Posted on 07 October
2009 - Antananarivo, Madagascar – An exceptional
authorisation from the Malagasy transitional
government for
the export of raw and semi-processed precious
woods risks opening a loophole for the legal
export of illegally cut timber and encouraging
further assaults on Madagascar's endangered
forests and wildlife, conservation groups
active on the island have said.
"It legalises the
sale of illegally cut and collected wood
onto the market (...) and constitutes a
legal incentive for further corruption in
the forestry sector. " said a communique
published locally by WWF, Conservation International
(CI) and the World Conservation Society
(WCS).
The communique follows
a Reuters report quoting Prime minister
Monja Roindefo denying that the transitional
government was legalising the plundering
of forests, but refusing to rule out issuing
future licences.
Niall O’Connor, Regional
Representative for WWF Madagascar and West
Indian Ocean Programm Office in Antananarivo
says "We condem the impact of the plundering
of Madagascar’s forests, particularly the
protected areas, on biodiversity and the
loss of livelihood options for the local
population."
No forest containing
precious woods is safe
A study entitled "Evaluation
of rosewood and ebony stocks in two communities
in the North East and in the middle-west
of the country“, commissioned by WWF Madagascar
in August 2009 revealed shocking details
about the professional exploitation of precious
woods such as the above mentioned in Madagascar.
In Andranopasy, a community
in western Madagascar, only 6 of 15 species
of rosewood survive. No rosewood trees with
a trunk diameter of more than 30cm have
been found. Three species of rosewood are
very unlikely to regenerate. Another species,
Diospyros perrieri, is no longer regenerating.
"This can be explained
by the abusive commercial exploitation of
the forest by foreign economic players.
Even more, the local population cannot benefit
from the precious woods in their forest
for their very survival. Wood workers are
paid the equivilent of 2 Euros a day while
rosewood sells at 8.5 Euros per kilogramm."
says the study.
Another statement, signed
by 15 Madagascar and international conservation
groups including WWF, said that “Precious
woods are being extracted from forests by
roving and sometimes violent gangs of lumbermen
and sold to a few powerful businessmen for
export. . . . Those exploiting the trees
are also trapping endangered lemurs for
food, and the forests themselves are being
degraded as trees are felled, processed
and dragged to adjacent rivers or roads
for transport to the coast.
“No forest that contains
precious woods is safe, and the country’s
most prestigious nature reserves and favoured
tourist destinations, such as the Marojejy
and Masoala World Heritage Sites and the
Mananara Biosphere Reserve, have been the
focus of intensive exploitation. Currently
thousands of rosewood and ebony logs, none
of them legally exploited, are stored in
Madagascar’s east coast ports, Vohémar,
Antalaha, and Toamasina. The most recent
decree will allow their export and surely
encourage a further wave of environmental
pillaging.”
WWF Madagascar is investigating
whether rosewood can be registered as an
endangered species according to the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES). This will increase and tighten
regulations on both import and export.
Madagascar is home to
abundant unique fauna and flora and one
of the top biodiversity hotspots in the
world, with a developing industry in sustainable
eco-tourism.
The world-famous lemurs
are a key symbol of the island – lemurs
going into cooking pots to feed illegal
loggers of rare woods is a different symbol
entirely.
