More rosewood, more problems: China’s demand for Siamese rosewood and its role in initiating conflict in the Mekong

In discussing forest violence in class, we honed in on three specific cases of violence in Sudan, Brazil, and Sierra Leone. As we know, these countries make up only a sampling of those suffering from violence that stems from their possession of rare and valuable timber. One aspect of this that we briefly touched on during lecture is the role of foreign or outside demand for these rare resources on prospects for violence within a state, or a region in general. Particularly, I believe that it is extremely important to acknowledge and discuss the direct role that outside demand for various abundant resources plays in causing specific regional conflict. China’s relentless demand for Siamese rosewood in the Mekong provides an excellent example of the detrimental power that foreign demand for a resource can have in fueling violence in a region. This case also shows why countries, like China, must be held accountable for their role in instigating conflict, as well as their involvement in illegally obtaining and importing such resources.

In recent years, environmentalists have seen consistent surges in demand for Siamese rosewood, a unique and extremely valuable, luxury wood native to states in the Mekong region of Southeast Asia (Phys). According to a comprehensive report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), illegal logging and immense corruption has contributed to the vast depletion, and near extinction, of the Siamese rosewood species, local to Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam (NY Times). The Chinese elite play the largest role in the demand for this depleting resource because of their lust for “reproductions of ornate high-end furniture from the Ming and Qing eras”, made specifically from precious “hongmu” or old redwood trees (Global Post). According to estimates, since the year 2000, China has imported an estimated $2.4 billion dollars worth of timber from the Mekong region, the vast majority of which is obtained through illegal logging efforts. To begin to understand how heavily China relies on countries in this region for this abundant, but now grossly depleting resource, it is necessary to note that in 2013 alone, Myanmar exported 273,000 cubic meters of rosewood to China, which was triple the volume exported in previous years. The EIA reports that this amounts to “one-thirteenth of the estimated rosewood stock in the [country]”, and with current logging rates, Myanmar’s forests will be completely stripped of the timber in just thirteen years (Eco-Business).

With China’s relentless demand for this rosewood, and the ability of this species to rake in “thousands of dollars per cubic meter”, local individuals attempt to take advantage of this and cash in on this lucrative, Chinese-driven market (Global Post). This has initiated a wave of physical violence throughout countries in the region as loggers clash with park rangers in their efforts to illegally harvest the rosewood. In the thick brush on the borders of Thailand and Cambodia, loggers often clash with Thai security forces, often leading to deaths and disappearances among loggers and locals seeking to make a quick return (Global Post). The EIA reports that in 2009, dozens of Thai forest rangers were killed and further, there has been consistent blaming between the Thai and Cambodian governments about local clashes that have led to the deaths of villagers seeking to cross borders to illegally harvest the rosewood (Global Post).

Because of increased local awareness of this loosely regulated industry, many locals have taken it upon themselves to cross borders and attempt to illegally harvest, thus initiating various small scale, but bloody skirmishes. This illegal industry essentially aids in exploiting the already poor economic situations of these rural villagers, because these rosewood buyers offer small sums of money (USD $25-$200 per excursion) to the local people to partake in this illegal harvesting, and unfortunately, this presents itself as the source of income for some (UCA News). Interestingly enough, buyers and middlemen who recruit from local villagers pay the illegal loggers in methamphetamines, which arguably, exploits and promotes other social issues in the region, and can keep individuals dependent on illegal logging for their drug habits (NY Times).

Although ample responsibility must rest on the nations with rich natural resources, foreign nations that demand and acquire such resources through illegal means must, too, be held accountable for their illegal activities and role in instigating regional conflict.

With the case of the Siamese rosewood, China, the largest importer of this timber, must be held accountable for its actions in continuing to import this rapidly dwindling resource. I would agree with the EIA’s assessment that China needs to take greater steps to curb the influx of illegal timber into its region, with the hopes that the nation can eventually be incentivized to ban imports of the rosewood altogether. If countries like China take responsibility for their actions, or are forced to take responsibility from international pressures, arguably much of the violence and exploitative nature of illegal logging can be mitigated because there will no longer be a market that drives individuals to commit illegal logging and kill for personal gain. Further, nations of the Mekong region will have the opportunity to recover from the economic loss stolen from them in the process of illegal logging. As demonstrated by China’s clear role in demanding and harvesting luxury woods in the Mekong region, it is necessary to devote ample attention to how this foreign influence instigates conflict in resource rich areas.

Sources:

http://phys.org/news/2014-05-china-demand-luxury-furniture-decimating.html

http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/chinas-demand-threatens-rare-hardwoods-in-mekong/?_r=0

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140512/china-demand-luxury-furniture-decimating-rosewood

http://www.eco-business.com/opinion/surging-chinese-demand-rosewood-ruining-forests-across-southern-asia/

http://www.ucanews.com/news/demand-for-rare-wood-puts-cambodians-in-line-of-fire/70954