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The Rosewood Trade

April 3, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Illegal trafficking in endangered flora and fauna is a topic of great interest and concern.  We hear a lot about elephant ivory, rhino horn, and even pangolin scales.  It turns out that the most trafficked form of flora or fauna in the world is actually rosewood.  According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, rosewood is traded more than ivory, rhino horn, and pangolin scales put together as measured either by volume or economic value.  According to Earthsight, a London-based nonprofit that investigates environmental crime, rosewood might account for 40% of overall illegal species trade.

Almost all rosewood is headed to China, where the beautiful wood is used in traditional hongmu furniture.   A single bed made from particularly desirable Madagascar rosewood can cost a million dollars.

The illegal rosewood trade has decimated many species of the trees around the world.  A tiny village in Madagascar has seen its population grow by 5,000 in recent years because of migrants coming to work as rosewood loggers.  The rosewood trade has been banned in Madagascar for decades, but a well-established system of bribes has effectively eliminated that problem.  Corruption at all levels allows Madagascar rosewood to find its way onto ships and off to China.

In 2017, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora listed all of the world’s rosewood species under its Appendix II, prohibiting all trade except in the rare cases where a local CITES authority issues sustainability permits.

As is the case for other trafficked endangered species, until the demand for the products disappears, people will find a way to make them available.  And meanwhile, these beautiful trees are rapidly disappearing.

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The Rosewood Trade: An Illicit Trail from Forest to Furniture

Photo, posted November 17, 2007, courtesy of Larry Jacobsen via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

An Elephant Repellant

August 30, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/EW-08-30-18-An-Elephant-Repellant.mp3

Growing human populations in Africa and Asia have created ever larger areas where elephants conflict with humans by trampling crops or causing other damage.  These conflicts have occasionally been tragic when people were trampled to death and there are serious consequences when crops are destroyed.  The individual elephants responsible for such destruction are often killed.

[Read more…] about An Elephant Repellant

Elephant Losses Imperil Forests

April 20, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/EW-04-20-18-Elephant-Losses-Imperil-Forests.mp3

Poaching and habitat loss have reduced Central African elephant populations by 63% since 2001.  These losses not only pose dire consequences for the elephants themselves but also for the forests in which they live.

[Read more…] about Elephant Losses Imperil Forests

Elephant Tourism

September 6, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/EW-09-06-17-Elephant-Tourism.mp3

Elephant tourism is an activity through which tourists can observe and interact with the stately mammals.  A quick online search reveals all sorts of elephant pictures and selfies – patting, washing, riding, and the like.  But this popularity comes at a great cost to elephants. 

[Read more…] about Elephant Tourism

Tricks In Our Treats

October 31, 2016 By WAMC WEB

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/EW-10-31-16-Halloween-Candy.mp3

Halloween is traditionally a day when we choose to ignore the inconvenient truths about candy.  Many of us overindulge on sweet treats and give little thought to what’s inside… particularly with respect to nutrition. 

[Read more…] about Tricks In Our Treats

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