MAHOGANY

Mahogany is a commonly used wood world wide. There are three main types of mahogany which are Bigleaf, American, and Honduras but now 2 of the 3 are considered commercially extinct. This is an effect of the over exploitation of the tree.

Because it's a naturally slow growing tree, the population of mahogany is dropping because it's not growing fast enough to make up for the loss of trees. In the year 2000 the amount of trees used for furniture in the US was about 57,000 trees.

CON #1

• The harvesting of mahogany forests leads to a loss of biodiversity. It causes many organisms to lose their habitats and endangers many species of animals. Bigleaf mahogany forests is the main habitat of the giant otter, which is now endangered because of its rapid habitat loss.

CON #2

• Along with the loss of biodiversity, mahogany harvesting causes the destruction of land and habitats. Not only is the forest itself the habitat for many animals but so are the surrounding streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands. When the mahogany trees are removed it causes soil erosion which then enters the water and destroys the rivers which is home to species such as the giant otter.

CON #3

• Finally, the over exploitation of the trees is making the already naturally low population of the tree to become even less abundant. Mahogany is a slow growing tree and even in undisturbed forests there was only about one tree per hectare. By over exploiting the tree its causing the population extremely difficult to replenish making it endangered.

PRO

• The upside to harvesting so much mahogany is the quality and products created by the wood. Not only is the wood extremely tough and hard, it is a highly demanded wood so it sells for high prices which makes it extremely popular for merchants. Also, it is one of the most preferred woods used and creates high quality items and is used mainly for furniture.

WHAT'S BEING DONE?

• Mahogany is being appendixed but only logs, sawn and ply wood, and veneer sheets are being included in that list, but it doesn't include furniture so the appendix isn't very efficient
• There are laws in place to protect mahogany but because of that 80%-90% of mahogany entering the US is illegal ex. In 2001 it was declared moratorium to log Bigleaf in Brazil
• There are laws in place to protect mahogany but because of that 80%-90% of mahogany entering the US is illegal ex. In 2001 it was declared moratorium to log Bigleaf in Brazil

STEPS WE SHOULD TAKE

• Put a temporary prohibition in logging in places where the mahogany population is struggling until a sufficient amount of trees has grown back.
• Create fines/sentences for those who break the moratorium. This solution won't cost the participating countries much money but it will bring in a small amount from the fines payed.
• The last solution will help create a discouragement and fear amongst illegal loggers around the world, helping to reduce the amount illegally harvested

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• If the laws and fines are put into place, it will be fairly easy for the illegal logging to continue so we would either need to hire enforcers for the laws which could cost countries millions for the work force
• Another solution is to create a reward for those who catch or give info on illegal loggers but this will also cost countries millions and isn't very efficient because people could give false information for the reward

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• Another solution would be to start a reforestation program for mahogany which would have a positive effect on not only the society but the earth. It would create jobs for the local people and it would create more oxygen for the earth but the down side to this solution is the very costly expenses

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• The average cost for reforestation is about $7 billion dollars a year for one group but that's for normal reforestation, mahogany will be much harder to regrow. It's been attempted before but it failed because of insects that harmed the trees so insecticide would be a necessity which could add millions to the $7 million per site
• This method will still just be a trial because of the high risk factor of the insects still destroying the trees and wasting the millions of dollars put into the projects but if we do attempt this it will raise awareness and hopefully bring about a new solution

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• A final solution could be to promote other popular kinds of wood such as pine, oak, maple, and a new kind of wood called poplar
• This will help create more of a market for these wood and hopefully cause people to make those wood options their first choice
• If that strategy fails, those wood prices can also be lowered which could cost millions and possibly billions but after those wood choices became popular then the market prices could rise back up

Mahogany is a much needed resource today and will always be harvested probably until extinction, no matter the damage done to the animals and environment. Many solutions have been put into action but so far are for the most part ineffective. If we hope to help the endangered mahogany then we need to take action against the issue at hand, overexploitation of our resources.

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