Criminality and corruption have swept a flood of endangered rosewood exports from Laos and Cambodia which fundamentally violate trade protections imposed by the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
As UN trade restrictions on endangered Siam rosewood come into effect, EIA warned the future of the species relies on range states and key user countries delivering on their protection obligations. EIA played a key role in supporting the Thai and Vietnamese governments efforts to secure CITES protection for the species
EIA has called on China’s Redwood Committee and its parent timber trade federation to ensure policies and members do not underwrite the destruction of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Thailand’s violent rosewood wars after the Thai Government claimed demand for Siam rosewood left it unable to stop armed illegal loggers
The member countries of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) have agreed to list Siam Rosewood on Appendix II, granting international protection to this threatened species. This will help protect Siam Rosewood in range states and will serve as a legal tool to combat smuggling in China.