A week ago, the German government halted a shipment of Amazonian mahogany, which had for its final destination an anxious European market. The Environment Minister Juergen Tritin stated there were some suspicions that the timber had been logged illegally -- the cargo had therefore been impounded according to the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).
Mahogany has become an endangered tree since its massive and uncontrolled logging from 30 years ago. Also referred to as "green gold", mahogany is the most valuable Amazonian timber on the international market. According to the environmental organization Greenpeace, it sells at up to US$850 per cubic meter. The largest remaining stocks of the tree are now found in Brazil and Bolivia. Mahogany trees are specifically found in over 1.5 million square kilometers of Amazon forest. But the wood is "commercially accessible in only 8,000 square kilometers" -- according to Greenpeace -- within the states of Acre, South Para, parts of Rondonia, Amazonas and Mato Grosso.
This "mahogany belt" corresponds with large concentrations of native lands and nature reserves. About 90 indigenous groups live within the zone, and tribes such as the Nimbekwara and Uru Eu Wau Wau in Rondonia are "constantly invaded by loggers in search of this valuable wood". Furthermore, the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) states that at least the 70 percent of mahogany wood is logged illegally, most of it being robbed from the indigenous lands of Uniao. IBAMA estimates that there are as little as eight years of mahogany left at current rates of deforestation.
The action taken by the German customs stems from a long struggle against the powerful mahogany exporters who have created a very big market for the tree. Efforts to stop the exporters have been supported not only by environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, but also by pro-indigenous organizations, governments, various institutional and supranational entities.
Brazil, after assessing the data gathered by its Environmental Agency IBAMA, decided to ban the trade and transport of mahogany. Soon after, the government also outlawed its logging. This in turn motivated the European Commission to issue an advisory note recommending that "member states not accept export permits for specimens of Swietenia macrophylla [mahogany] from Brazil until further notice, without first obtaining from the Brazilian authorities a statement that those specimens were legally acquired". Thanks to the note above, Dutch authorities also stopped a shipment for the Belgian trader Bomoco from entering Belgium.
However, these are not the only steps required. According to Greenpeace's Amazon Campaign Coordinator Paulo Adario, it is also necessary to make consumers aware of the danger of extinction of huge swathes of irreplaceable rainforest, and of the undermining of ancient and cultural traditions.
