Illegal logging in Madagascar

Thousands of poorly paid Malagasy loggers have flooded into the national parks—especially in the northeast—building roads, setting up logging camps, and cutting down even the most difficult to reach rosewood trees.

Illegal activities are openly flaunted, armed militia have descended upon local villages, and a rosewood mafia easily bribes government officials, buying export permits with ease.

[5][9][10] Until recently, the island's forests had not experienced the levels of intense logging seen in countries like Malaysia or Indonesia due to its smaller trees, challenging terrain, and national policies favoring locally controlled, small-scale operations.

[10][11] In the 1970s, a logging company received permission from the state to selectively harvest precious hardwoods from Ihera Classified Forest, which continued legally until all trees of commercially valuable size had become rare.

Its devastating effects, later coupled with the downturn in the vanilla market, drove the local people to increase their slash and burn agriculture (called tavy), the use of bushmeat, and the logging of precious hardwoods.

When riots and looting broke out in Antalaha on January 27 and 28, the rosewood mafia recovered an estimated 500 metric tons (500,000 kg) of previously seized logs from the Water and Forests Headquarters.

[15] In late March, a representative of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forestry for the new government met with NGOs concerned with conservation and declared that stopping illegal logging was a top priority.

[4][19] In July 2009, investigation teams observed large-scale transport of rosewood logged from national parks in broad daylight along roads policed by posted gendarmerie around Antalaha, demonstrating that these timber traffickers have bribed not only customs officers but also the local law enforcement.

Shortly before the increased enforcement began in April, about 500 workers gathered in Antalaha, threatening to burn the homes of the rosewood collectors due to continued withholding of their salary.

[14] However, the economic and political circumstances that were fueling the looting had not changed, allowing illegal logging to continue and driving even the impoverished gangs of Malagasy loggers to accept partial payments for their labor.

[5] Eleven environmental organizations condemned the logging in March[26] and later identified the withholding of international aid due to the political crisis as one of the most significant problems fueling these illegal activities.

[4] Because of the incredibly lucrative nature of recent trades, reports have indicated that government officials have significantly increased the price of export certificates to make more money for themselves.

A good example occurred on April 20, 2009, when the port in Vohémar reopened two days after authorities closed it down due to international protests over uncontrolled illegal logging.

[13] Villagers have lived in fear of the rosewood mafia, silenced and in dire poverty, while people in the coastal city of Sambava demonstrated in strong support of the logging.

Even if the central government wanted to halt the illegal logging and export, they would be hamstrung by decentralization and a lack of funds, leaving them unable to deal with corrupt provincial bureaucrats.

For example, twice in 2009 ministerial orders permitted the export of rosewood and ebony, but only if traders were willing to pay a fine of 72 million ariary, or $35,500, per container of illegally harvested wood.

[13] There are some signs that the situation may be starting to change, as conservation groups and the media spotlight have pressured the government to fire some local officials for participating in illegal exports and send gendarmerie to increase surveillance in part of the SAVA region.

[24] Several international shipping companies have also previously been implicated in the export of illegally harvested wood from Madagascar, although most of them immediately and unequivocally ceased such operations when confronted with the issue.

[5] According to local sources, Spanfreight and Safmarine Container Lines N.V. have also been involved in the exports, although the EIA and Global Witness report could not substantiate the claim at the time.

[13] The international demand for Madagascar's precious woods, such as rosewood and ebony, is growing primarily due to a surge in the numbers of Chinese middle class over the last five years.

[9] It has also been demonstrated that illegal logging is funded with advance payments from Chinese buyers;[13] and that the local rosewood mafia collude with the foreign profiteers, primarily from China.

[13] In addition to the loans from the international banks, this infusion of cash from the new Chinese community is essential to keeping the illegal logging going at times when the wood is blocked from export.

[13] Between January and April 2009, approximately 1.5% of the wood harvested in the SAVA Region and exported from Vohémar made its way directly to Europe in semi-finished form for the production of musical instruments and craft furniture.

[7] Given the lack of documentation, many importers do not know the species of rosewood used or the country of origin, making it difficult for North American and European companies to filter out illegal products.

[16][17] Threats from Patrick Leloup, an adviser to Rajoelina, were reportedly issued to Delmas, stating that their refusal to transport the wood would result in a ban from doing business in Madagascar.

These effects include the introduction of invasive species, increased susceptibility to fire due to localized drying, impaired habitat, reduced genetic diversity and biodiversity, and collateral damage from dragging the trees out of the forest.

[12] With decades of illegal logging in Madagascar's protected areas it comes as little surprise that evidence of closely associated activities, such as slash-and-burn agriculture, tree cutting, honey extraction, and bushmeat hunting, were discovered in Marojejy National Park by a research team in 2008.

Malagasy reptiles have long been a target of animal traders, but as smuggling of these species has intensified, now lemurs are also being collected and illegally exported for the exotic pet trade.

[4][19][26] Initially following the political upheaval, conservation organizations were concerned that lemurs and other wildlife would be hunted for food by the thousands of loggers living and working in the protected areas.

[20] Some community members also work as guides, porters, shopkeepers, hotel and restaurant personnel, so when tourism declines or ceases, their lives and the local economy they help fuel fall into jeopardy.

Rosewood is illegally logged from Masoala and Marojejy national parks , with the heaviest exploitation occurring after the 2009 political crisis .
Eight rosewood logs lying at the riverside with nearby workers, a truck, and a cart
Rosewood removed from Marojejy National Park by waterway in 2005
A rosewood stump and adjacent log, both with dark red heartwood, in the forest of Marojejy National Park
Stump of illegally logged rosewood from Marojejy National Park, Madagascar
Eight laborers work to concealing a rosewood log by burying it on a beach, with several onlookers surrounding them
Malagasy laborers work to conceal rosewood illegally harvested from Masoala National Park by burying it at a beach near Cap Est
A stack of rosewood blanks sits in the foreground while a team of workers prepares additional timber in the background
Near the port city of Antalaha, workers process illegally cut rosewood by turning it into planks, which is considered "semi-finished form"
A man sits on a stool at a bench while using simple tools to spin a piece of rosewood while he carves it into a vase. Bright red sawdust covers the floor of this small rosewood vase factory.
At a rosewood vase factory in Antalaha, an artisan produces an example of "finished form" wood for export
An unorganized pile of approximately 50 rosewood logs sits on a beach with boats in the background.
Rosewood stockpile sits on a beach near Antalaha, awaiting export to China or Europe
Seven or eight people work to load logs from a smaller, wooden vessel (carved from a tree trunk) onto a slightly larger boat
Workers load illegally logged rosewood onto a transport vessel bound for the nearest major port
A Malagasy worker (right) pulls on a rope tied to a massive rosewood log, trying to move it down a stream with massive rocks obstructing the path.
A Malagasy worker extracts a heavy rosewood log from Masoala National Park. The work is very strenuous and pays little, if at all.
Three dead bamboo lemurs lying in a pile on the ground, with entrails spilling from one of them
Three dead bamboo lemurs ( Hapalemur griseus ), killed for bushmeat in northeast Madagascar. The meat is often consumed by loggers or sold to up-scale restaurants as a delicacy .