Mahogany
Conservation
The
U.S. Market for Big-Leafed Mahogany And Its Implications
For the Conservation Of the Species
Outside
of Latin America, the United States is the world¡¦s
leading consumer of the American mahogany (Swietenia
spp.) harvested in Latin America, and imports an
estimated US$56 million of American mahogany annually.
Big-leafed mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)¡Xalso
known as genuine mahogany, caoba, mara (in Bolivia), or
mogno (in Brazil)¡X is the most traded and coveted of the
three American mahogany species. Conservationists are
concerned that current harvest rates and practices may
be pushing big-leafed mahogany in the same direction as
Caribbean mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), which
was once heavily traded but is now endangered and
commercially exhausted because of past over-harvest.
Big-leafed
mahogany matters not only to U.S. consumers with
expensive taste in furniture, but also to
mahogany-producing areas (range states) where the
resource is critical to local economies yet increasingly
threatened by intensive and illegal harvest that is
driven, in part, by U.S. demand. For these reasons, the
United States has a powerful economic incentive to
conserve big-leafed mahogany so that the species
continues to serve its ecological function as well as
yield a resource upon which local industries and
individuals depend. Moreover, felling mahogany trees for
overseas markets may affect more than just the species.
Roads specifically created for removing valuable timber
species like mahogany increase the susceptibility of
forests to migrating farmers who convert the forest to
farmland, thereby exacerbating habitat alteration and
loss of biological diversity.
TRAFFIC
North America, with funding from World Wildlife Fund-US
(WWF-US), reviewed the U.S. mahogany market to put into
perspective for U.S. consumers the significant role of
the United States in the mahogany trade. This report is
intended to inform American stakeholders of the scope
and scale of U.S. demand for big-leafed mahogany, the
conservation implications of such demand, and various
options for promoting and improving the species¡¦
conservation.
The
Caribbean and, more recently, Central and South America
have been supplying mahogany to international markets
almost since the time of their discovery by European
explorers in the late fifteenth century. Mahogany
developed a favorable reputation among early European
and American shipbuilders and furniture makers for its
durable, highly stable, and attractive wood. Big-leafed
mahogany, one of the tallest trees in Neotropical
America, has a discontinuous but wide distribution from
southern Mexico to the Southwestern Amazonian Moist
Forests of Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil, an ecoregion
recognized by WWF-US for its biological wealth and
conservation importance (Roozen 1998). The World
Conservation Union (IUCN) considers the species
vulnerable because of declining or unsuitable habitat
and a level of exploitation that may be unsustainable.
The species is exported from at least 14 Latin American
countries and imported by 15 countries, primarily in
North America and Europe. More than 120,000 cubic meters
of big-leafed mahogany from Latin America enters
international trade annually, of which 76,000 cubic
meters, or 60 percent of global trade, is imported by
the United States. In 1998, the equivalent of an
estimated 57,000 big-leafed mahogany trees was harvested
and shipped to the United States to supply a robust
business in mahogany furniture (Lopez 1999).
The
United States consumes more timber per capita than any
other country (Schwartzman and Kingston 1997). The
United States is the largest importer of forest
products, absorbing at least US$13 billion annually in
logs, lumber, veneer, and other products made from
softwood and, to a lesser extent, hardwood tree species
(FAS 1999). Big-leafed mahogany constitutes a relatively
small but lucrative portion of U.S. timber trade. While
the species is only one of 200 tropical hardwood tree
species available in the United States, it accounts for
57 percent of U.S. imports of tropical hardwood lumber
by volume and 59 percent of these imports by value
(Smith, Hass, and Luppold 1995). In 1998, the United
States imported mahogany from eight Latin American
countries, with 95 percent of all imports originating
from Brazil (45 percent), Peru (32 percent), and Bolivia
(18 percent).
Approximately 60 U.S. companies in some 17 U.S. states
are involved in the importation and distribution of
big-leafed mahogany from Latin America, with the
greatest amount imported by firms based in states east
of the Mississippi River. In 1997 and 1998, North
Carolina, the furniture manufacturing center of North
America, accounted for most U.S. imports, absorbing 39
per cent of all U.S.-bound shipments. Mississippi is the
second largest importing state at 24 percent, followed
by Florida (11 percent), Pennsylvania (9 percent), and
Louisiana (6 percent). The U.S. furniture industry
absorbs about 90 percent of the top grade mahogany
lumber imported into the United States, while lower
grade mahogany goes into the production of doors and
architectural millwork (Smith, Hass, and Luppold 1995).
On the
surface, supplies of mahogany would appear stable,
keeping pace with U.S. demand. However, early signs of
pressure on resource availability prompt questions about
whether and when current levels of U.S. consumption of
mahogany may exceed natural supply. The United States is
one of the latest of several significant importers from
colonial to modern times to con tribute to what
essentially amounts to a practice and pattern of
mahogany mining in neotropical forests. During their
trade history, the American mahoganies, including
Caribbean and more recently big-leafed mahogany, have
experienced shifts in their availability as rates and
levels of extraction in one country or region, combined
with other factors like habitat loss, ultimately
overtake or reduce tree regeneration (Siegel and Row
1965; Lamb 1966). Historical data show that as U.S.
imports of mahogany decline from one country there is
usually a corresponding increase in imports from
another. From 1900 to 1960, for instance, the United
States imported most of its mahogany from Belize and
Mexico. By 1980, however, Bolivia and Brazil had
supplanted Mesoamerican countries as leading U.S.
mahogany suppliers.
Lately,
the list of South American countries supplying mahogany
to the United States may be changing as their
inventories decrease or access to the forests is
restricted because of environmental concerns. For
example, there has been a drop in U.S. imports from
Bolivia, where restrictions are in place to reduce
harvest (Worldwidewood 1999a). Conversely, Peru is
paving the way to boost its mahogany production by
selling to foreign companies timber concessions in the
Biabo-Cordillera Azul region. Fluctuations in mahogany
availability and accessibility are reflected best in
trade data. From 1995 to 1998, U.S. imports from Bolivia
decreased by two-thirds, while U.S. imports from Peru
surged nearly fourfold. According to a TRAFFIC survey,
several U.S. importers confirm that they have reacted to
negative changes in their ability to obtain or maintain
a supply of mahogany by importing from new source
countries. Another sign of volatility is the high
turnover rate in individual suppliers or exporters¡X12 of
the 23 Bolivian companies that exported mahogany in 1996
did not export in 1999, suggesting an exporter attrition
rate of more than 50 percent in four years (Bolivian
CITES Authority 1999).
Other
indications of increasingly tight supplies are the
escalating retail prices for mahogany, which are 25
percent higher today than a decade ago, and growing
reliance on substitute species like African mahogany (Khaya
spp.) and Philippine mahogany (Shorea spp.) (Woodshopnews).
Possibly avoiding the financial costs and public
pressure associated with big-leafed mahogany, U.S.
companies boosted their imports of mahogany of African
origin from 4,100 cubic meters in 1991 to more than
20,000 cubic meters in 1998, the highest levels since
the mid-1970s. The phenomenon of replacing increasingly
costly or scarce American mahogany with more competitive
timber species raises valid questions about whether, and
to what degree, potentially heavier harvest of
substitute tree species will alter their biological
status or role in the ecosystem. Concerns about
excessive levels of legal harvest are intensified by
illegal exploitation, which remains a serious problem in
Central and South America, particularly in Bolivia,
Brazil, and Peru. Illegal trade of big-leafed mahogany
underscores the enforcement and management challenges
with which government officials are faced in range
states (Buitrón and Mulliken 1999; Dyer 2000; El
Comercio 1999; ITTO 2000a; Kemper 2000).
If
history repeats itself, big-leafed mahogany, S.
macrophylla, may have the same fate as its Caribbean
cousin, S. mahagoni, which is no longer traded
commercially as a result of intense over-harvest in the
past. Commercial depletion of big-leafed mahogany could
eliminate incentives for sustainably managing forests
for high-value timber species. A concerted, long-lasting
commitment by range states to mahogany conservation is
central to preventing the demise of big-leafed mahogany
and the displacement (or even disappearance) of local
and international industries that depend on the
resource. To their credit, Latin American countries have
imposed logging moratoria, improved national legislation
for mahogany, invested in forest certification, convened
regional management workshops and, at the latest
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) meeting in April 2000,
reestablished a mahogany working group that will
identify conservation priorities for the species.
Despite these good-faith efforts, however, illegal and
unmanaged exploitation of mahogany remains a problem
throughout much of Central and South America.
Range
states¡¦ commitment to mahogany conservation would be
aided enormously if consumer countries were to promote
buyer awareness and alternatives and adopt policies that
reinforce conservation initiatives in forests. After
all, manufacturers and users of wood products in
developed countries contribute to deleterious and
dubious logging of mahogany by importing and using large
volumes of the species¡¦ wood to satisfy a demand for
fashionable furniture. Because consumer countries are
partially responsible for mahogany¡¦s plight, they can
and should participate in ways to minimize the effect of
their consumption on the species. This responsibility
especially belongs to the United States, which imports
more mahogany than any other country. Whether passive or
proactive, U.S. mahogany consumers have, along with
producers and other end users, a shared economic
interest in conserving this valuable resource. The
following paragraphs outline various regulatory, policy,
and voluntary interventions available to U.S. policy
makers, companies, and consumers for improving mahogany
conservation and complementing management efforts in
range states.
Certification
Consumers
can support mahogany conservation by buying mahogany
products that carry the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
trademark, which certifies that the wood comes from
forests that are managed in accordance with FSC's
internationally endorsed principles and criteria.
Companies using FSC¡¦s logo on wood products have
demonstrated that the timber used in their products is
harvested n an ecologically and socially responsible
manner from well-managed forests.
At
present, only two U.S. companies are known to import
big-leafed mahogany derived from forests certified by
organizations accredited by FSC. However, the number of
wholesalers, manufacturers, retailers, and
municipalities purchasing, using, or pledging to buy FSC-certified
wood s increasing in unison with concerns over forest
health and management. Similarly, the number of
neo-tropical forests certified for mahogany production
remains small but is growing, with operations
established in Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Recent
surveys and trends suggest certified wood products are
gaining popularity in the United States, though more
emphasis on promoting the benefits of certification
among consumers is necessary for expansion of the
market. Its high profile and a steady demand make
mahogany a suitable species for publicizing the benefits
of forest certification. The demand also makes
low-impact forest management and logging economically
feasible for many operations.
Consumers
can take the following specific steps to support
mahogany conservation through certification:
•
Individuals¡Xincluding homeowners, interior decorators,
and architects¡Xwho are in the market for mahogany
furniture should ask companies about the source of
American mahogany used in furniture available in retail
stores and catalogs. Where available, U.S. consumers
should purchase furniture made with mahogany known to
have come from well-managed forests of Central and South
America. The best way to determine whether mahogany
originated from responsibly managed forests is to look
for the trademark of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC),
whose standards for managing forests are among the
world¡¦s best. Consumers can visit the following Web
sites for more information on the availability of FSC-certified
mahogany: http://www.certifiedproducts.org/, http://www.ecotimber.com/,
and http://pals4wood.com/. Consumers can also contact
Certified Wood Source (HarryPage@compuserve.com).
• U.S.
importers, distributors, manufacturers, and retailers of
mahogany lumber, paneling, furniture, and musical
instruments can join the Certified Forest Products
Council of North America¡Xa group of businesses and
individuals committed to purchasing or giving preference
to FSC-certified forest products.
•
Federal, state, and local governments can make a
symbolic and substantive commitment to responsible
forest management in Central and South America by
agreeing to purchase or use mahogany from FSC-approved
forests in public housing and construction projects.
CITES
and Trade Reporting
The more
than 150 member countries of CITES can take unilateral
action to protect native species within their borders
from international trade by placing them on CITES
Appendix III. Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico
have listed their natural populations of big-leafed
mahogany in Appendix III. This action has improved the
regulation and record keeping on trade in mahogany
exported from these countries. The discovery of a few
procedural and permit discrepancies documented in this
report, however, indicates that implementation of
Appendix III in range states and the United States need
additional attention and improvement. Range states that
have yet to list their mahogany on Appendix III are
urged to do so, because such an action would formalize
under existing or new national legislation a
government¡¦s commitment to regulate mahogany exports.
Importing countries should continue to assist range
states with implementation of the listing by producing
training materials, monitoring shipments, and reporting
permit irregularities.
Species
eligible for listing in Appendix II, the next level of
CITES protection, must be proposed for such a listing
and approved by member countries at the Conference of
Parties that meets every two and a half years. Despite
the monitoring value of Appendix III, its management
benefits are questionable because, unlike CITES Appendix
II, the use of scientific information is not required in
decisions concerning export. Repeated attempts to list
big-leafed mahogany in Appendix II have failed. In some
respects, Appendix II would be much less restrictive and
rigorous than measures like domestic logging moratoria
already in place in some countries to protect mahogany.
The criteria created by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
and applied to the certification of well-managed forests
in Guatemala, Mexico, or Brazil, or those prepared by
the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) to
assist countries with sustainable forestry management,
may actually be compatible with and satisfy criteria
that would be used under Appendix II to demonstrate that
exports of mahogany are not detrimental to natural
populations. Regardless, an Appendix II listing for
mahogany would reassure overseas consumers that the
mahogany used in their furniture was exported in a
sustainable and legal manner.
CITES
regulates trade in mahogany saw logs, sawn wood, and
veneer, exempting all other value-added products,
including plywood and furniture, from its trade
controls. It may become necessary to regulate under
CITES a wider range of value-added mahogany products if
the trend is toward a larger portion of trade in these
products. At a minimum, monitoring of value-added
mahogany products would close a gap in trade information
and allow researchers to consider the scale and
biological significance of these products in trade.
Toward these ends, expanded use of the universal
Harmonized System of Tariffs (HST) by creating a
specific commodity code for big-leafed mahogany and its
value-added products would enhance the conservation
value of HST and complement CITES trade statistics.
Moreover, closer compatibility between the reporting
structures of HST and CITES might elucidate and explain
data discrepancies. For instance, 1998 U.S. imports of
big-leafed mahogany, as reported from CITES documents,
were approximately 25,000 cubic meters lower than those
compiled by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of
the Census, using HST.
Funding of Mahogany Conservation through Import Duties
Mahogany
imported into the United States from Latin America in
the form of minimally processed lumber is exempt from
duties that may be imposed on imports of value-added
commodities like plywood and furniture. Examples of
duty-free mahogany commodities include sawn wood and
veneer, which together account for the majority of U.S.
mahogany imports. Several trade programs or regional
agreements (not specific to mahogany) reduce or waive
duties for mahogany products entering the United States
from Latin America and the Caribbean. These include the
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program,
Cartagena Agreement (ANDEAN Group), Caribbean Basin
Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), and the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Each of these is different
but strives to improve the economies of developing
countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The U.S.
government should consider increasing import tariffs on
mahogany originating from Latin America under existing
trade programs or agreements. Any increases could be
balanced by lowering or waiving duties levied on
products of non-threatened tree species. Monies
generated from duties on imported mahogany products
should be directed back to Central and South American
countries for reinvestment in mahogany management
efforts. |