Madagascan Police Intercept Illegally Logged Wood
Date: 02-Jun-05
Country: MADAGASCA
Author: Tim Cocks
Public Security Minister Lucien Razakanirina said 13 people have been arrested in the past two weeks on suspicion of trying to export the wood to markets in Asia, but no charges have been brought yet.
Conservationists say Madagascan rainforests contain some of the world's most valued biodiversity. The huge Indian Ocean island is home to tens of thousands of species of plants and animals found nowhere else.
"We impounded a shipment of 360 tonnes of rosewood and 160 tonnes of ebony at two ports in the northeast," Razakanirina told Reuters. "Certainly, they were destined for export -- maybe China, but we do not know."
Police found the precious hardwood packed into 10 containers two weeks ago. Razakanirina said the tip-off came from local authorities, who found evidence of illegal logging in two protected areas of the dense tropical rainforests cloaking the northeast of the island.
In March, environment and development ministers from the Group of Eight rich nations agreed on the need to act against the scourge of illegal logging in the first meeting of its kind.
However, G8 members only committed themselves to voluntary bilateral actions to end the $15 billion trade in illegal timber.
Britain, as head of the G8 this year, had wanted the group to agree on new laws to curb the illegal timber trade, but the United States opposed a change to existing trade rules.
Conservationists in Madagascar say illegal logging, charcoal and traditional "slash-and-burn" agriculture together threaten to wipe out the island's rainforests, home to dozens of unique species of birds, insects, chameleons and lemurs -- a cuddly primate found only in Madagascar.
"The most immediate threat is slash-and-burn which leads to immediate and permanent disappearance of rainforest," Conservation International country head Frank Hawkins said.
"Logging...opens up the canopy to invasive species, to fires and people moving in for slash-and-burn."
Hawkins said the illegal export of Madagascan hardwood is widespread, driven partly by Chinese demand.
"Logging is pretty serious in Madagascar. China is certainly one of the big players in the market for illegal tropical timber," he said.
China, the second-largest market for industrial timber, pulp and paper, is now one of the major destinations for illegally harvested wood, according to conservation group WWF.
