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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/tropical-hardwoods/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Tropical hardwoods</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/tropical-hardwoods/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Renato Moraes de Jesus was a pioneer of Atlantic Forest restoration in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 00:41:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/19024914/renato-moraes-de-jesus-bw-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323955</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Nature-based climate solutions, Obituary, Reforestation, Restoration, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 1977 a young forest engineer arrived at a neglected tract of Atlantic Forest in northern Espírito Santo. A mining company had acquired the property as a source of hardwood for railway sleepers. Two hundred hectares had already been cut. Some specialists proposed harvesting more of the forest or replacing it with eucalyptus. The new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 1977 a young forest engineer arrived at a neglected tract of Atlantic Forest in northern Espírito Santo. A mining company had acquired the property as a source of hardwood for railway sleepers. Two hundred hectares had already been cut. Some specialists proposed harvesting more of the forest or replacing it with eucalyptus. The new arrival found little infrastructure and no settled plan for the land. He moved alone into a deteriorating house inside the forest. At night he heard animals moving through the roof. The supposed ghosts proved to be opossums. One of his first ambitions was to obtain a working telephone. Renato Moraes de Jesus, who died on May 23rd, aged 74, stayed for more than three decades. The property at Linhares became the Vale Natural Reserve, a major center for Atlantic Forest research and restoration. He helped protect almost 23,000 hectares, established biological collections and laboratories, brought scientists into the reserve, and developed methods for returning native trees to land damaged by mines, roads, farms, and industry.  Vale gave him no precise instructions. He decided that the first tasks were to prevent fires and hunting, document the forest’s species, and apply what was learned there to damaged land elsewhere. He later joked that the company had forgotten him at Linhares. Its limited attention gave him considerable freedom.  The early years could be dangerous. The region was violent, and he dismissed many workers during a reorganization. He carried a revolver for a time and later recalled receiving death&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323955</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How narcos moved 108 tons of timber infused with drugs from Bolivia to Chile</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-narcos-moved-108-tons-of-timber-infused-with-drugs-from-bolivia-to-chile/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-narcos-moved-108-tons-of-timber-infused-with-drugs-from-bolivia-to-chile/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 13:30:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Iván Paredes Tamayo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/10131149/Chile-run-anti-drug-operation-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323075</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Crime, Drug Trade, Environment, Forest Products, Forestry, Governance, Illegal Trade, Law, Timber, timber trade, Trade, trafficking, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New risks to South American forests emerge as trees becomes a key element in drug trafficking.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new case has exposed the connection between drug trafficking webs and the export of timber from the Amazon and other regions of Bolivia. After Chile announced in June the largest drug seizure — 108 tons of cocaine and ketamine — in its history, authorities confirmed the substances were detected impregnated in Bolivian wood planks. This is not the first time shipments of the so-called “narco-timber” have been caught: The illicit practice dates back at least 20 years, using the same recurring routes. Mongabay accessed prosecutorial sources in both Chile and Bolivia, two Andean nations in South America sharing a land border of 861 kilometers (535 miles). According to investigations in Chile, 32 shipments were made from Bolivia by 15 timber companies, mostly in 2026. In financial terms, the total amount of drugs moved through this system had a value exceeding $8.3 billion in international markets, according to the breakdown. “It is a six-month investigation developed by the Prosecutor&#8217;s Office of Arica [a northern Commune], the Maritime Police, and the National Customs Service of Chile, which culminated in the detection of 45 contaminated containers [with drugs] in the ports of Arica, Valparaíso, and San Antonio,” the Prosecutor&#8217;s Office of Arica and Parinacota stated in a report. Cocaine and ketamine impregnated in timber were detected in Arica, northern Chile. Image courtesy of the National Customs Service of Chile. The timber shipments departed from Bolivia, mainly from the departments of Pando, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, Beni and La Paz. The cargoes had ports&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-narcos-moved-108-tons-of-timber-infused-with-drugs-from-bolivia-to-chile/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323075</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New technologies offer hope in fight to save the world’s imperiled rosewoods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-technologies-offer-hope-in-fight-to-save-the-worlds-imperiled-rosewoods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-technologies-offer-hope-in-fight-to-save-the-worlds-imperiled-rosewoods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Dec 2025 16:14:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Katarina Zimmer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/11134007/rosewood-feet-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311125</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China, Global, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Rosewood, timber trade, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, Tropical hardwoods, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[News about the poaching and smuggling of threatened species often centers on products like tiger bone, rhino horn or pangolin scales. But much of the world’s illegally sourced wildlife products are actually trees — in particular, 33 hardwood species in the Dalbergia genus, better known as rosewood. Rosewood can sell for tens of thousands of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[News about the poaching and smuggling of threatened species often centers on products like tiger bone, rhino horn or pangolin scales. But much of the world’s illegally sourced wildlife products are actually trees — in particular, 33 hardwood species in the Dalbergia genus, better known as rosewood. Rosewood can sell for tens of thousands of dollars per cubic meter and has the highest overall trafficking value of any wildlife product in the world: Between 2014 and 2018, rosewood accounted for 32% of the monetary value of illegally traded wildlife products seized by law enforcement. But a recent paper in the journal Biological Conservation finds that new technologies could save the world’s rosewoods from being little more than plunder. Demand for the richly colored, aromatic and durable timber continues to grow in China, where rosewood furniture has long been a symbol of status and luxury. International regulations have failed to stop the rampant harvesting of the tropical trees, whose value only grows with their increasing rarity. Two Southeast Asian species — Siamese (Dalbergia cochinchinensis) and Burmese rosewood (D. oliveri) — are now critically endangered, driving rosewood traders to other rainforests in Africa and South America. This appetite threatens the very existence of the unique trees as well as their important ecological roles, such as enriching soil with nitrogen, reducing soil erosion, and providing habitat for wildlife. But technologies exist that could help stop the trees’ plight, according to the paper by a team of scientists at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden’s Center&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-technologies-offer-hope-in-fight-to-save-the-worlds-imperiled-rosewoods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-technologies-offer-hope-in-fight-to-save-the-worlds-imperiled-rosewoods/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311125</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Protected areas bear the brunt as forest loss continues across Cambodia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/protected-areas-bear-the-brunt-as-forest-loss-continues-across-cambodia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/protected-areas-bear-the-brunt-as-forest-loss-continues-across-cambodia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Apr 2024 02:50:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/17022743/Stung-Veal-Thmor-Kambot-V3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281026</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Crime, data, Deforestation, Deforestation Alert System, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Gold Mining, Illegal Logging, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Logging, Mapping, Mining, Mongabay Data Studio, National Parks, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Reforestation, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, timber trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — New data published by the University of Maryland on April 4 and available through satellite monitoring platform Global Forest Watch show continued forest loss across Cambodia last year, particularly in areas designated as protected by the Ministry of Environment. Last year saw 121,000 hectares (300,000 acres) of forest cover, an area the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — New data published by the University of Maryland on April 4 and available through satellite monitoring platform Global Forest Watch show continued forest loss across Cambodia last year, particularly in areas designated as protected by the Ministry of Environment. Last year saw 121,000 hectares (300,000 acres) of forest cover, an area the size of the city of Los Angeles, lost across Cambodia. More than 48,000 hectares (119,000 acres) of this was recorded as primary forest, according to Global Forest Watch. An analysis conducted by Mongabay using the University of Maryland GLAD lab’s data found the majority of forest loss in Cambodia last year occurred inside protected areas. Assessing the loss of forest canopy with a density of 30% or higher, Mongabay found that more than 66,000 hectares (163,000 acres) of forest vanished from Cambodia’s protected areas in 2023. However, the figures are difficult to compare to previous years, following sweeping changes to Cambodia’s protected area system that saw more than 1 million additional hectares (2.5 million acres) reclassified as protected between July and August 2023. New data from Global Forest Watch shows how more than half of all forest loss sustained in 2023 occurred inside protected areas. Image by Ministry of Environment spokesperson Khvay Atitya didn’t answer specific questions sent by Mongabay via messaging app Telegram, instead stating that Cambodia has 73 protected areas that span 7.2 million hectares (17.8 million acres) — roughly 41% of Cambodia’s landmass — and then detailed the ministry’s new management plan.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/protected-areas-bear-the-brunt-as-forest-loss-continues-across-cambodia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/protected-areas-bear-the-brunt-as-forest-loss-continues-across-cambodia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281026</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Corruption threatens timber traceability in Nkok, Gabon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/corruption-threatens-timber-traceability-in-nkok-gabon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/corruption-threatens-timber-traceability-in-nkok-gabon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 May 2023 20:03:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/03082140/TaggedLogs_NkokSEZGabon_GSEZ-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268475</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Gabon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Corruption, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Law Enforcement, Logging, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“The challenge in the Nkok SIZ is timber traceability. The SIZ must be kept free of illegally obtained timber,” says Marc Ona, executive secretary of the NGO Brainforest. The NGO is part of a team implementing the TraCer monitoring system, which is meant to ensure the legality and traceability of the supply of logs to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“The challenge in the Nkok SIZ is timber traceability. The SIZ must be kept free of illegally obtained timber,” says Marc Ona, executive secretary of the NGO Brainforest. The NGO is part of a team implementing the TraCer monitoring system, which is meant to ensure the legality and traceability of the supply of logs to the Nkok special investment zone, or SIZ, in Gabon. The forestry sector is a pillar of the Gabonese economy. In 2010, Gabon banned exports of raw logs to encourage local wood processing, which would add value to exports and therefore increase revenue. This decision led to the establishment of the SIZ in Nkok, located 27 kilometers (17 miles) from the capital, Libreville. As a growing number of countries, including China, the U.S. and those in the EU, have enacted laws against illegally harvested timber imports, traceability has become crucial in the industry. Aerial view of the Nkok Special Investment Zone. Opened in 2010, its managers say it has generated 25,000 direct and indirect jobs. Image courtesy GSEZ. &#8220;Eighty-eight percent of Gabon is covered by forests,” Mohit Agrawal, director-general of the Nkok SIZ, tells Mongabay. “That means there are 41 million hectares [101 million acres] of forest to be managed. To ensure the preservation of our forests, we have been allocated logging concessions, which have quotas imposed on them. This allows the forest to regenerate and grow. Agrawal added that “Every tree is marked and geolocated. It has a barcode assigned to it, and from there,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/corruption-threatens-timber-traceability-in-nkok-gabon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/corruption-threatens-timber-traceability-in-nkok-gabon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268475</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Will CITES finally act to protect rosewood this month? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/will-cites-finally-act-to-protect-rosewood-this-month-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/will-cites-finally-act-to-protect-rosewood-this-month-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2022 19:40:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mark Roberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/11/04174642/original_rosewood_madagascar_banner-768x454.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262225</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Logging, Rosewood, timber trade, Trade, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Madagascar is said to be one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world. About 80% of Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, numerous species found nowhere else on Earth, depends on its forest ecosystems. While the world stands idly by, deforestation of this critical island habitat continues unabated. UNESCO has put rainforests in Madagascar on its List [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Madagascar is said to be one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world. About 80% of Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, numerous species found nowhere else on Earth, depends on its forest ecosystems. While the world stands idly by, deforestation of this critical island habitat continues unabated. UNESCO has put rainforests in Madagascar on its List of World Heritage in Danger. In 2013, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) listed all species of Malagasy rosewood and ebony on Appendix II, its list of species threatened with extinction. Madagascar has close to 65 species of rosewood and more than 60% of the 215–230 ebony species are only found only in that country. Environmentalists and scientists have called on CITES to up-list these species to Appendix I, arguing that only the full protection of CITES will save them from extinction. As an integral part of the Appendix II listings, CITES and Madagascar have banned the export of both rosewood and ebony. Nevertheless, there appears to be no end to the illegal rosewood trade. Action is needed now to protect the nearly 40,000 illegally-exported rosewood logs seized in Singapore, Kenya and Sri Lanka in 2014, the stockpiles of rosewood and ebony in Madagascar, and the remaining living Malagasy rosewood and ebony trees before they are all gone. Rosewood is valued for its rich red hue. Image courtesy of Environmental Investigation Agency. Singapore seizure In 2014, Singapore seized 29,434 rosewood logs, then worth more than $50 million and constituting the largest seizure&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/will-cites-finally-act-to-protect-rosewood-this-month-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-262225</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Red-hot demand for ipê wood coincides with deforestation hubs in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/red-hot-demand-for-ipe-wood-coincides-with-deforestation-hubs-in-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/red-hot-demand-for-ipe-wood-coincides-with-deforestation-hubs-in-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jul 2022 14:03:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aldem Bourscheit]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/07/18135247/Imagem3-e1657212565104-768x449.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=258324</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Logging, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Timber, Trees, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The highest rates of illegal exploitation of ipê trees are found in areas of the Brazilian Amazon where deforestation is skyrocketing. Increasing domestic consumption and exports have encouraged the felling of these threatened tropical hardwood species, with demand outstripping the authorized supply and leading to destruction of the forest. More than 80% of the ipê [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The highest rates of illegal exploitation of ipê trees are found in areas of the Brazilian Amazon where deforestation is skyrocketing. Increasing domestic consumption and exports have encouraged the felling of these threatened tropical hardwood species, with demand outstripping the authorized supply and leading to destruction of the forest. More than 80% of the ipê wood that’s traded, from the genus Handroanthus, comes from 20 municipalities that are hotspots for deforestation. According to Mongabay’s findings, these municipalities accounted for deforestation alerts covering 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) from January to mid-June this year alone — an area an eighth the size of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Among these municipalities are those that routinely top the list for the highest deforestation rates in Brazil, including Altamira in the state of Pará, Colniza (Mato Grosso), Lábrea (Amazonas) and Porto Velho (Rondônia). In practice, according to the Institute of Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification (Imaflora), an NGO, the hunt for ipê has spread out from the so-called Arc of Deforestation, where the trees have become rare or disappeared altogether, into public lands and protected areas. Geographic evolution of the logging frontier in the Brazilian Amazon, highlighting the main ipê exploitation hubs in 1998, at left, and in 2018. Image courtesy of by Lentini et al./Imaflora (2021). On average, each hectare of forest yields only 0.5 cubic meters of ipê wood, or about 7 cubic feet per acre. “That’s why illegal tree ‘miners’ enter the Amazon: logging, transportation, environmental and labor crimes,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/red-hot-demand-for-ipe-wood-coincides-with-deforestation-hubs-in-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/red-hot-demand-for-ipe-wood-coincides-with-deforestation-hubs-in-brazil/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-258324</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mahogany, a pillar of the rainforest, needs support (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/mahogany-a-pillar-of-the-rainforest-needs-support-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/mahogany-a-pillar-of-the-rainforest-needs-support-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jun 2022 21:21:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheam Satkuru]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/01104637/05_JHOUSTON_180620-11122-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257219</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Forests, Illegal Trade, Plants, Rainforests, Timber, timber trade, Trade, Trees, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Mahogany is everything you would want in a tree: tall and majestic, with leaves up to half a meter wide that cast cooling shade on the forest floor below. It is a towering pillar of many tropical forests, and even tree plantations in the Philippines, but the commercial value of its reddish-brown wood, renowned for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Mahogany is everything you would want in a tree: tall and majestic, with leaves up to half a meter wide that cast cooling shade on the forest floor below. It is a towering pillar of many tropical forests, and even tree plantations in the Philippines, but the commercial value of its reddish-brown wood, renowned for both beauty and strength, has been its undoing in the wild. The bigleaf mahogany, Swietenia macrophylla, stands out in these forests, not just for its size and commercial value but also for its role in ecosystems. The species is important in reforestation efforts in Indonesia and worldwide, removes more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than many other tree species, and releases organic compounds that help prevent the sun’s heat energy from reaching the earth’s surface—further assisting in the fight against climate change. As report after report continue to raise the alarm, tropical deforestation has taken center stage in the conversation around climate change culprits. In Brazil, Amazon deforestation exploded in the first quarter of 2022 after years of continuous growth, and the entire forest is getting perilously close to a point of no return. But forests throughout Central and South America, and the rest of the world, have long been threatened by expansion of agriculture and mining developments, other land uses, and even organized crime. Mahogany is cut to size before it begins on the path to international markets. Image by Taran Volckhausen for Mongabay. For centuries, mahogany has been the wood of choice for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/mahogany-a-pillar-of-the-rainforest-needs-support-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/mahogany-a-pillar-of-the-rainforest-needs-support-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257219</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Overexploited and underprotected: Study urges action on Asia’s rosewoods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/overexploited-and-underprotected-study-urges-action-on-asias-rosewoods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/overexploited-and-underprotected-study-urges-action-on-asias-rosewoods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jun 2022 03:35:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/13032237/Banner_Dalbergia_lanceolaria-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257126</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Tropics, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Green, Illegal Logging, Logging, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Restoration, Rosewood, timber trade, Trade, Trees, Tropical hardwoods, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rosewood trees are a mainstay of tropical forests across parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. But their future looks bleak. Their fragrant, red-hued heartwood is prized by makers of luxury furniture, and illegal loggers and timber trafficking networks are systematically obliterating rosewoods from forest landscapes the world over to feed this demand. Halting the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rosewood trees are a mainstay of tropical forests across parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. But their future looks bleak. Their fragrant, red-hued heartwood is prized by makers of luxury furniture, and illegal loggers and timber trafficking networks are systematically obliterating rosewoods from forest landscapes the world over to feed this demand. Halting the illegal rosewood trade, which mainly supplies markets in China, is tricky: it’s a big business. The value of the illegal international trade in rosewood timber exceeds that of ivory, according to a 2020 report from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. To stem the destruction, in 2016 the entire genus of Dalbergia — a large group that includes all rosewood species — was added to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), making it an offense to trade the species internationally without a permit. But despite the increased protections, trees are still cut down and illegally traded due to legislative loopholes and limited enforcement. Moreover, scientists and conservationists know very little about the isolated and fragmented rosewood populations that remain. A remnant rosewood forest in farmland in Central Lao. Image by National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (Lao) via Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA) To address this knowledge gap, an international team of scientists recently used a combination of species distribution data, spatial analysis and local expert knowledge to gauge where rosewood populations persist in the Greater Mekong region, a global hub of the rosewood trade.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/overexploited-and-underprotected-study-urges-action-on-asias-rosewoods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/overexploited-and-underprotected-study-urges-action-on-asias-rosewoods/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257126</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Asia’s troubled trees need better conservation to reach restoration goals: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/asias-troubled-trees-need-better-conservation-to-reach-restoration-goals-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/asias-troubled-trees-need-better-conservation-to-reach-restoration-goals-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Apr 2022 02:55:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/26023909/aParashorea_RAB-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=255155</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Forests, Green, Landscape Restoration, Plants, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Restoration, Threats To Rainforests, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An international team of scientists studying the distribution and threats facing some of South and Southeast Asia’s most economically important tree species has confirmed that current environmental protections fail to safeguard tree species and their valuable seed sources. Their findings, published in Conservation Biology, show that roughly three-quarters of the land deemed most important to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An international team of scientists studying the distribution and threats facing some of South and Southeast Asia’s most economically important tree species has confirmed that current environmental protections fail to safeguard tree species and their valuable seed sources. Their findings, published in Conservation Biology, show that roughly three-quarters of the land deemed most important to protect tree diversity lies outside of the region’s protected areas. The researchers say the results highlight that more needs to be done to safeguard the region’s roughly 19,000 tree species, many of which provide irreplaceable ecosystem services and underpin the livelihoods and diets of hundreds of millions of people. Ambitious global forest restoration targets to address the climate and biodiversity crises add a further level of the urgency to safeguarding tree diversity, according the study authors. “We have big plans that forests and trees will help us to mitigate climate change and they will continue to provide all of the ecosystem services that we need for years to come,” Riina Jalonen, co-author of the study and a scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, told Mongabay. Researchers evaluated the impacts of overexploitation, fire, overgrazing, habitat conversion and climate change on trees in 20 countries in South and Southeast Asia. Oil palm is a major habitat conversion driver in the region. Photo by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay However, the results indicate that many of the trees that countries are pinning their restoration goals on are in fact under threat. “Species are losing specific&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/asias-troubled-trees-need-better-conservation-to-reach-restoration-goals-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/asias-troubled-trees-need-better-conservation-to-reach-restoration-goals-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-255155</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Warming could nip Southeast Asian forests’ mass flowering in the bud, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/warming-could-nip-southeast-asian-forests-mass-flowering-in-the-bud-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/warming-could-nip-southeast-asian-forests-mass-flowering-in-the-bud-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2022 15:41:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/21144135/Canopy-flowers_RAButler-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=255003</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Green, Plants, Rainforests, Research, Restoration, Threats To Rainforests, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When you look at a tropical rainforest, the landscape is usually dominated by shades of green and brown. But every now and then, the trees erupt into flower all at once, festooning the forest canopy with garlands of red, pink and white. Theories abound over which environmental cues trigger the trees to begin their reproductive [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When you look at a tropical rainforest, the landscape is usually dominated by shades of green and brown. But every now and then, the trees erupt into flower all at once, festooning the forest canopy with garlands of red, pink and white. Theories abound over which environmental cues trigger the trees to begin their reproductive cycles simultaneously. Drought and low temperatures appear to be key factors in Southeast Asia, where synchronous flowering, or masting, events take place at sporadic intervals that are often years apart. However, very little is known about how climate change will impact such spectacular displays. Now, a team of scientists using models to predict the flowering of 95 tree species has forecast that even a low-emissions climate scenario could dramatically impact synchronous flowering in an ecologically and economically important tree family. The models, based on several decades of flowering observations in Peninsular Malaysia, showed that a rise of just 1.2° Celsius (2.2° Fahrenheit) in average global temperatures by the year 2100 could halve the flowering probability of 57% of Dipterocarp tree species in Southeast Asia, according to the team’s findings, published April 21 in Nature Communications Biology. An emergent Dipterocarp tree in Sumatra, Indonesia. Dipterocarps are among the largest trees in lowland tropical rainforests in Southeast Asia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay Dipterocarp trees, named for their two-winged seeds, are among the largest emergent trees in lowland tropical rainforests, and as such, are key components of healthy ecosystems. Several members of the Dipterocarp family&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/warming-could-nip-southeast-asian-forests-mass-flowering-in-the-bud-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/warming-could-nip-southeast-asian-forests-mass-flowering-in-the-bud-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-255003</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Madagascar’s insistence on using seized rosewood rattles conservationists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/madagascars-insistence-on-using-seized-rosewood-rattles-conservationists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/madagascars-insistence-on-using-seized-rosewood-rattles-conservationists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Mar 2022 13:52:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/03/29135206/Rosewood-Stacked-for-River-Transport-Madagascar-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=254232</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Illegal Logging, International Trade, Logging, Politics, Rosewood, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Madagascar is the custodian of some of the world’s most valuable contraband: seized rosewood worth millions of dollars on the international market. Since 2013, global trade in Malagasy rosewood has been banned under CITES, the international convention on the wildlife trade. Now, the African nation is proposing to use part of the seized timber domestically. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Madagascar is the custodian of some of the world’s most valuable contraband: seized rosewood worth millions of dollars on the international market. Since 2013, global trade in Malagasy rosewood has been banned under CITES, the international convention on the wildlife trade. Now, the African nation is proposing to use part of the seized timber domestically. Though the plan concerns less than 2% of the stockpile, if allowed, the decision could have far-reaching consequences for the illicit trade in the hardwood, conservationists say, highlighting the potential for abuse. It could set a dangerous precedent, opening the door for the remaining timber to be unlawfully funneled into the global market and drive illegal logging, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Transparency International (TI) said in a joint release. Madagascar says it will use the wood to build infrastructure and produce handicrafts to be sold in-country and for limited export of finished items, effectively removing it from CITES oversight. Illegally logged rosewood from Masoala and Marojejy in Antalaha, Madagascar, circa 2005. Image by Erik Patel via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). “CITES regulates international trade. Domestic trade in timber harvested in the same country is normally an internal business,” David Whitbourn, a spokesperson for the CITES secretariat, told Mongabay in an email. The CITES standing committee, with representatives from the six key geographical regions, met in Lyon, France, this March but did not draft a recommendation regarding Madagascar’s proposal. A decision is expected at the next conference of parties (COP19) in November, when&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/madagascars-insistence-on-using-seized-rosewood-rattles-conservationists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/madagascars-insistence-on-using-seized-rosewood-rattles-conservationists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-254232</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Despite sanctions, U.S. companies still importing Myanmar teak, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/despite-sanctions-u-s-companies-still-importing-myanmar-teak-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/despite-sanctions-u-s-companies-still-importing-myanmar-teak-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jan 2022 15:58:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/02/08202706/Fresh-teak-logs-Nongdao-Myanmar-June-2015-c-EIAimage-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=251644</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Fragmentation, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Human Rights, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Logging, Military, Politics, Primary Forests, Protests, Rainforests, Regulations, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Supply Chain, Threats To Rainforests, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Traditional People, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[U.S. timber companies imported nearly 1,600 metric tons of teak from Myanmar last year, circumventing sanctions and channeling millions of dollars in revenue to the country’s junta, according to a new report. As violent crackdowns rocked Myanmar in the wake of its February 2021 coup, the U.S. placed sanctions on the military-controlled Myanma Timber Enteprise [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[U.S. timber companies imported nearly 1,600 metric tons of teak from Myanmar last year, circumventing sanctions and channeling millions of dollars in revenue to the country’s junta, according to a new report. As violent crackdowns rocked Myanmar in the wake of its February 2021 coup, the U.S. placed sanctions on the military-controlled Myanma Timber Enteprise (MTE) in April. The state-owned enterprise, which regulates all harvesting and sales of Myanmar timber, including exports to international markets where it takes a percentage of revenue, is one of the “key economic resources for the Burmese military regime that is violently repressing pro-democracy protests,” officials said at the time. Sanctions against MTE make it illegal for U.S. businesses to import any timber from Myanmar. Yet the new report, released by advocacy group Justice for Myanmar, counted 82 timber shipments from Myanmar to the U.S. between February and November 2021, “consistent” with previous years. “The evidence shows that the sanctions have not stopped the flow of teak to the US, and therefore have not stopped the flow of funds from the timber trade to the illegal military junta,” said the report, which relied on shipping records from global trade database Panjiva. Despite sanctions, there were 82 timber shipments from Myanmar to the U.S. between February and November 2021, consistent with previous years. Image courtesy of Justice for Myanmar. A Myanmar Timber Enterprise log depot in Sagaing Division holds stockpiled timber. Photo courtesy of Environmental Investigation Agency The shipments, which largely consisted of Burmese teak (Tectona&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/despite-sanctions-u-s-companies-still-importing-myanmar-teak-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/despite-sanctions-u-s-companies-still-importing-myanmar-teak-report-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-251644</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Dual pressures of hunting, logging threaten wildlife in Myanmar, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/dual-pressures-of-hunting-logging-threaten-wildlife-in-myanmar-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/dual-pressures-of-hunting-logging-threaten-wildlife-in-myanmar-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Dec 2021 11:52:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/30220109/researchers-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=251329</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Mekong Illegal Logging]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Hunting, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Logging, Mammals, Rainforests, Regulations, Supply Chain, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Forests, Tropical hardwoods, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Combating illegal logging and deforestation in the tropical forests of southwest Myanmar helps preserve wildlife populations, but remains insufficient in the face of unsustainable local hunting pressures, a new study has found. Researchers, whose work was published in Animal Conservation in November, used camera trap data from between 2016 and 2019 to map the activity [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Combating illegal logging and deforestation in the tropical forests of southwest Myanmar helps preserve wildlife populations, but remains insufficient in the face of unsustainable local hunting pressures, a new study has found. Researchers, whose work was published in Animal Conservation in November, used camera trap data from between 2016 and 2019 to map the activity patterns of humans and other medium to large mammals in Rakhine state. They then modeled the effect of environmental and human factors — such as percentage of continuous evergreen forest, distance from settlements, and presence of humans as caught on camera trap footage — on selected mammal species. Field staff placing a camera trap in Rakhine. Photo credit: Lorenzo Gaffi They found common species regularly targeted for bushmeat, such as the northern red muntjac (Muntiacus vaginalis) and Malayan porcupine (Hystrix brachyura), to be negatively affected by increased human presence, highlighting the pressures of illegal hunting on their populations. By contrast, threatened species such as the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) and northern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca leonina) were generally unaffected by human presence. But they were positively linked to continuous stretches of evergreen forest, making them more vulnerable to habitat loss from illegal logging and deforestation. A pair of sun bears (Helarctos malayanus) in a tree. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. “Threatened species in general stay quite [far] away from humans, so [increased human presence] did not have an effect on their occurrence,” Giacomo Cremonesi, first author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate at the University&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/dual-pressures-of-hunting-logging-threaten-wildlife-in-myanmar-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/dual-pressures-of-hunting-logging-threaten-wildlife-in-myanmar-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-251329</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How can illegal timber trade in the Greater Mekong be stopped?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/how-can-illegal-timber-trade-in-the-greater-mekong-be-stopped/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/how-can-illegal-timber-trade-in-the-greater-mekong-be-stopped/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Dec 2021 12:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/28203339/Banner5-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=251228</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Mekong Illegal Logging]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia, China, European Union, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Fragmentation, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, International Trade, Land Rights, Logging, Politics, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Regulations, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Supply Chain, Threats To Rainforests, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Traditional People, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Over the past decade, the European Union entered into collaborative agreements with tropical timber-producing countries to fight forest crime and verify the legality of wood imported into the EU. Within the Greater Mekong, Vietnam was the first (and to date, only) country to sign such a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) with the EU, back in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Over the past decade, the European Union entered into collaborative agreements with tropical timber-producing countries to fight forest crime and verify the legality of wood imported into the EU. Within the Greater Mekong, Vietnam was the first (and to date, only) country to sign such a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) with the EU, back in 2018. The VPA is a legally binding trade agreement where both sides commit to trading only in verified legal timber products. Under the VPA, timber-supplying countries have to set up a timber legality assurance system capable of verifying the legality of their timber products. Once operational, the system will issue special EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (EU FLEGT) licenses to accompany exports of verified legal timber products into the EU. Such licensed products are considered to comply with the requirements of existing EU timber regulations, which prohibit the sale of illegally harvested timber and timber products on the EU market. Now that Vietnam has signed the VPA, it will have to draft new regulations to build up an effective assurance system. Outside the Greater Mekong, another Southeast Asian country offers a glimpse of what this future might look like: Indonesia, which signed the VPA in 2013 and began FLEGT licensing in 2016. Research suggests VPAs help countries decrease illegal logging rates, especially illegal industrial timber destined for export markets. Since Indonesia signed the VPA, annual deforestation rates have fallen 56%, from 1.1 million hectares (2.7 million acres) between 2014 and 2015, to 480,000&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/how-can-illegal-timber-trade-in-the-greater-mekong-be-stopped/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/how-can-illegal-timber-trade-in-the-greater-mekong-be-stopped/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-251228</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kenya court orders return of $13m in seized rosewood to suspected traffickers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/kenya-court-orders-return-of-13m-in-seized-rosewood-to-suspected-traffickers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/kenya-court-orders-return-of-13m-in-seized-rosewood-to-suspected-traffickers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Dec 2021 12:26:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/28121333/Illegal_export_of_rosewood_Madagascar-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=251207</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Logging, Plantations, Politics, Protected Areas, Rosewood, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Trade, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In May 2014, the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) seized a consignment of wood at the port of Mombasa. Shipping records listed the cargo only as &#8220;wood&#8221; headed for Hong Kong: in fact, the MV Kota was carrying 646 metric tons of Malagasy rosewood (Dalbergia spp.), worth up to $13 million. KWS deemed the consignment illegal. A [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In May 2014, the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) seized a consignment of wood at the port of Mombasa. Shipping records listed the cargo only as &#8220;wood&#8221; headed for Hong Kong: in fact, the MV Kota was carrying 646 metric tons of Malagasy rosewood (Dalbergia spp.), worth up to $13 million. KWS deemed the consignment illegal. A Mombasa court ruled otherwise, and now the rosewood has been handed over to the Hong Kong-based company, Shihua. Rosewood is among the most heavily trafficked types of timber globally, and its extraction from Madagascar led to widespread illegal logging in some of the world&#8217;s most biodiversity-rich and threatened rainforests. This November, the Land and Environment Court in Mombasa upheld an earlier ruling by a lower court that CITES regulations restricting global trade in Malagasy rosewood were not in effect when KWS seized the timber. But Juan Carlos Vasquez, who heads the legal affairs unit of CITES, the global authority on the international trade in wild species, confirmed to Mongabay that Malagasy rosewood was listed in Appendix II of the convention on June 12, 2013. Species are placed on this list if unregulated trade threatens their survival. Madagascar&#8217;s own laws have prohibited rosewood timber exports since 2010. Kenya and Madagascar are both parties to CITES, so Malagasy rosewood cannot enter any CITES member country without proper documentation. But in its ruling, the Mombasa court noted that the consignee submitted permits from the Malagasy government authorizing the export. The company&#8217;s representatives provided a certificate of origin to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/kenya-court-orders-return-of-13m-in-seized-rosewood-to-suspected-traffickers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/kenya-court-orders-return-of-13m-in-seized-rosewood-to-suspected-traffickers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-251207</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How does political instability in the Mekong affect deforestation?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/how-does-political-instability-in-the-mekong-affect-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/how-does-political-instability-in-the-mekong-affect-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Dec 2021 12:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/21215759/Captura-de-pantalla-2021-12-20-a-las-18.02.41-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=250887</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Mekong Illegal Logging]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Civil Disobedience, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Fragmentation, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Human Rights, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, International Trade, Land Rights, Logging, Military, Politics, Primary Forests, Protests, Rainforests, Regulations, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Supply Chain, Threats To Rainforests, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Traditional People, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar’s rainforests, home to the endangered Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus), critically endangered Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) and endangered lar gibbon (Hylobates lar), are some of the most biodiverse in the world. But the relative flatness of the terrain, and the valuable timber species found here, also make them particularly vulnerable to deforestation. Between 2001 and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar’s rainforests, home to the endangered Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus), critically endangered Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) and endangered lar gibbon (Hylobates lar), are some of the most biodiverse in the world. But the relative flatness of the terrain, and the valuable timber species found here, also make them particularly vulnerable to deforestation. Between 2001 and 2020, Myanmar lost tree cover roughly the size of Switzerland, according to data from Global Forest Watch. Logging of teak and other hardwoods helped drive this degradation, with the forestry sector providing critical funding for the country’s military rulers. In 2011, after 49 years of military rule, Myanmar saw a series of political reforms that led to a quasi-civilian government taking over in 2015. With greater space for dialogue, civil society thrived. Indigenous communities and NGOs ramped up efforts to protect Myanmar’s forests, consulting and lobbying policymakers to secure land rights and clamp down on forest crime. Under the new government, they made progress: first came a ban on raw log exports in 2014, to slow deforestation and boost Myanmar’s own wood processing industries. Then came a logging ban from 2016 to 2017, followed by significant reductions in annual logging limits set by the state. In early 2021, however, a coup brought back full military rule, sparking worries among Indigenous communities of land grabs and a return to large-scale natural resource extraction. Already, land and environmental activists find themselves increasingly under threat. Many have either been captured or have gone into hiding, fearing for their safety.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/how-does-political-instability-in-the-mekong-affect-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/how-does-political-instability-in-the-mekong-affect-deforestation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-250887</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Where does the Greater Mekong’s illegal timber go?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/where-does-the-greater-mekongs-illegal-timber-go/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/where-does-the-greater-mekongs-illegal-timber-go/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Dec 2021 12:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/15222749/mekong30-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=250704</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Mekong Illegal Logging]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Europe, European Union, Italy, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Climate Change, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Logging, Politics, Rainforests, Regulations, Supply Chain, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[After forests are logged, felled trees are typically sent to sawmills, where they’re processed into boards, or lumber. It’s in this processed form that wood typically enters the international commodity supply chain. But not all lumber is created equal. In the Greater Mekong region, high-quality hardwoods such as teak and rosewood from Myanmar are particularly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[After forests are logged, felled trees are typically sent to sawmills, where they’re processed into boards, or lumber. It’s in this processed form that wood typically enters the international commodity supply chain. But not all lumber is created equal. In the Greater Mekong region, high-quality hardwoods such as teak and rosewood from Myanmar are particularly valuable, and have been logged almost to commercial extinction. Burmese rosewood (Dalbergia oliveri) remains highly sought after by Chinese buyers, fueled by a growing appetite for Qing and Ming-style furniture. Though Myanmar banned raw log exports in 2014, the booming demand in China and poor enforcement in Myanmar mean rosewood is regularly smuggled by truck across the land border between the two countries. Burmese teak (Tectona grandis) is another much-coveted species, often destined for farther destinations. The wood is particularly popular in the European shipbuilding sector, where it’s used for decking in superyachts for the super wealthy. Recognizing their role in Myanmar’s illegal timber trade, European Union member states developed a common position in 2017 acknowledging imports of Myanmar timber into the EU to be against the law due to their high risk of illegality. Despite this common position, the EU remains the third-largest market for Myanmar timber today after China and India, accounting for 19% of imports by value. Within the EU, Italy alone accounts for some two-thirds of total Myanmar timber imports, which last year amounted to 24 million euros ($27.4 million). The country has been the largest importer of Myanmar timber products&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/where-does-the-greater-mekongs-illegal-timber-go/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/where-does-the-greater-mekongs-illegal-timber-go/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-250704</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why has illegal logging increased in the Greater Mekong?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/why-has-illegal-logging-increased-in-the-greater-mekong/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/why-has-illegal-logging-increased-in-the-greater-mekong/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Dec 2021 10:45:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/09103720/MEKONG_VIDEO_2_v2_20-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=250377</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Mekong Illegal Logging]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Climate Change, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Logging, Politics, Rainforests, Regulations, Supply Chain, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Since the 1950s, the rich tropical forests of the Greater Mekong region have been steadily depleted by the world’s growing appetite for timber. Did you know that if all the countries in the region excluding China — that’s Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam — were counted as one, they would rank among the top [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since the 1950s, the rich tropical forests of the Greater Mekong region have been steadily depleted by the world’s growing appetite for timber. Did you know that if all the countries in the region excluding China — that’s Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam — were counted as one, they would rank among the top five largest exporters of wood and wood products in the world? Recognizing the impact of the timber trade on natural forests, governments in the Greater Mekong region have come up with laws to regulate logging and timber exports over the last few decades. These regulations have sought mainly to protect existing forests while encouraging a shift toward value-added wood processing industries. Some countries, like Vietnam and Thailand, have successfully managed the transition to wood processing. But Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos continue to struggle with implementing and enforcing forest laws. Insufficient political will and collusion among officials, businesspeople and criminal groups have been some of the biggest obstacles, resulting in wood processing countries benefitting at the expense of their poorer neighbors. For instance, Vietnam is today one of the biggest wood processors in the world. Its second-biggest source of tropical timber is Cambodia, which continues to experience rampant forest crime. In 2016, Cambodia’s government banned timber exports to Vietnam to curb illegal logging and trade. Despite the ban, researchers estimate that between 2016 and 2018, nearly half a million cubic meters (18 million cubic feet) of wood was smuggled across the Cambodian border to Vietnam. As&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/why-has-illegal-logging-increased-in-the-greater-mekong/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-250377</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Greater Mekong region: A hotspot of wildlife and crime</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/the-greater-mekong-region-a-hotspot-of-wildlife-and-crime/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/the-greater-mekong-region-a-hotspot-of-wildlife-and-crime/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Nov 2021 21:07:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/11/17223003/MEKONG_INTRO_VIDEO_1_v2_1_10-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=249594</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Mekong Illegal Logging]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Climate Change, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Logging, Politics, Rainforests, Regulations, Supply Chain, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Did you know that illegal logging can be five times as lucrative as selling the world’s most well-known soda? In 2020, the Coca-Cola company reported $33 billion in revenue. The global illegal timber trade, in comparison, generates up to $152 billion a year — accounting for up to 90% of deforestation in tropical countries and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Did you know that illegal logging can be five times as lucrative as selling the world’s most well-known soda? In 2020, the Coca-Cola company reported $33 billion in revenue. The global illegal timber trade, in comparison, generates up to $152 billion a year — accounting for up to 90% of deforestation in tropical countries and attracting the world’s biggest organized crime groups. Illegal logging is today responsible for 15% to 30% of global timber production. Estimates vary because complex international supply chains make it difficult to ensure the timber has been lawfully handled at every stage. The process starts with the issuance of logging permits, where unscrupulous companies might bribe government officials to influence the bidding process. During the harvesting stage, loggers commonly bribe inspectors or rangers in order to cut down greater quantities or protected species illegally. Post-harvest, the raw logs head to the sawmills, providing an opportunity for the mills to launder illegal timber by mixing it with legally sourced wood. When the timber has been processed and is ready to be transported, sellers might falsify documents and bribe checkpoint officials, further tainting the wood with illegality. Illegal logging is often linked to tax evasion, fraud, money laundering and other serious financial crimes. These are facilitated by corruption and weak law enforcement, which are particularly problematic in the Greater Mekong region. Consisting of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and parts of China, the Greater Mekong is one of the world&#8217;s most significant biodiversity hotspots and home to rare&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/the-greater-mekong-region-a-hotspot-of-wildlife-and-crime/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-249594</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Italian firms flout EU rules to trade in illegal Myanmar timber, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/italian-firms-flout-eu-rules-to-trade-in-illegal-myanmar-timber-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/italian-firms-flout-eu-rules-to-trade-in-illegal-myanmar-timber-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2021 12:01:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/01175601/Myanmar-Timber-Enterprise-log-depot-Sagaing-Division-c-Environmental-Investigation-Agency-copy-768x432.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=246683</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Italy, and Myanmar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Logging, Military, Politics, Rainforests, Regulations, Supply Chain, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Negligible fines and inadequate enforcement are turning Italy into a hotspot for illegal Myanmar timber in spite of EU sanctions and regulations against the latter&#8217;s timber trade, according to a new report. The EU has long prohibited sales of illegal timber products in its markets under its 2013 EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). Not all Myanmar [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Negligible fines and inadequate enforcement are turning Italy into a hotspot for illegal Myanmar timber in spite of EU sanctions and regulations against the latter&#8217;s timber trade, according to a new report. The EU has long prohibited sales of illegal timber products in its markets under its 2013 EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). Not all Myanmar timber comes from illegitimate sources, but the industry’s history of poor governance, lack of documentation, and corruption make conducting adequate due diligence an impossible task. Member states therefore developed a common position in 2017 acknowledging imports of Myanmar timber to be against the law. In recent years, heightened scrutiny on the illegal timber trade and heavier penalties on errant firms have deterred shipments from Myanmar to many EU countries. But Italian companies have continued to import large quantities of high-value Burmese teak (Tectona grandis), according to the report from U.K.-based watchdog Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). Even after European authorities imposed sanctions on the trade for funneling cash to Myanmar’s military leadership and decimating forests, Italian timber traders showed no signs of stopping, it said. Log yard in Myanmar. Image courtesy of EIA. The EIA’s report, published in September, identified 27 Italian firms that have been importing Burmese teak into the EU. Some of these companies continued to import timber products following the coup in Myanmar in February, researchers said. From March to May this year, Italian firms imported more than €4.31 million ($5.09 million) worth of wood from Myanmar, according to trade data. Teak, often&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/italian-firms-flout-eu-rules-to-trade-in-illegal-myanmar-timber-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/italian-firms-flout-eu-rules-to-trade-in-illegal-myanmar-timber-report-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-246683</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>EU sanctions no ‘silver bullet’ against Myanmar’s illegal timber trade, experts say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/eu-sanctions-no-silver-bullet-against-myanmars-illegal-timber-trade-experts-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/eu-sanctions-no-silver-bullet-against-myanmars-illegal-timber-trade-experts-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jul 2021 15:57:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/02/08202449/Log-yard-in-Myanmar-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=245131</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Mekong Illegal Logging]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Europe, European Union, Myanmar, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Crime, Culture, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, International Trade, Land Rights, Logging, Military, Politics, Rainforests, Regulations, Supply Chain, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Traditional People, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The European Union has imposed new sanctions on a state-owned timber enterprise in Myanmar following the coup in February, as part of an international effort targeting businesses whose profits are funding the country’s military leadership. EU officials last month sanctioned Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE), an entity under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The European Union has imposed new sanctions on a state-owned timber enterprise in Myanmar following the coup in February, as part of an international effort targeting businesses whose profits are funding the country’s military leadership. EU officials last month sanctioned Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE), an entity under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC). Since MTE regulates all harvesting and sales of Myanmar timber, including exports to international markets, the sanctions mean it is now illegal for businesses in the EU to directly import any timber from Myanmar. The move, which came after the U.S. announced similar sanctions on MTE in April, is part of a wider campaign against military-linked businesses in Myanmar’s lucrative natural resources sector. More than a dozen companies, including those in the jade, gemstone, and copper mining industries, have been blacklisted by governments in Europe, the U.S., the U.K. and Canada in the past few months. But while NGOs have lauded the MTE sanctions for sending a strong political signal against Myanmar’s timber trade as a source of funding for its armed forces, experts say their impact could be limited. For one, the forestry industry in Myanmar has waned in financial importance in the past few years. After the quasi-democratic government banned the export of raw timber logs in 2014 to save natural forests, the proportion of the sector’s contribution to government revenues fell from 10% to less than 2.5% in 2017, according to the Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Illegal log trucks, Myanmar.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/eu-sanctions-no-silver-bullet-against-myanmars-illegal-timber-trade-experts-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/eu-sanctions-no-silver-bullet-against-myanmars-illegal-timber-trade-experts-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-245131</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Brooklyn Bridge needs a makeover. Is rainforest lumber still in style?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/the-brooklyn-bridge-needs-a-makeover-but-is-rainforest-lumber-still-in-style/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/the-brooklyn-bridge-needs-a-makeover-but-is-rainforest-lumber-still-in-style/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2021 12:37:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/07/08121454/brooklyn-bridge-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=244589</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Finding Common Ground, Global Forests, and Latin America]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Guatemala, Latin America, New York, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Governance, Innovation, Logging, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Timber, Traditional People, transforming conservation, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PETÉN, Guatemala — Once or twice a year, a jaguar visits Uaxactun at night. It slinks under the great stone pyramids built by the ancient Mayans and past the moonlit trunks of fallen mahogany trees, looking for a stray chicken or unsuspecting dog to ambush. Eventually, the town’s dogs take note and raise the alarm, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PETÉN, Guatemala — Once or twice a year, a jaguar visits Uaxactun at night. It slinks under the great stone pyramids built by the ancient Mayans and past the moonlit trunks of fallen mahogany trees, looking for a stray chicken or unsuspecting dog to ambush. Eventually, the town’s dogs take note and raise the alarm, barking and chasing the intruder until it retreats back into the dark forest it came from. A jaguar cameo is a minor annoyance for the residents of Uaxactun, a small town nestled in the Guatemalan jungle, but it’s also symbolic of one of their greatest accomplishments: the forest that surrounds them is healthy and full of wildlife. This might surprise visitors if their first sight was the piles of newly cut timber stacked in a clearing next to the town’s sawmill, which screeches as it spits out lumber destined to become furniture and construction material. Industrial timber harvesting and healthy forests don’t usually co-exist well. But that’s exactly what’s happened in the northeastern region of Petén, where a 25-year-old experiment in conservation is playing out in the rainforest amid ancient ruins and cocaine-trafficking airstrips. Uaxactun is one of 12 forestry concessions in Petén that were granted to community-based organizations in the years after Guatemala&#8217;s civil war. Erwin Maas, auxiliary mayor of Uaxactun, sits on logs in the town&#8217;s lumber yard. Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay. The concessions gave those organizations the right to manage large tracts of forest — including the authority to extract logs and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/the-brooklyn-bridge-needs-a-makeover-but-is-rainforest-lumber-still-in-style/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/the-brooklyn-bridge-needs-a-makeover-but-is-rainforest-lumber-still-in-style/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-244589</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Some guitar makers in pursuit of sustainable manufacturing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/some-guitar-makers-in-pursuit-of-sustainable-manufacturing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/some-guitar-makers-in-pursuit-of-sustainable-manufacturing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2021 17:53:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stephan Boissonneault]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/04/20172816/4-Furch-Factory-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=241828</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Czech Republic, Panama, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Consumer Action, Consumption, Forest Products, Forests, Rainforests, Rosewood, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Forest Management, Timber, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The acoustic guitar industry has made a few eco-friendly leaps in recent years, mainly in terms of manufacturing materials. For example, companies like Martin Guitar and Gibson are now using Richlite, a synthetic plastic with wood properties, as an alternative to ebony (Diospyros ebenum) for their fretboards. Petr Furch’s personal mission is to lead the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The acoustic guitar industry has made a few eco-friendly leaps in recent years, mainly in terms of manufacturing materials. For example, companies like Martin Guitar and Gibson are now using Richlite, a synthetic plastic with wood properties, as an alternative to ebony (Diospyros ebenum) for their fretboards. Petr Furch’s personal mission is to lead the green guitar-making revolution — starting with his own company, Czech Republic-based Furch Guitars. In 2014, Furch took over as CEO of the guitar manufacturer that his father had founded, and since then has been finding creative ways to achieve this mission while looking for any opportunity to inspire other industry equals to do the same. But while Furch knows that the material aspect of guitar making is important from an environmental perspective, he says it’s only one side of the coin. The other side: most of the world’s guitar manufacturers still operate out of factories powered by natural gas or, in Furch’s case, coal. But in 2020, Furch switched to green energy for 100% of his guitar manufacturing at the company’s Velké Němčice factory, and the Furch Guitars website declares this has reduced its carbon footprint by two-thirds. The website lists biogas and biomass as some of its renewable energy sources, although whether they’re “green” is currently the subject of much debate. “In the production and the designing of the guitar it’s good just doing a quality kind of analysis of the steps you make,” Furch said in an interview. “So I looked at our&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/some-guitar-makers-in-pursuit-of-sustainable-manufacturing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/some-guitar-makers-in-pursuit-of-sustainable-manufacturing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-241828</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fears for rosewood as Guinea-Bissau prepares to lift six-year logging ban</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/fears-for-rosewood-as-guinea-bissau-prepares-to-lift-six-year-logging-ban/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/fears-for-rosewood-as-guinea-bissau-prepares-to-lift-six-year-logging-ban/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jan 2021 17:41:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ricci Shryock]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/01/20125415/12-2020-GUINEA-BISSAU-SACRED-FORESTS-18-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238827</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Guinea-Bissau, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Illegal Logging, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Rosewood, Timber, and timber trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Three men are piling wood on a solitary truck parked along the only the road to Djendo, a small town in eastern Guinea-Bissau. They work in silence, throwing rosewood, a high-quality timber especially prized in China, into the vehicle&#8217;s bed. A moratorium on cutting timber was put in place in the West African country in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Three men are piling wood on a solitary truck parked along the only the road to Djendo, a small town in eastern Guinea-Bissau. They work in silence, throwing rosewood, a high-quality timber especially prized in China, into the vehicle&#8217;s bed. A moratorium on cutting timber was put in place in the West African country in 2015, but the manager of this operation says these logs are dead wood, and thus legal to sell. A few months from now, he might not have to worry about explaining himself: high-level government officials in Guinea-Bissau are pushing to lift the logging ban. The council of ministers has drafted a decree lifting the moratorium that awaits only the president’s signature. Loading rosewood into a truck. Image by Ricci Shryock for Mongabay. Forestry agent Malam Djassi was posted to Djendo in 2019 — the first government official anyone here can remember assigned specifically to monitor logging. Recalling the period between 2012 and 2014, when illegal logging threatened to wipe out the country&#8217;s stock of rosewood trees entirely, he says he hopes the moratorium will not be lifted. “High numbers of large trees that existed at that time were almost wiped out,” he says. According to a 2018 report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), timber exports from Guinea-Bissau to China went from 61 tons in 2007 to close to 98,000 tons in 2014. “We think the state should extend the moratorium more so that the smallest trees grow and then open” to timber sales again,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/fears-for-rosewood-as-guinea-bissau-prepares-to-lift-six-year-logging-ban/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/fears-for-rosewood-as-guinea-bissau-prepares-to-lift-six-year-logging-ban/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238827</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Madagascar moves to reopen domestic trade in non-precious timber</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/madagascar-moves-to-reopen-domestic-trade-in-non-precious-timber/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/madagascar-moves-to-reopen-domestic-trade-in-non-precious-timber/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Nov 2020 16:20:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rivonala Razafison]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/11/30160403/RRazafison_MadaWood_Photo1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=237291</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation in Madagascar]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Rainforests, Rosewood, Timber, and timber trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — On Oct. 21, Madagascar’s council of ministers issued a decision to reopen the domestic market for so-called ordinary wood — non-precious timber logged from natural forests. This market had been closed for nearly two years, leaving loggers with deteriorating stockpiles of wood they were unable to sell. But timber markets are a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — On Oct. 21, Madagascar’s council of ministers issued a decision to reopen the domestic market for so-called ordinary wood — non-precious timber logged from natural forests. This market had been closed for nearly two years, leaving loggers with deteriorating stockpiles of wood they were unable to sell. But timber markets are a sensitive issue in Madagascar, where forests are rapidly shrinking, illegal logging is ubiquitous and most people depend on wood for fuel and building materials, and the decision sparked questions from the media. Two weeks later, on Nov. 2, the environment ministry held a press conference to clear up any confusion. Ministry personnel clarified that the government will not issue any new permits for commercial logging of ordinary wood, and that its export remains prohibited. They also confirmed that the move in no way applies to precious timber, whose stocks remain illegal to log, sell or export. The harvest and sale of exotic species, such as pine and eucalyptus, which are widely planted for timber and fuel, remains legal. Unprocessed pine wood in Moramanga district, eastern Madagascar, in November 2020. Pine, a commonly planted exotic species, is generally legal to harvest and sell. Image by Rivonala Razafison. A truck loaded with pine logs in Moramanga district in November 2020. Image by Rivonala Razafison. Trade in ordinary timber resumes In January 2019, the environment minister at the time, Alexandre Georget, issued a note suspending the legal exploitation, transport and export of ordinary wood across the island nation.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/madagascar-moves-to-reopen-domestic-trade-in-non-precious-timber/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/madagascar-moves-to-reopen-domestic-trade-in-non-precious-timber/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-237291</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chinese demand and domestic instability are wiping out Senegal’s last forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/chinese-demand-and-domestic-instability-are-wiping-out-senegals-last-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/chinese-demand-and-domestic-instability-are-wiping-out-senegals-last-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2020 15:19:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Louise Hunt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/11/05143631/MG_5905-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=236421</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Gambia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroforestry, Climate, Crops, Deforestation, Drought, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Illegal Logging, Mangroves, Rainforests, Rosewood, Subsistence Agriculture, Timber, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“In the years when logging was not happening, sometimes you did not see the sunlight in the bush because of the tree cover,” said Musa Mballo, a forest protection activist from Velingara in the Casamance region of southern Senegal. After a decade of intensive illegal logging, endangered Pterocarpus erinaceus rosewood trees are becoming increasingly scarce [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“In the years when logging was not happening, sometimes you did not see the sunlight in the bush because of the tree cover,” said Musa Mballo, a forest protection activist from Velingara in the Casamance region of southern Senegal. After a decade of intensive illegal logging, endangered Pterocarpus erinaceus rosewood trees are becoming increasingly scarce in the Casamance. Observers told Mongabay this is driving trafficking further into remote rural communities, such as Mballo’s home in the northeast of the region, damaging the environment and livelihoods. “Most of the community relies on agriculture, but now we have this trafficking, the edible fruits in the forest are not growing. Women, especially, don’t have enough resources to sell, some don’t go into the forest because they are afraid of the traffickers. A lot of people are negatively affected,” he told Mongabay. Palm nut processors in Bandajikaki village, Senegal. The palm nuts are harvested from the community forest. The women also act as wardens to protect the forest from illegal timber cutting. ©Jason Florio/United Purpose. The scale of the illegal harvesting and smuggling was recently revealed in a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), which found that approximately 1.6 million rosewood trees were illegally logged in the Casamance and exported from the Gambia to China between June 2012 and April 2020. Previous EIA investigations revealed how trafficking of protected rosewood in West Africa’s dry forests has become the largest in the world, supplying China’s rapacious billion-dollar market for hongmu, a type of rosewood&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/chinese-demand-and-domestic-instability-are-wiping-out-senegals-last-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/chinese-demand-and-domestic-instability-are-wiping-out-senegals-last-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-236421</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Eco-tourism isn&#8217;t enough to develop a country: Q&#038;A with Gabon&#8217;s environment minister, Lee White</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/eco-tourism-isnt-enough-to-develop-a-country-qa-with-gabons-environment-minister-lee-white/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/eco-tourism-isnt-enough-to-develop-a-country-qa-with-gabons-environment-minister-lee-white/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Feb 2020 05:20:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Matthew Hattingh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/02/10050800/Forest_Nyonie%CC%81GabonChristianVignaWikicommonsBYSA4.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=227015</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Gabon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corruption, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Habitat Loss, Illegal Logging, Logging, Rainforests, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DURBAN, South Africa — Lee White was appointed minister of water and forests, the sea and the environment, in charge of sustainable development objectives and the land use planning for Gabon in June 2019. The UK-born biologist was previously head of the Central African country’s national parks for 10 years. He spoke with Mongabay on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DURBAN, South Africa — Lee White was appointed minister of water and forests, the sea and the environment, in charge of sustainable development objectives and the land use planning for Gabon in June 2019. The UK-born biologist was previously head of the Central African country’s national parks for 10 years. He spoke with Mongabay on the sidelines of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment in South Africa in November 2019. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Mongabay: The government of Gabon talks about the importance of its rainforests and the need to conserve them in the same breath as it talks about developing its timber sector. Are these two things compatible? Lee White: I&#8217;ve spent most of my life trying to keep trees standing. I even worked for Prince Charles and his rainforest project, when he was trying to convince the world to make trees more valuable alive than dead. That was the beginning of the UN&#8217;s REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) climate change mitigation process. Now part of my remit is to cut trees down. The question is how do you do that sustaianbly. Gabon is 88 percent rainforest. In percentage terms, we are the second most forested country on the planet, behind Surinam, who have 92 percent. We have a lot of protected forests. We have protected the most biodiverse parts of our forest, what we think has the most tourism potential and the most important ecosystem services, such as providing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/eco-tourism-isnt-enough-to-develop-a-country-qa-with-gabons-environment-minister-lee-white/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/eco-tourism-isnt-enough-to-develop-a-country-qa-with-gabons-environment-minister-lee-white/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-227015</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Tainted timber’ from Myanmar widely used in yachts seized in the Netherlands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/tainted-timber-from-myanmar-widely-used-in-yachts-seized-in-the-netherlands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/tainted-timber-from-myanmar-widely-used-in-yachts-seized-in-the-netherlands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Dec 2019 08:28:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/12/23024019/hout-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=225677</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Forests and Mekong Forest Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Myanmar, and Netherlands]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Forests, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Law Enforcement, Supply Chain, Timber Laws, timber trade, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Dutch authorities carried out raids in six locations in the Netherlands seizing teak, widely used in luxury yachts, this month. The wood, originating from Myanmar, arrived in the Czech Republic from where it was funneled to the Netherlands.  The European Union tightly controls imports of Myanmar teak because of concerns about illegal extraction and overexploitation [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Dutch authorities carried out raids in six locations in the Netherlands seizing teak, widely used in luxury yachts, this month. The wood, originating from Myanmar, arrived in the Czech Republic from where it was funneled to the Netherlands.  The European Union tightly controls imports of Myanmar teak because of concerns about illegal extraction and overexploitation of natural forests. The seizure was carried out by the Dutch police, working with the Netherlands food and consumer product safety authority as part of a broader investigation into the illegal trade, which persists despite strict EU rules implemented in 2013 to excise illicit timber from EU markets.  &#8220;We suspect the companies involved that they deliberately circumvent the rules to still trade this wood within the Netherlands,&#8221; Arno Paas, a detective with the Dutch police said in a statement. In the past five years, several European companies have been taken to court for importing Myanmar teak without doing due diligence. No companies have been named yet in connection with the raids.  “As long as the investigation is ongoing, no charges have been filed,” Valentine Hoen, a spokeswoman for the Dutch prosecutor’s office responsible for the investigation, told Mongabay. Hoen declined to share details about the investigation including which companies or individuals could be charged. Teak (Tectona grandis) is a tropical tree species native to South and Southeast Asia. Its wood is used to make high-end furniture and is favored for making boat decks because it is highly durable.  India, Indonesia, and Myanmar are the biggest&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/tainted-timber-from-myanmar-widely-used-in-yachts-seized-in-the-netherlands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/tainted-timber-from-myanmar-widely-used-in-yachts-seized-in-the-netherlands/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-225677</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>CITES appeals to countries to watch out for trafficked Malagasy rosewood</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/cites-appeals-to-countries-to-watch-out-for-trafficked-malagasy-rosewood/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/cites-appeals-to-countries-to-watch-out-for-trafficked-malagasy-rosewood/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Oct 2019 13:36:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/10/07132215/Illegal_rosewood_stockpiles_003-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=223157</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation in Madagascar]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Madagascar, and Singapore]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Rosewood, Timber, timber trade, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[18-1804-152996-CSD]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[International wildlife trade regulators have issued an advisory drawing attention to $50 million worth of Malagasy rosewood logs seized in 2014 in Singapore that could potentially end up in the black market again. A Singapore court ordered the precious wood to be released from custody this April after it acquitted the trader who shipped it [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[International wildlife trade regulators have issued an advisory drawing attention to $50 million worth of Malagasy rosewood logs seized in 2014 in Singapore that could potentially end up in the black market again. A Singapore court ordered the precious wood to be released from custody this April after it acquitted the trader who shipped it into the country. The advisory from the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), issued Sept. 26, calls on signatories to the treaty, which includes almost all nations, to be on the alert and take action if the contraband finds its way to their shores. The call came in the wake of discussions about the status of illegal rosewood originating from Madagascar at the convention’s 18th Conference of Parties in Geneva this past August. In 2013 CITES banned the export of Malagasy rosewood (genus Dalbergia) and ebony (genus Diospyros), but the ban has been difficult to enforce. Madagascar entered a period of political instability following a coup in 2009, when the state of law-and-order deteriorated dramatically. Illegal logging of rosewood was widespread, including inside national parks, and timber barons stockpiled the precious wood. In 2010, the country banned the export of rosewood, which is highly prized in countries like China, where it is used to manufacture high-end furniture. However, old and freshly cut logs alike continue to enter the illegal market. Coordination among countries through which the rosewood is channeled to its final destination is weak.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/cites-appeals-to-countries-to-watch-out-for-trafficked-malagasy-rosewood/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/cites-appeals-to-countries-to-watch-out-for-trafficked-malagasy-rosewood/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-223157</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Madagascar no longer insisting on selling its seized rosewood, for now</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/madagascar-no-longer-insisting-on-selling-its-seized-rosewood-for-now/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/madagascar-no-longer-insisting-on-selling-its-seized-rosewood-for-now/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Aug 2019 13:29:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/08/30131847/madagascar_2182-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=222095</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation in Madagascar]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Rainforests, Rosewood, Timber, timber trade, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[18-1804-152996-CSD]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A ban on the international trade in rosewood, a prized timber, remains intact following the close this week of a global summit on the trade in wild animals and plants. What did change at the 18th Conference of the Parties (CoP18) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was that Madagascar, a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A ban on the international trade in rosewood, a prized timber, remains intact following the close this week of a global summit on the trade in wild animals and plants. What did change at the 18th Conference of the Parties (CoP18) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was that Madagascar, a key source country for illegal precious wood, withdrew its demand to be allowed to sell rosewood stocks that it had previously seized in the international market. “I reiterate once again a paradigm shift that Madagascar will not consider marketing,” Lala Ranaivomanana, secretary-general of Madagascar’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, said at the CITES summit in Geneva. He added that the country would hold off on any plans to try and sell the stockpile until it had resolved issues surrounding inventory management and control. While selling the rosewood remains an option in the future, the latest decision aligns Madagascar’s position more closely with that of CITES: that the country needs to do more to crack down on the illegal logging and timber trade before a relaxation or lifting of the ban is even considered. “The first thing they need to address is the enforcement issue. The potential conversation on exports and sustainable management will come after that,” said Isabel Camarena, an official with the CITES Secretariat who tracked the discussions. In a July interview Alexandre Georget, Madagascar’s environment minister, told Mongabay that they would not allow any exports of rosewood. In the past, the country&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/madagascar-no-longer-insisting-on-selling-its-seized-rosewood-for-now/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/madagascar-no-longer-insisting-on-selling-its-seized-rosewood-for-now/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-222095</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gabonese timber linked to illegal logging seized in Antwerp</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/gabonese-timber-linked-to-illegal-logging-seized-in-antwerp/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/gabonese-timber-linked-to-illegal-logging-seized-in-antwerp/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jul 2019 09:05:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jim Tan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/07/25090407/WCTSTimber_Antwerp_PhilippeVerbelenGreenpeace-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=220777</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Belgium, Central Africa, European Union, and Gabon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corruption, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Habitat Loss, Illegal Logging, Logging, Rainforests, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[2019FB]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On July 8, Greenpeace forest campaigner Philippe Verbelen was conducting routine monitoring at the Belgian port of Antwerp when he noticed a familiar name attached to a timber shipment: Wan Chuan Timber SARL (WCTS), a company that has been exposed and fined for a series of grave offenses in Gabon. Verbelen alerted customs officials at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On July 8, Greenpeace forest campaigner Philippe Verbelen was conducting routine monitoring at the Belgian port of Antwerp when he noticed a familiar name attached to a timber shipment: Wan Chuan Timber SARL (WCTS), a company that has been exposed and fined for a series of grave offenses in Gabon. Verbelen alerted customs officials at the port, who moved quickly moved to block the shipment of padoek, a tropical timber. The Belgian government is now investigating the company receiving the shipment, Antwerp-based Compagnie de Bois Anvers, for a possible breach of the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR). The shipment in question came from Gabon, a country that currently still has 85 percent coverage of incredibly biodiverse rainforest. In May this year, Pierre Moussavou, Gabon’s then-vice president and minister of state for forests and the environment, was fired in connection with a timber scandal. “[Gabon] is a country with a high level of corruption linked to the forestry sector,” Verbelen said. “European timber companies clearly need to identify companies active in Gabon as a high risk for doing business.” WCTS, which exported the timber, is a Chinese logging company operating in Gabon. Verbelen recognized its name from an undercover probe by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an NGO based in Washington, D.C. The EIA came across WCTS in 2016 while investigating illegal logging activity in Gabon. “We were asking who the really bad guys were, who were the people or the companies that were just breaking all the rules with no&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/gabonese-timber-linked-to-illegal-logging-seized-in-antwerp/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/gabonese-timber-linked-to-illegal-logging-seized-in-antwerp/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-220777</doi>				</item>
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