63
In an effort to combat illegal logging and West African Rosewood smuggling, officials of The Gambia have banned all timber exports, revoked all active export licenses, and will now also prohibit rosewood imports effective immediately. Port authorities will now refuse loading logs onto any vessel, and also stated that random searches of containers will be conducted to help enforce the new ban.
Previous investigations by both international media groups such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and local news outlets suggest that most of the rosewood exported from The Gambia were originally trafficked into the nation from southern Senegal, and were mostly exported to China. West African Rosewood was declared "nearly extinct" in The Gambia in 2012, and was listed as endangered in 2017 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
West African Rosewood is also called "Hongmu" (Literally: Red Wood") in China, and is mostly used to make antique-styled furniture. The wood is reportedly in high demand due to its color and durability. Between 2017 and 2020, China imported an estimated 300,000 tonnes of rosewood valued at over 100 million United States dollars from The Gambia. It is estimated that the exported rosewood amounted to some half-a-million trees.
: All images used in this article were retrieved from the public domain, and do not require attribution or citation for commercial purposes.
