Peru makes progress on illegal mahogany logging
mongabay.com
May 16, 2007
Last month Inrena, Peru’s environmental agency, implemented regulations for mahogany loggers that will now require forest concession holders to replant ten times the logged amount of trees, reports the International Tropical Timber Organization’s (ITTO) Tropical Timber Market Report. Overall, the initiative calls for the production and establishment of one million of mahogany plantlets over 5 years.
“The replacement of the species 10 times more than the logged amount will be a condition for the approval of a yearly plan of operations. In addition, permit holders will have to demonstrate the maintenance of the mahogany plantations for the renewal of the logging rights,” noted the ITTO.
Separately, Juan Carlos Vasquez, a representative for CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), said that Peru is meeting international commitments regarding mahogany. He added that the efforts have produced a decline in illegal logging.
Environmentalists and indigenous rights’ groups have long cited the illegal mahogany trade as a substantial driver of deforestation and land rights’ violations. Gaining control over mahogany logging is seen as an important step in moving towards more sustainable forest management.
Other Mahogany news
The National Resource Defense Council, a U.S. environmental group, lost its bid to restrict trade of mahogany from Peru. The U.S. Court of International Trade rejected the NRDC lawsuit against the U.S. government and two private importers of Peruvian mahogany, “stating that imports of mahogany from Peru were accompanied by all CITES required environmental permits.”
