Rosewood trade: A case study of the imports into the United States

Abstract

The protection of endangered plant species is a shared goal for governments and environmental agencies around the world. Currently, the term Rosewood does not refer to a taxonomical category in particular, and the inclusion of different species or set of species into this denomination depends almost exclusively on the exporter and importer countries. This research illustrates, as a case study, the generalities of the species more commonly traded as Rosewood and the analysis of their imports into the United States from 2007 to 2021. Additionally, to get a better understanding of the challenges of tracking Rosewood trade, an overview of some of the advantages and limitations of the available trade data is presented. Significant differences in the description of wood products by exporting countries and the recurrent ambiguity in the use of common and vernacular names appear to be the main issues to analyze Rosewood trade data, and one of the reasons why the report of this set of species is often included within the category of tropical hardwoods. The implementation of the 2008 amendment of the U.S. Lacey Act, which regulates wildlife trade, combined with the inclusion of all species of Dalbergia into the CITES appendices in 2017, showed a significant impact in the dynamics of rosewood imports into the U.S., and how exporter countries report their trade.