Konventionsmøde om truede plante- og dyrearter i Bangkok er enedes om vidtgående restriktioner på handel med to slags tropisk ædeltræ, som trues på eksistensen af rovhugst og stigende efterspørgsel i Kinas nye velhavende middelklasse.
Campaigners welcomed the move, saying it stood in marked contrast to the slow pace of progress in tackling the ivory (elfenben)-poaching crisis, BBC online writes Tuesday.
The criminal trade in timber is said to be worth around 30 billion US dolllar annually.
The CITES meeting in Bangkok agreed to upgrade the restrictions on species of rare rosewood trees from South East Asia and South America as well as species of ebony (ibenholt) from Madagascar.
Growing demand from China’s middle classes for luxury furniture has fuelled illegal logging in rosewood, which can fetch up to 50.000 dollar a cubic metre.
Also many ebony products from Madagascar end up in China. Despite domestic legislation banning exports, illegal logging has continued unabated (uformindsket).
The restrictions mean that an exporting country now has an obligation to determine that the number of trees being cut down is not detrimental (skadende) to the survival of the species.
Where CITES really packs a punch is in its ability to impose trade sanctions on any country that over-exports a restricted species.
These sanctions would be across the whole range of species regulated by CITES and could prove extremely expensive to offending countries.
Ibenholt, der er en meget hård træsort, bruges bl.a. til musikinstrumenter – se om en sag fra USA på
http://www.guitaren.dk/artikel.asp?id=2233#.UUA4kGV1T4s
