Dealing a blow to the country’s wood work industry, a global body on the endangered species has spurned India’s demand to lift international trade restriction on products made of sheesham and rosewood timber.
The 18th meeting of CoP of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at Geneva recently refused to be convinced with India's contention that the prized timber was available in abundance in the country and that the restricted trade has adversely affected livelihood of the poor farmers as well as over 50,000 artisans.
Since 2016, the products made of Dalbergia genus species, around 250 in total including sheesham and rosewood have been enlisted in the Appendix-II of the CITES, a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals. Items falling under Appendix-II are subject to trade restrictions to check over-utilisation.
The move has already hit hard India's handicraft industry. It has been observed that despite of having potential export of over Rs 1000 crores of handicraft of this species only, export of Rs. 617 crores only could take place in 2017-18 due to this increased control on trade, as per the government report.
"Export market of rosewood handicraft, a thriving sector has nearly crashed since an international agreement came into effect in 2017, regulating the trade in all the 250 rosewood species (under Dalbergia genus)," a senior in Union Environment Ministry admitted.
Since then India along with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh have been jointly demanding removal of trade restrictions on the Dalbergia sissoo, one of the Dalbergia genus species.
In 2016, the Dalbergia genus species was brought under the Appendix-II of the CITES after several African and Latin American countries had raised concerns over a "considerable rise in interest in the wood of Dalbergia in international markets, primarily in China". According to them, this was fuelling an illegal trade, which was decimating Dalbergia populations.
However, since all species of Dalbergia are not threatened, India had submitted that CITES should regulate the trade of individual species based on their conservation status. In its proposal at the CITES meeting at Geneva recently, India cited non-detrimental finding (NDF) study carried out by Botanical Survey of India stating that Dalbergia sissoo does not fall into any threatened category and is available in abundance both in wild and cultivated populations, a source in CITES Management Authority for India, the body responsible for implementing rules of the convention said.
India had also argued that the species grows at a very fast rate and has the capacity to become naturalised outside its native range, it is even invasive in some parts of the world. Listing of Dalbergia genus may create unnecessary complications in the trade of common species like D sissoo, which are being managed and monitored through the management plans of forest areas and are protected under the forest laws of India, said the Ministry.
India also pointed out that the listing of Dalbergia in CITES Appendix II has adversely affected livelihood of the several poor farmers as well as artisans (over 50000) in India due to increased control of the trade.
"Hence, we would like to urge the CITES Secretariat for reconsidering the opinion on the proposal for de-listing Dalbergia sissoo from Appendix II of CITES, while the proposal is considered during the CITES CoP-18 at Geneva, Switzerland.
Export market of rosewood handicraft, a thriving sector has nearly crashed since an international agreement came into effect in 2017, regulating the trade in all the 250 rosewood species (under Dalbergia genus).