Rosewood Fades In India

- Ishan Kukreti

CALL IT a failed attempt to assuage the handicraft industry’s growing hunger for priceless wood or the government’s own myopic vision, India’s rosewood products are fast losing sheen among foreign admirers. Export market of this thriving sector has nearly crashed since an international agreement came into effect on January 2, regulating the trade in all the 250 rosewood species (under Dalbergia genus). The wood is prized for its unique, blood-hued lusture, intricate grain, durability and fine finish. Due to its acoustic properties, it is also sought-after for making guitars.

The agreement, aimed at protecting the species, was made at the 17th Conference of Parties (cop 17) to cites (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) held at Johannesburg during September-October 2016. Several African and Latin American countries had raised concerns over a “considerable rise in interest in the wood of Dalbergia on international markets, primarily in China”. This is fuelling an illegal trade, which is decimating Dalbergia populations throughout its range, they had said. Although, cites focuses on the protection of individual species, cop 17 put the entire genus under Appendix II, which regulates trade in species. Though most of the 182 member countries agreed to the proposal, India for the first time has entered a reservation concerning the inclusion of all rosewood in Appendix II.

Since all species of Dalbergia are not threatened, India has suggested that cites should regulate the trade of individual species based on their conservation status. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (iucn) classifies D latifolia (Indian rosewood), native to southeast India, as “vulnerable”, while considers D sissoo, also called sheesham