By Omar Bah
On a warm May Day at a restaurant on the outskirts of Banjul, Lamin (last name withheld) outlined his plan to traffic rosewood timber from Senegal to The Gambia as he cleaned the meat off his chicken drumsticks.
“All of this has to be secret,” he whispered, trying to be reassuring about his almost decade-long experience in the illicit trade. “Things have got more difficult recently, but it’s not impossible if you have the right contacts.”
For many years, individuals like him have been illicitly transporting timber from the Casamance area in southern Senegal to The Gambia, with the ultimate destination being China. Rosewood, a highly coveted wood with a striking crimson hue, is among the most popular species. Chinese furniture makers have a significant demand for this type of wood, scientifically called Pterocarpus erinaceus.
In 2012, the West African rosewood tree was officially declared on the brink of extinction in The Gambia. However, despite this classification, neighboring countries Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, and The Gambia have remained among China’s top suppliers of this species. Since June 2022, there has been a regional ban on felling, transporting, and exporting timber by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). That same year, The Gambian government also banned it. Nevertheless, traffickers claim that they continue to work with Chinese businesspeople to smuggle this valuable timber out of Casamance. According to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an international NGO in China, they imported over 3 million tonnes of rosewood worth at least $2bn from West Africa between 2017 and 2022 alone.
Al Jazeera spoke to traffickers in The Gambia, posing as investors interested in getting involved in the timber trade. The traffickers revealed that the trade is still well underway and said 200 containers loaded with the timber sat in Banjul’s port, awaiting shipment to China. When reached for comment, the Gambian government said it was unaware of the presence of such containers.
In Banjul, smugglers recently presented Al Jazeera with video evidence of individuals loading rosewood logs onto a ship. They claimed the vessel was privately used to export rosewood timber to China. Lamin, a source in the industry, noted that a container can hold between 80 and 90 logs, which vary in size and value based on age and circumference. A full container can fetch upwards of $15,000, while traffickers like Lamin earn up to $1,000 per container.
Traffickers have reported that exporting timber through Banjul’s port has become increasingly intricate. Obtaining export permits from authorities is more complex than it once was, as private shipping lines, previously the primary mode of transport to China, ceased shipping timber in 2020. Although there is currently no way to do so at the seaport, Secka, one of Lamin’s superiors, acknowledged that having proper contacts in place is essential for anyone engaging in timber trafficking.
Sources report that critical connections within the port authority streamline the process of exporting goods, such as obtaining necessary permits and depositing containers. Additionally, the police can allegedly expedite the release of confiscated containers in exchange for monetary incentives, according to Lamin. Al Jazeera contacted the port authority and Gambian police for comment but has not responded.
“You need to know people in the system, a backup in case you get caught,” Secka said, suggesting that authorities are heavily involved in the trafficking. Aljazeera
