Madagascar’s forests are the bedrock of its unique natural habitats. Twenty two percent of its landmass is covered in forest, and the unique ebony, rosewood and pallisander forests of its northern SAVA region are home to some of the world’s rarest wildlife species. Political turmoil in early 2009 triggered a timber rush which saw thousands of loggers ransack national parks to feed export markets in China, the United States and Europe. This illegal trade threatens to completely destroy the last of Madagascar’s precious wood forests, and the communities and wildlife that live in them.

Since June 2009, Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) have been contracted by Madagascar National Parks (MNP) to investigate and monitor the scale of this problem. This investigation has produced two reports which lay bare an illegal rosewood industry worth up to $460,000 a day and the international export networks it serves. Malagasy regulators are often complicit in the plunder, while the transitional government repeatedly breaks its own laws by authorising shipments of illegal timber.  

We have repeatedly called on the government to establish and properly enforce laws banning exports of precious timber, and also targeted shipping companies whose transportation of precious wood from Madagascar to China has driven the trade.

Recent developments are promising. Criminal justice reforms in the US were first utilised after our November 2009 report exposed the use of illegal Malagasy timber in the US musical instrument industry. It is hoped that similar recent legislation in Europe will signal a further crackdown on imports of illegal timber. The Malagasy government’s latest export bans also indicate a stronger commitment to effective monitoring, but past experience has shown that these measures are only as good as their implementation. Global Witness and EIA continue to scrutinize this situation.