SCHEDULED EXTINCTION Our Last Chance to Protect the Threatened African Mukula Trees CONTENTS Executive Summary 1 Beyond “Hongmu”: The Global Rosewood Crisis The Global Hongmu Hunt 2 Mukula Fever 3 Zambia: In the Shadow of the State-owned Company On-And-Off Bans 6 The ZAFFICO Scheme 7 DRC: Dormant Trafficking Networks Awaken On-And-Off Bans 10 Door Opened for the “Untouchables” 12 Predicted Extinction 14 Conclusion and Recommendations 15 Acronyms 16 Table of Figures 16 References 17 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The document has been produced with financial assistance from Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), the Tilia Fund, Good Energies Foundation, and the Cox Family Fund. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of EIA and do not necessarily reflect the positions of any donors. ABOUT EIA We investigate and campaign against EIA US environmental crime and abuse.Our undercover PO Box 53343 investigations expose transnational wildlife Washington DC 20009 USA crime, with a focus on elephants and tigers, Front cover: a trafficker T: +1 202 483-6621 and forest crimes such as illegal logging and showing the relative size of deforestation for cash crops like palm oil. We E: [email protected] a mukula log using his pack work to safeguard global marine ecosystems eia-global.org of cigarettes for reference. by addressing the threats posed by plastic pollution, bycatch and commercial exploitation of whales, dolphins and porpoises. Finally, PREMICONGO © Environmental Investigation we reduce the impact of climate change by 737 avenue Kasavubu, Lubumbashi, Agency, Inc. 2019. campaigning to eliminate powerful refrigerant Province du Katanga, RDC greenhouse gases, exposing related illicit All images © Environmental trade and improving energy efficiency in the E: [email protected] Investigation Agency, Inc. cooling sector. premicongo.org unless otherwise stated. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY1 According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), rosewood is the single-most smuggled wildlife product in the world.2 As a consequence of increasing scarcity and protection granted to rare species, traffickers are now looking beyond traditional rosewood (“hongmu”) species in order to meet the insatiable demand from the neo-antique furniture industry in Asia. Over the past five years, Asian timber trafficking Several traffickers stated to EIA undercover investigators networks have been plundering the forests of the that mukula has already become rare and will likely go Central and Southern Africa regions, on the quest for a extinct in three to five years at the latest. In both Zambia tree locally known as “mukula” or “nkula” (Pterocarpus and DRC, corruption is a key enabler of the traffic. The tinctorius, a synonym of Pterocarpus chrysothrix and inclusion of Pterocarpus tinctorius in Appendix II of the Pterocarpus stolzii).3,4 Under public pressure, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species governments in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at the 18th Conference and Zambia – the two principal producing countries of the Parties (CoP18) is a unique opportunity to prevent according to available information – have instituted its commercial extinction and support Zambia’s and on-and-off restrictions to stop the pillage of mukula.5 DRC’s efforts to curb the illegal and unsustainable timber However, well-connected traffickers have ensured harvest driven by international trade. access to the region’s fast-disappearing forest resources through bribes and secret schemes. As one of them told While the listing of mukula on CITES Appendix II will Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) undercover no doubt have invaluable tangible benefits for the investigators, despite different bans and restrictions, conservation of the species and for the well-being of mukula harvest and trade “never stopped.” rural communities, a “species-by-species” approach to the current rosewood crisis has proven ineffective in In Zambia, EIA investigators found that the State-owned countering the fast-moving trafficking networks and the company Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries misdeclaration schemes they have been using, relying Corporation Limited (ZAFFICO) has been secretly used on non-listed look-alike species. A genus-wide approach for at least two years as a cover for well-connected to include all Pterocarpus tree species on CITES Zambian and Chinese businessmen to export thousands appendix II is therefore necessary in order to effectively of freshly cut mukula logs, despite the ban in place. implement the Convention. In DRC, the uncontrolled illegal trade, which proliferated until 2017 amid ambiguous Congolese stop-and-go EIA recommends to CITES Parties: policies, suddenly came to a halt when Zambia prohibited the transit of mukula logs. In 2019 a new 1. Support the proposal by Malawi (Prop. 54) arrangement was reached between Zambian and to include mukula (Pterocarpus tinctorius) in CITES Congolese authorities, allowing Congolese mukula logs Appendix II at CoP18. to transit though Zambia again. The dormant trafficking networks suddenly awakened; less than a week after the 2. Consider a genus-wide listing of look-alike species first container of mukula from DRC crossed the border to of Pterocarpus on Appendix II at CoP19 using an Zambia in April 2019, EIA sources observed the nightly annotation that facilitates proper enforcement. loading of a clandestine convoy guarded by individuals with Congolese army uniforms. 1 BEYOND “HONGMU”: THE GLOBAL ROSEWOOD CRISIS The Global Hongmu Hunt Meaning “red wood” (“红木”) in Chinese, the term “hongmu” refers to a group of 29 timber species with distinct features valued in China, including the rich hue, extreme durability and often pleasant smell.6 Hongmu species are widely used in antique furniture reproduction in China and Vietnam (Figure 1).7 Demand for hongmu has driven boom-and-bust cycles, marked by steep increases in harvest and export volumes from individual countries before a sudden collapse, or “bust.” Once a species is exhausted in one country, or new control measures are put in place by governments, smuggling networks quickly identify new supplies and move to the next country or region. This phenomenon of “boom and bust” in the rosewood trade has been well documented and was confirmed by the CITES Secretariat in its 2019 “Threat Assessment on Illegal Wildlife Trade in West and Central Africa.” 8,9 Figure 1 The insatiable demand for scarce hongmu resources has An antique furniture reproduction factory in China filled with caused the expansion of supply chains from Southeast African precious wood Asia to new frontiers in Africa and Central America.10 Asia 2600M Africa 2400M America 2200M Oceania 2000M Europe 1800M 1600M 1400M 1200M 1000M Value (in USD) 800M 600M 400M 200M 0M 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Source: EIA, 2019 based on Chinese customs data; * Year 2019 from January to June. Figure 2 Evolution of Chinese hongmu imports, logs and sawn timber, by producing region (in value) 2 protection, several of them being very rare or on the edge of commercial extinction, such as Pterocarpus Since 2015, Africa has macrocarpus.15 become the world's top Faced with the rapid decline of easily available hongmu hongmu producing region. trees, Asian traders have looked beyond the hongmu list of species and diversified their supply through other rosewood species with similar features, suitable for the furniture industry. One of them is Pterocarpus tinctorius Nearly half of the world’s countries (95 in total) across (a synonym of Pterocarpus chrysothrix and Pterocarpus stolzii), locally known as “mukula”, which is found in five continents have been exporting rosewood to China 16 since 2000.11 At a plant genus level, where studies exist, Central and Southern Africa. 90 percent of Pterocarpus and Dalbergia populations – two genera that include a variety of rosewood species – 12 Mukula Fever show declining or unstable populations. Mukula is a rosewood species native to Africa’s broad Since 2015, Africa has become the world’s top hongmu- belt of Miombo woodland, an area of 2.7 million square producing region, accounting for the majority of all kilometers of tropical seasonal and dry forests crossing hongmu log imports to China by volume between 13 Angola, Burundi, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, January 2015 and June 2019 (Figure 2). The colossal 17 exports of Pterocarpus erinaceus, also known as “kosso,” and Zambia (Figure 3). The mukula tree is known to from West Africa have been the primary factor for this play an important role for a variety of species including steep rise.14 The listings of Pterocarpus erinaceus and bees, primates, elephants, and rodents; it is also vital 18,19 the Dalbergia genus in 2016 increased international to soil preservation and other ecosystem services. protection and control for 16 of hongmu species, leaving Like many members of the Fabaceae family, mukula is 13 species on the hongmu list without international a favored shade tree and its foliage commonly serves 23 Source: EIA, 2019 based on (White, 1983) Figure 3 African Miombo woodland 3 140M China 130M Rest of the world 120M 110M 100M 90M 80M 70M 60M Value (in USD) 50M 40M 30M 20M 10M 0M 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Source: EIA, 2019 based on UNComtrade and Chinese customs data Figure 4 Destination of the timber exported by Zambia (in value) as grazing fodder for domestic wildlife.20 The reddish sap is used by rural communities for fabric dyes and 120M body coloring. In addition, mukula has a number of 110M valuable antibacterial and medicinal qualities.21,22 100M 90M Prior to the surge in international demand, 80M domestic markets in Africa had little interest in 70M commercializing mukula; the timber was mainly 60M used by villagers for housing construction. The 50M Value (in USD) situation has changed drastically since 2014, and 40M despite the lack of comprehensive data, several 30M indicators help understand the sudden change, 20M particularly in Zambia and DRC known as the two 10M principle producing countries.24 0M 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Chinese log imports from Zambia boomed within a few months (Figure 4).