Why are Malagasy rosewood and ebony so precious and sought after?
In China, Malagasy rosewoods (Dalbergia – 卢氏黑黄檀) and ebonies (Diospyros – 麦氏乌木), are prized raw materials in the traditional furniture industry and for making arts and crafts based on traditional Chinese culture, which first became popular during the Ming Dynasty. The royal furniture in the Forbidden City Museum, constructed partly out of Malagasy timber, tells the story of the first shipment of timber from that country exported to China following the explorer Zhenghe’s visit to Africa nearly 600 years ago. In recent decades, China’s economic boom and rising middle class incomes have stimulated the legal and illegal harvesting and trade of Malagasy timber to make replicas of these traditional objects, status symbols showing economic success. European and American demand for high-end musical instruments and furniture has also played a role.
Why were the stockpiles of rosewood and ebony logs in Madagascar created?
Illegal logging has been a problem in Madagascar for decades and is perpetuated by extreme poverty and government corruption. Historically, logging and exporting in Madagascar have been regulated by the Malagasy government. In 2000, the Government banned logging of rare hardwoods from protected areas. After that decree, government orders and memos alternated between permitting and banning exports of these precious woods. This oscillating availability of Malagasy rosewood and other precious woods created a market of rising and falling prices. Traders and “timber barons” started to create stockpiles of illegally sourced rosewood and ebony logs during periodic bans and then flood the market when the trade windows open and prices were high.
The unsustainable exploitation of these rosewood and ebony, escalated significantly during the 2009-2013 Malagasy political crisis. Thousands of poorly paid Malagasy loggers flooded into the forests including forests in the SAVA Region, and in Masoala and Marojejy National Parks—building roads, setting up logging camps, and cutting down even the most difficult to reach rosewood and ebony trees. These illegal activities were openly flaunted, armed militia descended upon local villages, and a rosewood mafia easily bribed government officials to purchase export permits.
These illegal operations were and are funded in part by advance payments for future shipments, financed by Chinese expatriates and Chinese importers, and by loans from large, international banks.
How many logs are there in the stockpiles in Madagascar?
Estimates of between 350,000 and 2 million trees were illegally felled in Madagascar between 2010 and 2015. These trees were added to existing stockpiles and were created new ones around the country.
These stockpiles create laundering machines for newly cut rosewood and ebony trees and will continue to be a source of illegal trade and corruption until they are fully audited and secured.
When were Malagasy rosewood and ebony first listed with CITES?
In 2010, Madagascar listed its species of rosewood and ebony on Appendix III. This listing asked other Parties to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) to help prevent illegal shipments of rosewood and ebony from Madagascar from being traded. At that meeting, CITES listed the species on Appendix III and also gave Madagascar a grant of $40,000 so that it could do the studies and outreach needed to up-list its species of rosewood and ebony to get the greater protections provided by Appendix II.
When were Malagasy rosewood and ebony placed on CITES Appendix II?
In 2013, with unanimous support of all Parties to CITES, Malagasy species of rosewood and ebony were listed on and got the protections provided by Appendix II.
What is the CITES Rosewood and Ebony Action Plan?
In 2013, when the species of Malagasy rosewood and ebony were added to Appendix II, CITES also adopted an action plan for Madagascar rosewood and ebony which was created by scientists and others and embodied all of the actions needed to protect these tree species. (Decision 16.152, the Action Plan). The Action Plan: 1) imposes an immediate ban or the export of rosewood and ebony until Madagascar could identify the species that are likely to be traded; 2) requires Madagascar to prepare enforcement materials for Customs officials around the world to identify Malagasy rosewood and ebony; 3) if appropriate after conducting a non-detriment finding, Madagascar’s CITES Management Authority is to establish a protective quota for each of the species of rosewood or ebony expected to be traded; 4) requires that the stockpiles of rosewood and ebony be audited and secured to prevent illegal exports of these logs; 5) requires that Madagascar’s domestic forestry governance capacity be strengthened; and 6) mandates that progress reports be provided to CITES on the implementation of the Action Plan.
What Seizures of Rosewood Logs Happened in in Zanzibar, Singapore, Kenya and Sri Lanka in 2014?
Zanzibar
In February 2014, Zanzibar customs officials in cooperation with CITES authorities, seized six containers of rosewood filled with 781 logs illegally smuggled from Madagascar. Two days later, a Malagasy news article reported that Tanzania had failed to seize an additional 1,996 rosewood logs, which it reported had already left Zanzibar. Shipping records indicate that, in fact, the 781 logs also left Zanzibar days after the reported seizure. Zanzibar at this time was a notorious hub for trafficking Malagasy rosewood.
Sri Lanka
On April 2, 2014, Sri Lankan customs officials announced the seizure of 28 containers with 420 tons, 3,669 Malagasy rosewood logs with an estimated total value of $7.6 million USD.
The seized rosewood in Sri Lanka was put up for auction them in 2017. Protests were made claiming that the auction would stimulate illegal trade in Malagasy rosewood. Allegations were made that the auction did not follow proper tender procedure, as tenders were not called for through local and international advertisements. It was alleged that Sri Lankan Customs called for bids from few parties and selected a bidder known to a powerful politician of the ruling party. Three days after these allegations there was a Cabinet shuffle which was alleged in the press to have been related to the improper auction. It was never revealed whether the sale from the auction went through or what happened to the rosewood.
It was reported by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) in 2019, that traffickers had used fake CITES permits purportedly from the Sri Lankan auction to launder other illegally-cut Malagasy rosewood in China. The EIA 2019 investigation confirmed that despite the fact that no seizures had occurred since 2014, a steady supply of Malagasy rosewood was reaching China.
It is not known if this controversy caused the 2017 auction to be invalidated. However, a Notice of Tender was issued in 2022 listing substantial quantities of rosewood for sale with no stated country of origin. The sale was to be held on July 4, 2022. There has been no publicized seizure of substantial quantities of rosewood in Sri Lanka since the 2014 seizure of Malagasy rosewood. Due to the facts that the country of origin of the rosewood was not listed, protests were made to the Sri Lankan CITES Management Authority and Customs, the CITES Secretariat and Interpol. However, due to the collapse of the Sri Lankan government in July 2022 there has been no confirmation of the country of origin of the rosewood or whether the auction went forward despite the protests.
Kenya
On May 26th, Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) officials announced the seizure of these containers with 4,400 logs weighing over 500 tons were seized in the port of Mombasa, where they had been unloaded for transshipment to Hong Kong.
In Kenya, after two trials and two appeals, in November 2021, the Kenyan courts ordered that the rosewood be returned to the smugglers. The decision to return the rosewood to the smugglers was based on: 1) the Courts’ failure to understand that Malagasy rosewood specifically was placed on Appendix II in 2013, while all other rosewood only gained CITES Appendix II status in 2016, (Due to this misunderstanding, the Kenyan Courts did not afford the rosewood in the seizure the protections that come with the Appendix II listing); and 2) because neither Kenya, Madagascar nor CITES produced evidence to prove that the transport documents from a 2014 shipment of rosewood, made during the Malagasy CITES embargo, and are totally fraudulent. No shipments of rosewood that left Madagascar in 2014 could be legal as the CITES embargo was in effect and had been implemented in Madagascar by both CITES and national law.
At the CITES Standing Committee meeting in March 2022, the Kenyan representative stated that the Kenya Wildlife Service was also insisting refusing to release the rosewood back to the smugglers and are awaiting direction from CITES as what to do.
Singapore
In June 2014, Singapore seized 29,434 rosewood and ebony logs illegally exported from Madagascar, worth US$ 50 million at the time. This seizure constitutes the largest-ever seizures of species protected by CITES. Shortly before that incident, another two significant seizures had been made
After two trials and three appeals, with active and passive interference by members of the Malagasy government, the Singaporean courts have now ordered the logs to be returned to the smugglers. Fortunately, the Government of Singapore has insisted that the smugglers provide valid CITES documentation from its final destination before the logs will be released.
In Singapore, for the past three years, the smugglers have failed to claim title to the logs. The Singapore High Court has granted multiple extensions of time for the smugglers to claim and export the rosewood. In the meantime, CITES has declared that the rosewood was illegally exported from Madagascar and that any further trading of this rosewood would violate CITES and be subject to enforcement actions.
Why weren’t all of these those logs confiscated and the smugglers jailed?
A serious impediment to the successful prosecution of people or entities smuggling CITES-listed animals, plants or their parts is that many CITES member countries lack sufficiently functional domestic legislation, structural capacity, expertise, and staffing to enforce CITES restrictions effectively. This creates ideal operating conditions for criminal groups.
Vigilant criminals take advantage of gaps in CITES policy, capacity, and enforcement and the associated national implementation and enforcement infrastructure. Criminal groups pinpoint these ‘policy-capacity-enforcement’ gaps.” The illegal export of Malagasy rosewood and ebony logs in violation CITES Appendix II and the CITES embargo is especially damaging if the seizures in third countries are disposed of in a fashion that leads to legalization of trade by means of a resale or auction. If this happens, despite the embargo, the legal processes in these countries are enabling criminal syndicates to transform illegal wood into legal wood using the legal processes in the countries where the wood is seized. Weak enforcement and prosecution allows criminal syndicates to engage in the illicit trade of endangered species with impunity. Addressing these issues is critical if such trade is to be controlled effectively and Malagasy rosewood and ebony are to be protected.
What is the difference between seizure and confiscation?
When a load of logs is discovered that appears to be either of illegal origin or being illegally transported, authorities can take custody or “seize” the logs pending further legal proceedings. If the authorities are successful in proving that the logs were being illegally transported or were of illegal origin, the court or other legal authority then can order the logs be “confiscated,” transferring legal ownership of the logs from the smuggler to the government to dispose of in an appropriate manner.
What should happen to the seized logs?
The seized logs should be secured where they are with the assistance and oversight of CITES. They should be held until CITES approves a disposal plan for seized wood that ensures that the disposal of seized wood does not stimulate increased demand for, and is not detrimental to the CITES-listed species being disposed. The disposal plan should also prescribe procedures to ensure that anyone purchasing or otherwise acquiring the logs or timber is not connected with a criminal syndicate. Finally, to the extent the CITES disposal plan approves the sale of the seized wood, any proceeds received should be used to either implement the CITES Rosewood and Ebony Action Plan or benefit the Malagasy people in the region where the logs were illegally cut.
What should happen to the stockpiles in Madagascar?
The rosewood stocks in Singapore and Kenya make for a perfect opportunity to create a secure facility, managed by an independent third party, which will ensure that the timber is used to fund the CITES Rosewood and Ebony Action Plan and benefit the people of Madagascar. All the wood can then be managed and disposed of after the completion of an analysis, approved by CITES, that the ensures that any disposal of the stockpiles of rosewood and ebony in Madagascar will not have a detrimental effect on the remaining living rosewood and ebony trees. Madagascar should also conduct an economic assessment to maximize the benefits from any disposal the logs in stockpiles in Madagascar, without increasing demand for these precious woods and further endangering the remaining, living rosewood and ebony trees.
What actions have been taken to implement The CITES Rosewood and Ebony Action Plan?
Despite years of reports replete with platitudes, the CITES Rosewood and Ebony Action Plan remains largely unimplemented. Scientists still have not identified all of the Malagasy rosewood and ebony species being traded. The current sample size of collections is far too small to identify the specific population from which any log was sourced, but the samples do reveal the complexity and richness of the rosewood and ebony species in Madagascar. As a result, contrary to the requirements of the Action Plan, effective enforcement materials cannot be produced and protective quotas, other than a zero quota, cannot be established. The rosewood and ebony stockpiles remain unaudited and unsecured and provide a source for illegal leakage and exportation.
The risk is that any leakage of Malagasy rosewood or ebony into illegal trade will reignite further illegal sourcing, from both the stockpiles and the few remaining living Malagasy rosewood and ebony trees. Despite repeated representations by the Malagasy government to the contrary, no major prosecution has been undertaken in either the Malagasy courts or in the newly created Special Court to combat illegal trade of rosewood and ebony. Only low-level traffickers have been charged. Not one timber baron has ever been prosecuted, even though the identity of many of the Malagasy timber barons is publicly discussed. The former-Minister who provided false testimony to the Singapore court has never been prosecuted. Of the low-level traffickers who have been prosecuted, few have been convicted, and only minor fines and no jail time been imposed. Perversely however, Madagascar has focused its efforts on prosecuting several prominent environmental activists seeking to protect Madagascar’s forests!
During the CITES meetings that have occurred since the Action Plan was adopted, different Malagasy governments have pushed to reduce the requirements of the 2013 Action Plan. The Action Plan embodies the steps that top scientist have agreed are needed to protect Malagasy species of rosewood and ebony from extinction. The Parties at CoP 19 must recommit to implementing the CITES Rosewood and Ebony Action Plan and finally provide Madagascar with the expertise, resources and finances necessary to expeditiously implement all of the elements of the Action Plan.
What is the CITES Intersessional Advisory Group (IAG) and why should it be authorized to do more?
At its 72nd meeting, the Standing Committee established an Intersessional Advisory Group (IAG) to assist and advise Madagascar on the implementation of the rosewood and ebony Action Plan. The IAG has been extremely effective in incentivize activities on species identification and to assess how to audit and assess the stockpiles in Madagascar. It has not been as successful in strengthening forest governance. Unfortunately, the IAG is only authorized to act until CoP 19. The IAG’s mandate should be extended and expanded. CITES should as a priority, secure the funding, expertise and resources necessary to fully implement the Action Plan.
Why is Madagascar’s proposal to Begin Exploiting the Official Stockpiles a Bad Idea?
At the 74th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, Madagascar made a radical proposal to remove the “official” stockpiles of approximately 30,000 rosewood and ebony logs from CITES oversight. Madagascar has proposed that the rosewood and ebony from the Official stockpiles be used on a “domestic level, for building infrastructures and restoring public buildings (e.g., in museums, material for schools) and also used to produce handicrafts with a view to selling them later to international tourists with a maximum weight of up to 10 kg per shipment. They specify that no CITES documents would be required for exporting these huge artisan objects from Madagascar.
The proposal provides no safeguards to ensure that rosewood and ebony allegedly to be used domestically is not illegally sold on the international market. Further, there is no provision in the proposal to prevent “leakage” from the “private” or “hidden” stockpiles into the official stockpiles. The official stockpiles have never been secured, and are spread in multiple sites around the country, all of which are subject to tampering.
There are no specifics about the how the wood used to create handicrafts would be removed from the official stockpiles or tracked once removed. Nor is there any discussion about utilization of tracing mechanisms when the “handicrafts” are shipped overseas. The proposal pushes for the removal of the official stocks from CITES oversight, but, there has been no attempt to demonstrate that the use and sale of the official stockpiles will not cause an increase in demand for Malagasy rosewood and ebony, and put the dwindling, remaining living trees at extreme risk of extinction.
Fortunately, no decision was taken on this proposal at the Standing Committee meeting, and as a result, the matter will be taken up again at the 19th CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP 19) scheduled for this November in Panama.
The current Malagasy plan to remove the 30,000 logs from the “official stockpiles” (coincidentally the exact number of logs in the Singapore seizure) for use domestically and to “sell to tourists” in 10 kg pieces must be rejected. The seized precious wood in Singapore and Kenya should be used to jumpstart the long overdue implementation of the Action Plan. The embargo should be expanded to trade in all CITES listed species and additionally funding and expertise should be given to finally get the Malagasy government to make the protection of its forests a priority.
What Can CITES Do to Help Increase the Conviction rate and penalties for smugglers of rare, threatened and endangered animals, plants and their parts?
CITES must expedite the promulgation of model laws and regulations with serious fines and jail time for smuggling CITES listed species, making the fines and penalties equivalent to those imposed for smuggling guns, drugs and human trafficking.
CITES and agencies that help to implement CITES obligations in member countries, like the World Bank and UNDP, must become authorized to actively aid any country that seizes CITES-listed animals, plants or their parts in the vigorous prosecution of traffickers and to clarify the CITES status of seized CITES-listed species. Until there is effective legal enforcement, trafficking of CITES-listed species will continue to be extremely lucrative and low-risk for criminal syndicates smuggling the likes of rosewood, ebony, ivory, rhino horns, tiger skins, reptiles, orchids and other endangered, threatened and rare species.
At CoP 19, CITES Parties must give a mandate to the CITES Secretariat to: 1) promulgate model laws and regulations that bring prosecutions for smuggling those imposed for guns, drugs and human trafficking; and 2) aid in prosecutions for seizures of CITES-listed species or their parts to enable Parties to muster the prosecutions necessary to combat criminal syndicates.
What do the CITES Parties need to do at CoP 19, 14–25 November 2022 in Panama to protect Malagasy rosewood and ebony?
The CITES Parties and the Governments of Madagascar, Singapore, Kenya and Sri Lanka must:
prevent the approximately 40,000 Malagasy rosewood (Dalbergia spp. Fabaceae) and ebony (Diospyros spp. Ebenaceae) logs seized in Singapore, Kenya and Sri Lanka, from being returned to the smugglers who illegally exported them from Madagascar in 2014;
fund and provide the required expertise to implement all of the elements of the 2013 Madagascar Rosewood and Ebony Action Plan, including identifying species, auditing and securing all of the stockpiles of rosewood and ebony, conducting non-detriment findings and improving forest governance to protect the remaining rosewood and ebony forests;
extend and expand the mandate of the Intersessional Advisory Group to aid in the full implementation of all of the elements of the 2013 Action Plan, and to formulate disposal plans for the seized logs and stockpiles that will not be detrimental to the survival of the Malagasy species of rosewood and ebony;
take immediate steps to stop the ongoing illegal logging of precious wood in Madagascar, which is often unreported due to the economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent enforcement void;
reject the Malagasy government’s plan to begin to use the “officially controlled” or any other stockpiles of rosewood and ebony logs on a domestic level until the 2013 Action Plan is fully implemented and any such action can be conducted in a manner that is not detrimental to the survival of the Malagasy species of rosewood and ebony; and
Provide Madagascar With the Resources to Determine Whether It Should Place Species of Rosewood and Ebony from Madagascar on CITES Appendix I.