It's seldom that such a widespread species is consumed in such a short period of time. The combination of wealth creation in China and road development in Laos has created a perfect storm of exploitation for the Rosewood that comes from Indochina.
Routes of Extinction from EIA on Vimeo.
A couple comments on the video. The voice over starts out in Isaan language (strange Lao/Thai mix) if I'm guessing correctly, then Thai, then Laotian. The aerial part is nice vid of some of the last remaining old growth forest in Thailand, not much of that left. Easy to get vid of Thai forest rangers, impossible in Laos. In Laos the army is the one doing the cutting.
The common term "rosewood" covers a few different species, some endangered, others simply "vulnerable". I think the term in Lao is Mai Du Dang.
The above video begins in Thailand, some of the only intact old growth forests I've ever seen there, most of Thailand has been cut.
More below the tangled web of international trafficking in endangered species.
Later the video travels to Pakse, a small city on the Mekong in Southern Laos. As stated in the subtitles of the video I've no doubt that most of the wood in Pakse does come from Thailand, of course not included is all the rosewood harvested in Laos which is shipped from the other side of the country. Wood travels west to east and exits on the Vietnamese border.
There are no videos of police or soldiers in Laos fighting the export of rosewood simply because the lumber industry is a wholly owned concession of the Lao Army. It is traditional in Laos that the most powerful people in the country are the generals from the south controlling the logging. Another Quiet American is a book partially about working for just such a general.
Above logging trucks parked in the provincial capital Attapu. This is the side of Laos where things exit to Vietnam. I was about 30 miles from the border when I took the photo.
In my travels about Laos I often come upon convoys of trucks carrying large logs. When possible I ask the drivers where they are coming from, where they are headed, and what species of tree they are carrying. My queries have never upset anyone, despite a nationwide ban on raw timber exports the drivers are delivering perfectly legal logs with all of the correct stamps and papers. It's impossible to break the law if you are the government making the laws.
All the proper stamps on illegal logs.
Needless to say international environmental NGOs are big promoters of the conservation of forests, but it's a long way from the heart of Vientiane where everyone lives to some remote forests in Attapeu or Phongsali. Even in those provinces how does one witness logging in places with never ending ranges of nameless mountains and only a government official who is employed by the people cutting the trees to guide you.
My day pack is barely visible on left side of photo. This tree is part of a very old forest that is no more. The people who have lived there for generations uncounted were forcibly relocated, the trees were all cut, a dam was built and hydro generators installed to power the large copper mine on the side of the mountain.
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http://eia-international.org/...
Thanks for the Rec: I woke up to my brief visit to bottom of rec list. I should add I'm not anti logging at all. I'm sure foresters could log sustainably in SE Asia. We send men to the moon and have iphones we can harvest species such that it doesn't harm the ecosystem.