.
Similar listings have been issued in other tropical countries over the last decade in an attempt to keep up with traffickers. The village of Antanambao, outside Masoala National Park in Madagascar, where many residents work in the rosewood trade.
Rosewood refers to the darkest and most uniformly colored hardwoods in the genera Dalbergia and Pterocarpus , among others. Strengthening the law is a start, but in practice, conserving rosewood is only possible if source countries and timber dealers make it a priority.
In Madagascar, that has yet to happen. The government has putatively cooperated with CITES and international conservation groups, but in fact has not made serious efforts to stop rosewood trafficking.
Rather, it seems to have monopolized the trade and made it less visible. It has in recent years prosecuted several activists working to stop the illegal trade, but has not touched the so-called timber barons who run the trade, many of whom are themselves politicians or have close ties to government figures.
Despite an outcry from civil society groups , he was convicted of defamation. Paying bribes is typically the only way to get rosewood out of the country.
For example, several government gendarmes are stationed in Fampotakely, which is highly unusual for a remote village in Madagascar that is not a county seat. Armed with machine guns and highly skeptical of a visiting reporter, the gendarmes are clearly here because of the rosewood.
And yet as with the illicit moonshine production that takes place right before their eyes — several makeshift stills, each beside a giant pile of pressed sugarcane, can be seen alongside the river — the gendarmes seem to be more interested in controlling illegal activity than stopping it.
In many source countries, the most valuable rosewood has already been cut, and Madagascar is no exception. The surge of logging over the last decade has left relatively few large-diameter trees in the forest.
The timber barons did a poor job managing the forests, according to Rick Hearne, a U. In general, world stocks of rosewood are in decline through overexploitation. Rosewood is now protected worldwide. Traffickers are now targeting more than 80 other countries across the tropics where rosewoods grow, particularly in west Africa but also central America.
Illegal gangs move swiftly from country to country, felling all the trees they can find and creating devastating boom-and-bust cycles, said the report. China imported 2m cubic metres of logs and wood in , according to the EIA. The devastated forests left behind also no longer provide the charcoal and traditional medicines used by indigenous communities. The trade has exploded exponentially in the last decade. Its more about control than protecting woods. Why would a professional musician be penalized for wood crimes committed by a tree decades ago when one of the Major parties to this U.
Its all about the money. Price Control. Its the same two parties in this U. I make custom made pens. I live in the US. I have Bubinga, and some form of Rosewoods. Other exotics also. I am considering buying a marimba and was researching the difference between padauk and rosewood. And now — holy cow! Which should I buy? Rosewood is expensive, but it might be a good investment since it may not be available in the future. Or a horrible investment because I might not be able to sell it.
Padauk sounds like a more responsible way to go. Would love to get your opinion. Given the two options, you are probably right that the padauk is the more responsible option. I would stay away from padauk if there is an alternative. Padauk looks beautiful when freshly finished but the color fades over time not even a very long time.
I am feeling myself a rich man. From all the at the poster pictured Rosewoods and many more, I have good quality wood samples in many different grain patterns and colors in my more then wood samples large wood collection. The trees and its wood are from Michoacan, Mexico and very few other places in Central America. I believe it is in the Delbergia family. My problem is that the two name do not relate to each other, but I did find coral as within the Erythrina family.
When sanded the wood is more white but the … Read more ». In researching the wood, I determined it to be Siamese Rosewood, and, at the same time, learned that it was on the Cites banned list even back then.
I also learned the main reason for it being banned. The one word I was waiting to hear… China! The primary … Read more ». You are not alone of being sick of how dishonest merchants selling fake and using sapwood to mixed into the Hongmu furniture. The Hongmu furniture business has always been a dark trading business — meaning if one does not has knowledge of Hongmu information in how to distinguish the different species of woods one would be sold with the fake Hongmu.
There were so many Hong Kong people also brought fake rosewood furniture. However, many timber merchants have said that once their current stocks of a particular species have run out, they will no longer be supplying the wood due to the extra hassle and cost of applying for permits, so these species will become a lot more difficult to obtain in the near future. I understand these regulations relate to commercial entities, i. But what about your average Joe woodworker?
Do these regs still apply? And lastly, are these international laws, or just policies, or what? What power of enforcement do they actually have to an American citizen? As such, I am not subject to international law, only American law. They only apply to international trade! This article is very misleading on that topic. The only case a US business or person would need permits would be to directly import listed species or export goods in excess of or outside of exempted quantities and or forms.
Those enforcing it have so far only gone after companies that knowingly imported illegally harvested woods from another country, … Read more ». Not sure if you read the whole article above or not, but I believe most of your questions and concerns have already been covered. But before you write this latest development off as nothing of note, you … Read more ». You can still do whatever with existing stocks within the borders of whatever country they are in.
China has a long history of using Hongmu rosewood since Ming Dynasty, the precious rosewoods were only allowed to be used by King and Nobles in making of furniture. The major reason Chinese are so much into rosewood furniture is that it has a capability of appreciation in value. The other reason is that the furniture itself will last for thousand years. The chosen 33 spices as China Hongmu was under heavy research and the Hongmu required at least hundreds of years to grow in order to be able to use for furniture making.
Since some of the best rosewood … Read more ». Nice info here but you are missing a fundamental point Appendix ll is Not A Ban!! Countries can still export so long as the harvest is deemed to be non-detrimental to the survival of the species. The simplest alternative that I can suggest is to use dark colored woods that are native to your country.
So for those in the United States, if done well, black walnut can look really nice. I understand everything you said about Rosewood being banned, but what happens if a musician travels to gigs abroad and has say, a Martin D28 made with Brazilian Rosewood. Surely the fact that the instrument was made 70yrs ago should exempt it from these regulations? There is no guarantee they will do so, and ample evidence that the contrary is likely. Because this law is SO badly worded, your best move if you absolutely gotta would be a BS document for a much newer but similar looking Martin guitar that uses less restricted woods.
Or better yet, travel with a cheapie piece of junk, not a valuable vintage collectible. Keep relevant papers for the acoustics, and consider sticking to maple fretboards on electrics used on international tours. Thanks so much. This was very helpful.
You might try comparing these exotic and exploited woods to ivory when you talk about them. They are beautiful, but are they worth the cost? I had no idea there was a potential link to Boko Haram and such. But harvesting of any valuable resource seems to inevitably lead to organized crime, and now potentially terrorists. Maybe we just need to get used to walnut.
Though friends … Read more ». These woods from northern Nigeria is not in any way connected to boko haram, this is what i know as a supplier. If the issue that caused the blanket listing is the difficulty in telling the woods of the various Dalbergia spp. You can help support the site by buying one of these resources, designed and published by The Wood Database. The specific links on this site are affiliate links as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases and help support the site at no extra cost to you.
See my page on donating wood samples for more info. The short answer is yes.
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