CITES Listing for Brazilian Mahogany Sought
11/08/99
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Title: CITES Listing For Mahogany Sought
Source: Environmental News Service
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 8, 1999
Forest conservation groups have coordinated a sign-on letter to lobby
the United States government to propose listing Big-leaf Mahogany as
an Appendix II species under the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES).
The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and Defenders
of Wildlife say the valuable tree species is in need of greater
protection, as it is in decline due to legal and illegal harvesting
for international and domestic trade, and due to habitat loss.
"Mahogany logging is a major catalyst for deforestation of
Neotropical lowland forests, thereby leading to reduction of
available mahogany habitat and posing a significant threat to
tropical biodiversity," the groups point out in the letter.
"Scientists have found that populations are in decline, and are
concerned that current patterns, methods and levels of logging are
unsustainable over the long term," the letter states.
Logger cuts mahogany in the Brazilian rainforest. The groups say they
have evidence that indicates Big-leaf Mahogany in Brazil, Bolivia,
Mexico, Belize, Guatemala meets the Appendix II listing criteria
established at CITES for limited, reportable trade. Levels and
patterns of legal and illegal harvesting in those countries for
international trade cannot be maintained in perpetuity in those
countries, the groups say, and perhaps in Peru and Nicaragua as well.
Populations in Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica also merit
an Appendix II listing and in the near future could become candidates
for the most restrictive Appendix I listing -- threatened with
extinction and affected by trade, the groups claim. Species listed in
Appendix I are banned from international trade.
The letter says the intent of the mahogany listing they seek is not
to ban trade, but to encourage sustainable harvesting and trade and
encourage a reduction in the trafficking and illegal logging of the
species.
Signed by forest policy officers, senior attorneys, economists, and
campaign directors, the sign-on letter points out, "Mahogany is
harvested predominantly through selective logging, in which only
mahogany and other valuable timber species -- the 'precious woods' --
are extracted. This practice typically does not create conditions
that foster regeneration, and it results in removal of nearly all
mature mahogany trees within a population, drastically reducing its
reproductive potential."
"An Appendix II listing will not motivate consumers to stop
purchasing mahogany. On the contrary, effective implementation would
strengthen consumer confidence that mahogany was harvested
sustainably," the groups said.
The groups see an Appendix II listing as the foundation for a shift
in the direction of sustainability, but as not sufficient to ensure
sustainable harvesting. They are urging the U.S. government to move
towards "certification and labeling to facilitate sustainable
harvesting, cooperation to enforce trade controls and combat illegal
harvesting, and funding of forest inventories and of pilot projects
for conservation and sustainable management."
In previous CITES conferences, which are held every two years, the
Natural Resources Defense Council and Defenders of Wildlife did
extensive work towards an Appendix II listing for mahogany. Those
listing proposals fell only a few votes short of being accepted.
The U.S. Administration will make a decision by November 12. The
CITES Conference is scheduled for April 2000 in Nairobi.