Caption:
Resource anarchy continues to reign post-coup in Madagascar's rainforests. This picture shows CMA CMG Delmas, a French shipping company, is facilitating the destruction of Madagascar's rainforests. Photo used with permission from Mongbabay.com. (link)
UPDATE: 26/01/2010
Madagascar has legalized the export of rosewood logs, ushering in renewed logging of the country's embattled rainforest parks. The transitional authority led by president Andry Rajoelina, who seized power during a military coup last March, earlier this month released a decree that allows the export of rosewood logs harvested from the Indian Ocean island's national parks [1]. Ecological Internet has received confirmation that our Madagascar campaign with Rainforest Rescue did achieve some partial success. The particular logging shipments highlighted at the end of 2009 did not proceed. Two weeks ago a $40 million shipment of rosewood from Vohemar was canceled after complaints that the French shipping company, Delmas, would facilitate the trafficking of illegally logged timber.
However, the Malagasy government is now forcing the hand of Delmas shipping by authorizing the export of rosewood. Rajoelina has ordered that rosewood logged from Madagascar's rainforests now be shipped out of the country. Following the campaign, Delmas apparently said it would no longer ship rosewood out of Madagascar. But now Malagasy power-brokers are effectively blackmailing Delmas, saying that if it doesn't pick up timber, it will no longer be allowed to do business in Madagascar. Delmas is planning to ship up to 400 containers from Vohemar port to Tamatave port, where it then goes to Asia on another vessel, and likely another company. The names of the shipping companies reaching Tamatave and sailing to Asia : Delmas, Safmarine and PIL.
France, Holland, Morocco, and the World Bank have all been implicated in financing illegal logging operations in Madagascar's national parks over the past year. Even as foreign governments condemned the surge in illegal logging last year, many--either directly or through institutions they support--are shareholders in the very banks that have financed the export of illegal lumber from Madagascar's SAVA region. The Bank of Africa Madagascar, for instance, is part owned by Proparco, a subsidiary of the Agence Française du Développement, as well as the World Bank's International Finance Corporation, Dutch development bank FMO, and the Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur. Société Générale and Crédit Lyonnais, both part-owned by the French government, have also provided loans to illegal timber traders.
Local sources confirm there are presently thousands of loggers in Masoala (UNESCO World Heritage site) and Makira. With the log exports now open, loggers will step up logging of these rainforest parks. Since Madagascar has no system for tracking timber or any control over logging, there is no way to ensure that these logs aren't being illegally cut from national parks – which is certainly occurring and becoming increasingly well-documented. Further, allowing exports provides impetus for more logging. EI has been asked by local organizations to repost our action page, as people are looking for ways to help.
MOST RECENT ALERT: 20/12/2009
Mongabay reports that Delmas shipping company is planning to take as many as 200 containers (worth $40M) of illegally logged rosewood rainforest timbers out of Vohemar port in Madagascar on the 21st or 22nd of December [2]. They reported four shipping companies have transported rosewood from Madagascar this year. Three of these have agreed to stop shipping rosewood following criticisms from international conservation groups, but the fourth, Delmas (a subsidiary of French shipping giant CMA-CGM) continues to ship illegally logged precious woods in large quantities.
Delmas has been asked by local campaigners to stop abetting the illegal timber trade by transporting rosewood. Delmas answered by insisting they had the authorization of the Minister of Environment and Forests, despite being presented with clear evidence that the merchandise they are transporting is of illegal origin. A search of their website reveals no routing information for the Consistence and the Lea, two of their ships reported to have transported rosewood recently. Though shipments of lumber may change hands in the Comoros, Mauritius or Malaysia, cargo manifests routinely leave out these intermediary stops and list only the shipment's final destination in China.
Loggers in Madagascar are daily plundering up to $460,000 of precious woods from national parks in the country's northeast, and the shipping companies are a good target to end these atrocities. The vast majority of precious woods that leave Madagascar are bound for a few cities in Southern China: Hong Kong, Dalian, Shanghai, Ganzhou. Between 1998 and 2008, Chinese imports of tropical wood nearly quadrupled, to 45 million cubic meters annually, making it by far the world's largest consumer of tropical timber. Over half of these imports are thought to be sourced illegally.
In October, Rainforest Rescue and Ecological Internet reported loggers and wildlife traders continue to violate Madagascar's biodiversity rich rainforests including protected areas. In March of this year controversy surrounding leasing of agricultural land resulted in a military coup. In the chaos that ensued, armed gangs funded by Chinese traders entered Madagascar’s Marojejy and Masoala National Parks, two world-renowned World Heritage Sites, and logged rosewood, ebonies, and other valuable hardwoods. NGOs operating in Madagascar report continued armed, open and organized plundering of precious wood from several natural forests, including these parks. Recently Global Witness and EIA launched a major report on the matter [3].