Rainforest destruction continues in Madagascar despite ‘ban’ on timber exports

www.wildmadagascar.org
June 21, 2010 New eyewitness reports indicate continued logging of Madagascar’s Masoala National Park for rosewood despite a government “moratorium” on logging and timber exports. A source near Marofinaritra, a town between Masoala and Antalaha, reports heavy night-time movement of trucks carrying illegally logged timber from the park. The wood is believed to be destined for Antalaha, a regional hub for the rosewood trade. “Logs are going out every night from the Masoala National Park,” said the source, who asked not to be identified. The report comes just weeks after Albert Camille Vital, Madagascar’s Prime Minister, authorized the shipment of $16 million worth of rosewood from Tamatave, effectively breaking Madagascar’s moratorium on timber exports. The moratorium had been established in order to slow the destruction of the island’s rainforest parks, which have been pillaged for valuable hardwoods in the aftermath of last year’s military coup. 10,000-20,000 hectares of endangered forest were affected last year by logging, which was accompanied by the emergence of a commercial bushmeat trade in lemurs, Madagascar’s endemic primates. Madagascar’s government signed the moratorium in March after prolonged pressure from conservation groups, tour operators, and foreign embassies. But last month Vital began to look for ways to circumvent the ban. Vital sent a letter to Rodolphe Saade, president of Delmas, a Marseilles-based shipping company that was criticized last year for its role in facilitating timber trafficking, authorizing the shipment of of 79 containers of rosewood from the port of Toamasina (Tamatave). After receiving the authorization May 11, Delmas asked the French embassy on May 18 for advice on the shipment. The French ambassador told Delmas not to proceed with the shipment due to fears of international outcry. On May 20, Madagascar’s Minister of Finance asked a second shipping company, SEAL/Pacific International Lines, to load the containers. SEAL/PIL agreed and its ship, the Terra Bonna sailed from Toamasina on June 6 with the roughly $16 million worth of timber. …