Massive flows of illegal timber stolen from forests around the world will not be stemmed by voluntary industry guidelines currently being developed by the Chinese Government, environmentalists have warned
Myanmar’s precious rosewood tree species are heading for imminent commercial extinction at the hands of China’s multi-billion dollar rosewood furniture boom. Illegal trade in rosewood is driven by wealthy elites in China and their desire for the high-end Ming and Qing dynasty reproduction furniture known as ‘hongmu’
Siamese rosewood has been illegally logged to the brink of extinction in the Mekong region to feed a voracious demand for luxury furniture in China which leaves a bloody trail of death, violence and corruption in its wake in a trade driven by the expanding wealthy elites in China
China, emergent superpower and the world’s second biggest economy, is effectively standing on the sidelines as its exponential growth devastates forests in a trade worth billions of dollars a year, making it the single largest international consumer of illegal timber stolen by organised criminal syndicates
The European Union’s suspension of sanctions against Burma (Myanmar) for one year, including lifting the ban on direct trade of timber and wood products, opens the way for trade with Western firms and should be an opportunity to introduce meaningful reform directly benefiting the country’s people