Taraba’s rosewood trees on verge of extinction

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has listed rosewood among the wild flora and fauna that are supposed to be protected by authorities worldwide, but logging is said to be threatening the trees with extinction in most parts of Taraba State. Daily Trust on Sunday takes a look at the trend.

Taraba State is one of the largest sources of rosewood in Nigeria, which attracted both native and foreign lumberjacks who eventually contributed in depleting the trees.   

The tree is loved and exploited mostly by foreigners for its timber which is used in making plywood and veneers for furniture. Locals also forage traditional medicine from the trees in many forms. 

Good quality oriental furniture, especially those produced in China are made from rosewood timber, which is the most expensive wood in the furniture industry nowadays. 

Chinese loggers in their numbers have trooped to Taraba State and allegedly contributed in harvesting most of the rosewood trees found in the forests of a number of local government areas. Foreigners are said to be working with locals who know the terrain in depleting the trees in places they are widely distributed.

The trend has continued for many years due to the high demand for rosewood timber by the Asian factories, leading to massive deforestation.

Meanwhile, environmentalists have warned that deforestation can lead to soil erosion, climate change and flooding, thereby causing problems for the locals.

According to a US based pressure group, Forest Trends, China, the largest consumer for rosewood mostly from Africa, has increased the volume of its imports since 2000; From 2013 to 2014, the volume of ‘imported rosewood nearly doubled, reaching US$2.6 billion,’ the highest ever.

Taraba State has high population of rosewood (Pterrocarpus Erinaceus) referred to as Madubiya in Hausa Language and Hogmu in Chinese and could be found in forest areas of Bali, Gashaka, Gassol, Donga, Kurmi and Sardauna local government areas.  It is also in abundance along Taraba River and on top of hills and mountains.

Madrid, as it is popularly called in Taraba, is used for dying in the textile industry and for decorative items apart from furniture.

Intense felling of the tree species is said to have started in 2015, though residents said foreigners started trooping into the forests of the state in search of rosewood much earlier.

This according to an expert was as a result of depletion of rosewood in Asia and the banning of felling and trade in the tree in Senegal and the Gambia.

People involved in logging, transportation, selling and shipping of rosewood trees are mostly the locals and few Chinese men who have maximized their investment returns. Most local collaborators and middlemen have confessed to have made millions from the business in a short period of time. 

Rosewood timber business became an easy way of making money in the state thus, many people including civil servants and politicians were attracted to it.

Daily Trust on Sunday finding further revealed that there was high level of illegal logging across the forests and along rivers as well as on top of mountains where the trees grow. 

A middleman, Alhaji Haruna Yakubu, said he became interested in timber trade mainly because people were making brisk businesses in rosewood timber.

According to him, before the tree was depleted from the forest, there was high demand for it by the Chinese and other businessmen in Lagos, from where the commodity is shipped abroad.

Findings revealed that many of the middlemen and agents who trade in rosewood were making between N2m and N3m weekly.

One agent, Rabiu Maihula, told Daily Trust that he made millions of naira from rosewood business in three years.

“I made my first N1m from the proceeds of Madrid trade and I continued to make more money until the outbreak of COVID-19 when ports and roads to Lagos closed and foreign merchants could not move around,” he said.

He agreed that dozens of other middlemen and retailers too, in Taraba State, made millions from rosewood business despite becoming worried as the trees continue to vanish from many places due to uncontrolled logging.

Maihula explained that many agents and middlemen became the targets of kidnappers because of the money they were making from the business.

According to him, many agents were kidnapped and millions of naira paid in ransoms before they were released.

“In fact, kidnapping was more rampant during the peak of rosewood business and areas that served as centres for the business were targeted by kidnappers,” he said.

Rosewood timber businesses are common in a number of communities like Garbabi, Gayam, Maihula, Seti, Mayoselbe, Garba Chede and Maraban Baissa, among others.

Findings revealed that logging of rosewood was carried out illegally but once the product is loaded on to trucks and transported, owners are compelled to pay up to N500,000 to government revenue collectors at different tax collection points.

Key revenue collection points are located at Mallum village in Ardo-Kola Local Government Area, entry point along Wukari Road in Jalingo, Takum and Zing town.

Revenue collection from rosewood timber is said to be a juicy job which only those close to the government are appointed as rosewood timber revenue collectors.

Sources said a huge amount of revenue running into billions has been collected from rosewood business by the authorities over the years.

Chinese merchants who dominate the lumber business have hubs where they buy the commodity from agents and cut them into sizes before transporting to Lagos port for onward shipment to China and parts of Europe and America as well.

Daily Trust on Sunday findings revealed that the felling of rosewood started in 2010 and reached its peak in 2015 and thereafter the business started declining when the trees became scarce to find.

Unlike the locals who were eager to make profit, the Chinese were said to be selective in timber trade. They enter the forest reserves with their local business associates to select matured rosewood stands.

Chinese men are provided with police protection by authorities before they venture into the nooks and crannies of the forests in search of timber.

It was conservatively estimated that millions of rosewood trees were felled by both by natives and their foreign collaborators between 2012 and 2019 when COVID-19 pandemic almost halted the business.

There are few other states where the tree grows but researchers are of the view that rosewood trees found in Taraba State are more popular and the best commercially. This explains why illegal logging was rampant in the state.

Mr Chum Dung is one of the Chinese merchants doing business in Garba-Chede, Gassol Local Government Area of the state, who said he has employed many locals mostly youth as loggers, transporters, loaders and agents.

Mr Chum, who claimed he was not in timber business illegally, said he pays his workers regularly and pays all taxes to authorities.

At this time, rosewood business has slowed down in Bali, Sardauna, Donga, Ardo-Kola and Gashaka local government area because of massive destruction done to the reserves. It was further discovered that loggers have shifted their activities to the border areas between Nigeria and the Cameroon Republic, where small population of rosewood surrounded by low disturbed forest is found.

The activities of the loggers have affected the forests and eventually the ecosystems in these areas which are home to plants and wild animals including chimpanzees and gorillas.

A resident of Mayo Kam in Bali Local Government Area where much of illegal logging take place, Malam Bello Kawu, told Daily Trust that it was unfortunate that while destruction of the forest reserves was going on, nobody seems to realized the danger and havoc done to environment.

He said, “None of the community members raised any alarm over the activities of loggers and in fact local communities participated in the destruction of their environment all in the name of making quick money.”

However, rangers at Gashaka Gumti National Park in Gashaka Local Government Area where rosewood is also found have resisted the illegal loggers.

However, nine of the rangers were killed by persons suspected to be illegal loggers and poachers.

The conservator of the park, Kabir Mohammed, said the rangers were killed in 2019 and gave their names as Usman Yahya, Joshua Mamman, Adamu Hamman, Ajayi Peter and Hamman Njidda.

Others are Hamman Dikko, Sunday Ali, Zamani Teihulyal and Yakubu Umar.

The conservator stated that an interest group, African Nature Investors (ANI), is assisting in protecting the ecosystem in the park.

He said 49 rangers were trained and armed by ANI for effective patrol against activities of poachers and loggers in the park.

Executive Director, ANI, Dr. Tunde Morakinyo, said the organization is concerned about damages being done to the ecosystem in the park and assured that more support will be offered to protect the park including wildlife and the forest reserves.

On the other hand, the only rosewood trees that have not been exploited are those in Kurmi Local Government Area. But a source said some loggers were seen in the area and there is the likelihood they will shift their operational base there.

The loggers were getting support from traditional rulers, youth and politicians who are compensated in monetary value in return.

Kurmi, according to our finding, is now the only area where rosewood timber is found in commercial quantity in the state.

Few Chinese merchants in the area have established bases at Maraban Baissa where they cut rosewood into different sizes before being transported to Lagos.

Nonetheless, a group led by one Barrister Tukara has started campaigns against forest degradation in the area.

The group, which embarked on sensitization exercises to educate the people on the dangers of deforestation, was not welcomed by community members.

Tukara told Daily Trust on Sunday that he was nearly attacked by the community members who are against his campaigns.

He said the issue is now before a Federal high court in Jalingo.

Meanwhile, Commissioner of Environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Lawal, said government has signed an agreement with the timber processors association in the state with a view to replacing every tree felled.

He also revealed that revenue is being collected from wood processors and all those in the business of timber in the state.

According to him, the ministry is carefully monitoring activities of timber dealers and it is mandatory upon any person who harvests a tree to replant two.

The commissioner, who said the association has started replanting many trees in Sardauna LGA as part of reforestation efforts, also revealed that government will launch tree planting campaign at Bakin Dutse in Ardo-Kola Local Government Area to control desertification and replace fallen rosewood trees.