Mahogany's Survival Threatened by US Demand
From World Wildlife Fund
September 27, 2000
WASHINGTON, DC — The United States is driving a highly lucrative trade in big-leafed mahogany that threatens some of the world's most biologically diverse Amazonian rainforests, states a new report from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring program of World Wildlife Fund and IUCN - The World Conservation Union.
The US accounts for 60 percent of the global mahogany trade. In 1998, the equivalent of about 57,000 big-leafed mahogany trees was harvested and shipped to the US to supply a robust business in mahogany furniture. The report, "Mahogany Matters: The U.S. Market for Big-Leafed Mahogany and its Implications for the Conservation of the Species," includes an exhaustive analysis of global trade data - both published and unpublished -- along with a survey of mahogany importers.
If history repeats itself, big-leafed mahogany will suffer the same fate as Caribbean mahogany, which is considered endangered and commercially exhausted. If this happens, the incentives for sustainable management of high value timber species will be lost, and the land will be converted to agriculture or grazing range.
"Mahogany is often considered the Rolls Royce of trees, but if we aren't careful, it may become the Edsel - commercially unviable and threatened with extinction," said Chris Robbins, the report's author.
Other findings:
· Big-leafed mahogany constitutes a small, but lucrative portion of the total US timber trade. It accounts for 57 percent by volume of US imports of tropical hardwood lumber, worth about $56 million;
· Thirty nine percent of US imports go to North Carolina, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and California;
· Fifty percent of imports into the US come from Brazil;
· Historical data show that a decrease in mahogany harvest from one area results in a corresponding increase in another area. In this case, because it has been depleted in the Caribbean and Central America, mahogany is now being harvested from the denser, tropical forests of Latin America, including Peru and Brazil. These areas are some of the most biologically diverse regions in the world;
· Roads designed for felling high value trees like mahogany allow access to migrating farmers who convert the forests to farmland, increasing the loss of plant and animal species;
· In Peru, the distance from mahogany forests to mills is increasing, indicating that forests are being mined, not managed;
Mahogany, especially big-leafed mahogany, is a keystone species, both ecologically and economically. One of the tallest trees in Neotropical America, it supports a multitude of plant and animal species and many healthy local economies. However, when it is over-exploited, both the ecological and economic functions quickly disappear.
The report's author suggests three main solutions:
· Consumers, importers and governments can demand and buy mahogany products that are certified environmentally friendly by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Currently, two US companies import FSC-certified mahogany, but the demand, and conversely, the supply, is increasing;
· Big-leafed mahogany should be reconsidered for listing on Appendix II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). This will allow more regulation and protection of the species, while not outlawing trade;
· The US government should increase import tariffs on minimally processed mahogany from Latin America (they are currently exempt), while lowering or waiving duties on products of non-threatened tree species.
For a copy of the report, go to http://www.worldwildlife.org/forests/
For more information, contact:
Lee Poston
Senior Communications Manager
World Wildlife Fund
202-293-4800
lee.poston@wwfus.org
Web site: http://www.worldwildlife.org