By Omar Bah
Illegal logging in Africa costs up to US$17 billion annually, driven by the high demand for hardwood, particularly rosewood, the most trafficked wildlife product globally.
Africa’s illegal rosewood exports to China increased from 40% in 2008 to 90% in 2018; over three million tonnes valued at over US$2 billion were illegally traded between West Africa and China between 2017 and 2022.
Despite ratifying CITES in 1977, the Gambia exported 1.6 million rosewood trees between 2012 and 2020, most in violation of the convention.
A clandestine network involving local tree fellers bribed forestry officials and smugglers, fueling the illegal trade between The Gambia and Senegal. Corruption among government officials undermines regulation enforcement, and the porous border facilitates the flow of illegally sourced timber.
The Casamance region of Senegal has been a key source of trafficked rosewood, with separatists funding their insurgency through this trade.
Under Yahya Jammeh’s rule in The Gambia (1996-2017), the illegal timber trade surged, with accusations of exploitation and funding of insurgency linked to his company, Westwood Gambia.
In March 2022, CITES banned the felling and export of Senegal rosewood, and The Gambia implemented a national ban the same year.
