Groups Try To Stop Shipment of Rosewood

Washington, DC, March 17, 2010--Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency called on French shipping company Delmas to cancel a shipment of hundreds of tons of rosewood from the port of Vohemar, in northeastern Madagascar.

The Delmas-operated vessel Kiara arrived in Vohemar on March 11 and is currently being loaded with containers filled with rosewood. The groups accuse the company, a division of shipping group CMA-CGM, of facilitating the destruction of Madagascar's last remaining forests.

In a statement, CMA CGM and its subsidiary Delmas "formally deny any accusation that they have
been involved in exporting rare timber from Madagascar, prohibited illegal cargo, and condemn the smear campaigns targeting the Group.

"The Group transports goods in strict compliance with national and international regulations. Timber exports from Madagascar are carried out within a rigorous legal framework, defined by the relevant Malagasy authorities."

Since June of 2009, Global Witness, EIA, and other organizations have repeatedly advised Delmas of the situation and urged the company not to ship illegal wood from Madagascar.

Political turmoil in early 2009 triggered an invasion of Madagascar's national parks by thousands of illegal loggers. A report by Global Witness and EIA in November 2009 estimated that the trade in illegal rosewood and ebony was worth up to $460,000 per day.

Most of the wood that is exported comes from Masoala National Park, a World Heritage Site, and other protected areas in the northeast. Although almost all harvest and export of precious woods has been banned in Madagascar since 2006, local and national officials have been known to issue illegitimate export permits.

"Madagascar's cash-strapped transitional government lacks both the political will and the resources to effectively control the trade in illegal wood," said Reiner Tegtmeyer of Global Witness.

Timber shipped by Delmas usually ends up in China, the largest market for illegal Malagasy wood, but U.S. and European consumers have also been known to purchase it.