Two of Myanmar's most sought-after rosewood varieties could be depleted within a few years if illegal logging to feed China's demand continues to grow at current rate, environmentalists say

Audrey Dixon

YANGON, Myanmar , July 4, 2014 (dpa) – Two of Myanmar's most sought-after rosewood varieties could be depleted within a few years if illegal logging to China continues to grow at the current rate, an environmental watchdog said Friday.

The two species, tamalan and padauk, could be logged to commercial extinction within three years, and other varieties could follow, the Britain-based Environmental Investigation Agency said in a new report.

"If Myanmar doesn't seek help, now, then these precious species will quite simply become extinct," EIA forests campaigner Faith Doherty said.

The illegal trade in rosewood species is driven by growing demand from wealthy elites in China for Ming and Qing dynasty reproduction furniture, collectively known as hongmu, the report said.

China's total 2013 imports of Myanmar hongmu logs by land and sea reached 237,000 metres cubed, worth 324 million dollars, according to the group's figures. This would be triple the volume and value of that recorded in 2012, and nearly six times the 2010 trade.

The trend has continued this year, the report said, with imports between January and April 2014 amounting to more than 72 per cent of the 2013 total.

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