A briefing – produced in English, Burmese, Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese – for the 11th ASEAN Experts Group on CITES (CITES AEG) and 10th meeting of the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) in Brunei from 5-8 May 2015.
It details how illegal logging and trade in rosewoods to supply Asia’s booming Hongmu furniture markets is driving a violent wave of crime across the Mekong.
More than 150 forest rangers, police, soldiers and loggers have been killed in rosewood enforcement operations in recent years – and with many forested areas straddling national borders, the violence associated with this trade has threatened regional stability.