Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T14:18:00.740Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mahogany Conservation: Status and Policy Initiatives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Bruce D. Rodan ,
Adrian C. Newton  and
Adalberto Verissimo
Bruce D. Rodan
Affiliation:
Karch & Associates, Inc., 1701 K Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20006, USA
Adrian C. Newton
Affiliation:
Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland EH26 0QB, UK
Adalberto Verissimo
Affiliation:
Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amazonia (IMAZON), Belem, Pará, Brazil.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Genuine or American mahogany is obtained from trees of the genus Swietenia (S. mahagoni, S. macrophylla, and S. humilis), and is one of the premier timbers of international commerce. The trade in mahogany commenced almost five centuries ago with S. mahagoni from the Caribbean; but following ‘commercial’ extinction of this resource, trade became centred on mahogany populations in South and Central America (S. macrophylla). The trade in mahogany is predominantly from primary forests, and has led to population and genetic resource declines — particularly in the Caribbean and Central America. More recently, there have been an increasing number of ‘commercial’ extinctions in South America. As the resource declines, pressures mount to accelerate the illegal extraction of mahogany from National Parks and lands reserved for indigenous (‘Indian’) peoples. Inability to control this trade threatens mahogany populations and genetic resources throughout its range, at the same time adversely affecting the livelihoods of indigenous peoples in the process.

Mahogany often regenerates poorly following logging operations that are conducted using current management practices, and further research is required to determine the optimum biological and economic conditions for in situ silviculture. Attempts to cultivate mahogany in plantations have met with little success in the Americas, due mainly to effects of the shoot-borer (Hypsipyla grandella), a moth larva that damages terminal shoots, so leading to excessive branching and reduced timber value (Figs 3 and 4). The success of mahogany plantations in the neotropics will require the development of an integrated pest-management system, perhaps involving the incorporation of pestresistant genotypes within agro-forestry or mixed plantation systems.

It is vital that appropriate silvicultural and trade practices are adopted to ensure sustainable mahogany extraction, while at the same time conserving an adequate population and genetic resource-base. To this end, effective trade monitoring and resource-regulation measures must be introduced to assist in controlling illegal trade and to encourage a scientifically managed, sustainable, utilization of mahogany. Two of the three mahogany species, S. humilis and S. mahagoni, have been listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The third and only other recognized species of Swietenia, S. macrophylla, should also be considered for listing in CITES Appendix II, thereby benefiting from the international trade-monitoring and resource regulation requirements consequent upon such listing.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , Winter 1992 , pp. 331 - 338
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allan, C.G., Chopra, C.S., Friedhoff, J.F., Gara, R.I., Maggi, M.W., Neogi, A.N., Powell, J.C., Roberts, S.C. & Wilkins, R.M. (1976). The concept of controlled release insecticides and the problem of shoot borers of the Meliaceae. Pp. 110–5 in Studies on the Shoot-borer Hypsipyla grandella (Zeller) Lep., Pyralidae, Vol. II (Ed. Whitmore, J.L.). IICA Miscellaneous Publications, No. 101, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica: 139 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Barros, P.L.C., Queiroz, W.T., Silva, J.N.M., Oliveira, F. de A., Filho, P.P.C., Terezo, E.F. de M., Farias, M.M. & Barros, A.V. (1992). Natural and Artificial Reserves of Swietenia macrophylla King, in the Brazilian Amazon — a Perspective for Conservation. FCAP, Belem, Pará, Brazil: 56 pp. + appendices, illustr.Google Scholar
Bascope, P., Bernadi, A.L. & Lamprecht, H. (1957). Descripciones de arboles forestales No. 1: Swietenia macrophylla King. Instituto Forestal Latino-Americano, Merida, Venezuela: 18 pp.Google Scholar
Browder, J. (1986). Logging the Rainforest. Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA: xli + 393 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
CEDI (1992). Poros Indigenas no Brasil 1987/88/89/90. (Acontescu Especial 18.) Centro Ecumenico de Documentacao e Informacao, São Paulo, Brazil [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Collins, M. (Ed.) (1990). The Last Rain Forests: A World Conservation Atlas. Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York: 200 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
FAO (1981). Forest Genetic Resources Information, No. 10. Food & Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy: iii + 55 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
FAO (1984). A Guide to In-situ Conservation of Genetic Resources for Tropical Woody Species. FORGEN/MISC/84/2, Food & Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy: 196 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
FAO (1986). Dalbergia nigra (Fr.) Allem. Pp. 216–27 in Databook on Endangered Tree and Shrub Provenances. FAO Forestry Paper 77, Food & Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy: xvi + 524 pp. illustr.Google Scholar
FAO (1989). Report of the FAO Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources, 12 1989. Food & Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy: 99 pp.Google Scholar
Freezailah, B.C.Y. (1987). The International Tropical Timber Organization. Unasylva, 39, pp. 61–5, illustr.Google Scholar
Freezailah, B.C.Y. (1992). Communication to US Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (B. MacBryde). Executive Director, International Tropical Timber Organization, Yokohama, Japan: 2 pp.Google Scholar
Grijpma, P. (1974). Contributions to an Integrated Control Programme of Hypsipyla grandella (Zeller) in Costa Rica. Doctoral thesis, Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen, Wageningen, The Netherlands: 147 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Grijpma, P. (1976). Resistance of Meliaceae against the shoot-borer Hypsipyla with particular reference to Toona ciliata M.J. Roem. var. australis (F. v. Muell.) C.DC. Pp. 69–78 in Tropical Trees: Variation, Breeding, and Conservation (Eds Burley, J. & Styles, B.T.). Linnean Society, London, England, UK: xv + 243 pp.Google Scholar
Gullison, R.E. & Hubbell, S. (1992). Natural Regeneration of Swietenia macrophylla in the Bosque Chimanes, Bolivia. (Proceedings of Mahogany Workshop: Review and Implications of CITES.) Tropical Forest Foundation, 3–4 February 1992, Washington, DC, USA: 12 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
IEWPN (1990). Business Trends (Abroad): Brazil. Import/Export Wood Purchasing News, 08/09, 1990, Memphis, Tennesee, USA: 17(1), pp. 30, 37, illustr.Google Scholar
ITTO (1988). Conservation, Management, Utilization, Integral and Sustained Use of the Forest of the Chimanes Region Department of El Beni, Bolivia. Project PD 34/88 Rev. 1 (F, I), International Tropical Timber Organization, Yokohama, Japan: 30 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
ITTO (1991 a). The Conservation Status of Tropical Timbers in Trade. Pre-Project Report, PPR-23/91 (M), International Tropical Timber Organization, Yokohama, Japan: 6 pp.Google Scholar
ITTO (1991 b). Report of Working Group on ITTO Guidelines for the Establishment and Sustainable Management of Planted Tropical Forests. ITTC (X) 9, Quito, Ecuador: iii + 50 pp.Google Scholar
ITTO (1992). Criteria for the Measurement of Sustainable Tropical Management. Policy Development Series, No. 3, International Tropical Timber Organization, Yokohama, Japan: 5 pp.Google Scholar
IUCN (1992). CITES and the Tropical Timber Trade. IUCN Position Paper, Presented to the Eighth Meeting of the Parties to CITES, Kyoto, Japan: 2 pp.Google Scholar
Juarez, H.R. Paz (1990). Prensa Libre, 16 08 1990, Peten, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Knees, S.G. & Gardner, M.F. (1983). Mahoganies: candidates for the Red Data Book. Oryx, 17(2), pp. 88–92, illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamb, F.B. (1966). Mahogany of Tropical America: Its Ecology and Management. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA: x + 219 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Liegel, L.H. & Venator, C.R. (1987). A Technical Guide for Forest Nursery Management in the Caribbean and Latin America. General Technical Report SO-67, US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: vii + 156 pp., illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lutzenberger, J.A. (1992). Open Letter to British Consumers, April 30, 1992. Porto Elegre, Brazil: 1 p.Google Scholar
Martorell, L.F. (1943). Forests and forest entomology. Caribbean Forester, 4, pp. 132–4.Google Scholar
Monbiot, G. (1991). Against the grain. The Guardian, 3 05 1991, London, England, UK: 2 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Myers, N. (1989). Deforestation Rates in Tropical Forests and Their Climatic Implications. Friends of the Earth, London, England, UK: 116 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Nations, J.D. (1987). Mesoamerica's Tropical Rainforests: conflicts and conservation. Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany, 26(1), pp. 59–75.Google Scholar
Newton, A.C. (1990) Seleccion por resistencia al perforador de las Meliaceas. Pp. 4–7 in Noticiero (5), Mejoramiento Genetico y Semillas Forestales para America Central. CATIE, Costa Rica: 22 pp. illustr.Google Scholar
Newton, A.C., Mesen, J.F. & Leakey, R.R.B. (1991). ITE/CATIE Link: Interim Report to the UK Overseas Development Administration. Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK: 84 pp.Google Scholar
Newton, A.C., Leakey, R.R.B. & Mesen, J.F. (1992). Genetic variation in mahoganies: its importance, utilization, and conservation. Proceedings of Mahogany Workshop: Review and Implications of CITES. Tropical Forest Foundation, 3–4 02 1992, Washington, DC, USA: 17 pp.Google Scholar
Newton, A.C., Baker, P., Ramnarine, S., Howard, F.W., Mesen, J.F. & Leakey, R.B.B. (in press). The mahogany shoot-borer: prospects for control. Forest Ecology and Management.Google Scholar
NRC (1991). Managing Global Genetic Resources: Forest Trees. (Board on Agriculture, National Research Council.) National Academy Press, Washington, DC, USA: x + 228 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Perum Perhutani (1991). Mahogany (Swietenia spp.) Plantation in Java. Perum Perhutani (State-owned Forest Enterprise), Jakarta, Indonesia: 4 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Plowden, C. & Kusuda, Y. (1989). Logging in the Brazilian Rainforest. Rainforest Alliance Workshop, 13–14 04 1989, New York, NY, USA: 25 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Quevedo, L. (1986). Evaluation del Efecto de la Tola Selectiva Sobre la Renovation de un Bosque Humedo Subtropical en Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Master's Thesis, Universidad de Costa Rica and Centra Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza, Turrialba, Costa Rica: xix + 221 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Read, M. (1990). Mahogany — Forests or Furniture? Fauna and Flora Preservation Society, Brighton, England, UK: 16 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Snook, L.K. (1992). Logging and Mahogany in the Forests of Quintana Roo, Mexico: Why Silvicultural Management is Necessary to Sustain Swietenia macrophylla. (Proceedings of Mahogany Workshop: Review and Implications of CITES.) Tropical Forest Foundation, 3–4 02 1992, Washington, DC, USA: 9 pp.Google Scholar
Sociedade Brasileira de Botanica (1992). Centuria Plantarum Brasiliensium Exstintionis Minitata. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: xii + 167 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Strong, L.A. (1940). Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, USA: 128 pp.Google Scholar
Styles, B.T. (1981). Swietenioideae. Pp. 359–418, illustr., in Flora Neotropica Monograph No. 28: Meliaceae (Eds Pennington, T.D., Styles, B.T. & Taylor, D.A.H.). New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY, USA: 470 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Styles, B.T. & Khosla, P.K. (1976). Cytology and reproductive biology of Meliaceae. Pp. 61–7 in Tropical Trees: Variation, Breeding and Conservation (Eds Burley, J. & Styles, B.T.). Linnean Society, London, England, UK: xv + 243 pp.Google Scholar
Sullivan, F. (1992). Visit to the State of Para, Brazil, 30th October-7th November 1991. Draft Report to World Wide Fund for Nature — UK: 14 pp.Google Scholar
Tropical Forestry Workshop (1989). Consensus Statement on Commercial Forestry, Sustained Yield Management, and Tropical Forests. Smithsonian Institution/International Hardwood Products Association, Washington, DC, USA, 10 1989: 10 pp.Google Scholar
Turner, J. (1992). Communication to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC: J.H. Adams). Director, United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, 9 04 1992, Washington, DC, USA: 4 pp.Google Scholar
Uhl, C., Verissimo, A., Mattos, M.M., Branding, Z. & Vieira, I.C.G. (1991). Social, economic, and ecological consequences of selective logging in an Amazon frontier: the case of Tailandia. Forest Ecology and Management, 46, pp. 243–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations (1984). International Tropical Timber Agreement 1983. TD/TIMBER/11/Rev. 1, United Nations, New York, NY, USA: 20 pp.Google Scholar
US Bureau of the Census (1987–1989). US Imports for Consumption and General Imports. TSUSA Commodity by Country of Origin. (FT246/Annual 1986–1988.) US Department of Commerce, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, USA: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
US Bureau of the Census (1990–1992). US Imports for Consumption: TSUSA Commodity by Country of Origin (FT247/Annual 1989–91.) US Department of Commerce, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, USA: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
US Cites Proposal (1992). Proposal to List the Genus Swietenia on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). US Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC, USA: 21 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Vega, L. (1976). Influencia de la silviculture en el comportamiento de Cedrela in Surinam. Pp. 26–49 in Studies on the shoot-borer Hypsipyla grandella (Zeller) Lep. Pyralidae, Vol. III (Ed. Whitmore, J.L.). IICA Miscellaneous Publications No. 101, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica: 116 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Verissimo, A., Barreto, P., Tarifa, R. & Uhl, C. (1992). Mahogany Extraction in the Eastern Amazon: A Case Study. (Proceedings of Mahogany Workshop: Review and Implications of CITES.) Tropical Forest Foundation, 3–4 02 1992, Washington, DC, USA: 8 pp.Google Scholar
Verissimo, A., Barreto, P., Uhl, C. & Tarifa, R. (in press). Impactos da exploraco de uma espécie de alto valor na Amazonia Oriental: o caso do Mogno. Revista Pará Desenvolvimento.Google Scholar
Villa-Lobos, J.L. (1992). Database of Threatened Plants of Latin America. Smithsonian Institution/World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Washington, DC, USA: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Whitmore, J.L. (1976 a). Studies on the Shoot-borer Hypsipyla grandella (Zeller) Lep. Pyralidae, Vol. II. IICA Miscellaneous Publications No. 101, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica: 139 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Whitmore, J.L. (1976 b). Studies on the Shoot-borer Hypsipyla grandella (Zeller) Lep. Pyralidae, Vol. III. IICA Miscellaneous Publications No. 101, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica: 116 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Whitmore, T.C. (1981). Trees of tropical America. Pp. 267–9 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Trees of the World (Ed. Hora, F.B.). Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York: 228 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Whitmore, J.L. (1983). Swietenia macrophylla and S. humilis (Caoba, Mahogany). Pp. 331–3 in Costa Rican Natural History (Ed. Janzen, D.H.). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA: xi + 816 pp., illustr.Google Scholar