The Hongmu Challenge

A briefing for the 66th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, January 2016.

Hongmu is the Chinese term for high-end reproduction furniture made from richly hued durable tropical hardwoods, a sector posting a significant threat to the timber species targeted.

Principally targeting 33 species of rosewoods, mahoganies and ebonies, sales in China’s Hongmu sector exceeded $25 billion in 2014. The sector is driving systematic illegal and unsustainable extraction at unprecedented rates and scales.