Environment, Europe, Headlines

ENVIRONMENT-SPAIN: Record Seizure of Wood from Endangered Tropical Species

Tito Drago

MADRID, Oct 13 2004 (IPS) - The seizure of 33 tons of wood from a highly endangered species of tree from Brazil and the arrest of six individuals implicated in the illegal imports to Spain was hailed by environmental activists here Wednesday.

"Environmentalists have been fighting for this for years, dreaming that once and for all, the countries of the (industrialised) North will combat imports of wood from endangered species of trees and from protected areas, so we are pleased with the good news," Miguel Angel Soto, the head of the Greenpeace forest campaign in Spain, told IPS.

The Guardia Civil (militarised police) reported the success of the sting operation, which was the culmination of an investigation launched in late 2002, known as "Operación Palo".

The illegally logged wood that was seized came from Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) trees, also known as caviuna or jacaranda, which yield a heavy, hard, dark-coloured wood streaked with black. The trees came from the area in South America where the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay come together.

Brazilian rosewood was placed on the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) Appendix I in 1992.

But as far back as 1920 people began to realise the species was facing the threat of extinction, said Soto.

The wood, which was shipped to Spain from ports in Brazil, was seized in 21 companies that use it to manufacture musical instruments like guitars and violins, in the Spanish provinces of Madrid, Cuenca, Granada and Valencia.

The Guardia Civil estimated that the confiscated unprocessed wood is worth more than three million dollars.

Sources with the militarised police force told IPS that the investigations and arrests have led to the dismantling of one of the biggest smuggling rings of illegal wood.

The smugglers used forged import documents that listed the wood as coming from species that are not subject to restrictions and controls.

The sources added that the confiscated documents had been issued by a Brazilian company, and could lead to further seizures and arrests.

Since the Brazilian rosewood was stored with wood from other species of trees, the investigators turned to specialised laboratories at the Polytechnic University and the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid to identify it.

The International Tropical Timber Agreement was adopted in 1991 to put an end to the illegal logging and smuggling of endangered species of trees. The goal set by the international convention was for all tropical wood sold around the world to come from sustainable sources by 2000.

But while Soto said he was pleased with the results of "Operación Palo", he underlined that there was still much to be done. "In 2002, we showed that mahogany was trafficked in Spain, and so far there has been no response to our denunciations of the lack of controls."

He said Spain imported more than 860,000 cubic metres of illegally logged wood in 2001, accounting for 10 percent of all wood imports. The illegally imported wood was worth 263 million euros, "a sum that should be considered to have been stolen from the coffers of the countries where the trees were growing."

Investigations by Greenpeace have led the international watchdog group to estimate that illegal imports of wood come from at least 20 different nations, mainly tropical countries like Brazil, Cameroon and Gabon, but also countries like Sweden, China and Finland, which purchase the wood illegally from neighbouring regions.

Greenpeace reports that the main concern is imports of wood coming from countries caught up in armed conflicts, like Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burma. Soto said that "0.9 percent of the illegally logged wood comes from countries involved in wars."

The activist had some bones to pick with the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) agreement announced by the European Union (EU) on Jul. 20, aimed at curbing the illegal trade in forestry products.

"The European Commission (the EU executive arm) should present legislation that would make imports or sales of wood or by-products from illegal sources illegal through bilateral agreements with producer countries, and that would take the initiative to curtail illegal logging in countries that are candidates for admission to the European Union."

"We must not turn a blind eye to the problem of the illegal logging and commerce of wood," he stressed.