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– About six million rosewood trees have been cut in Ghana for illegal export to China since 2012, said an environmental group
– Report blames Ghanaian corrupt authorities for falsifying documents allowing timber to leave the country
– The illegal act has cost the country's revenues nearly $ 10 billion in six years
Ghana is said to have lost about six million rosewood trees to China's profit due to illegal exports.
A report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) indicates that more than 540,000 tons of rosewood have been illegally exported to China since 2012.
According to the report, at a price of 17,000 USD per ton, Ghana has lost nearly 10 billion dollars in the last six years.
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EIA said some corrupt officials in Ghana often create documents that allow the timber to leave the country.
This is despite the fact that the Ghana government has banned the illegal trade and the felling of rosewood trees.
According to the EIA, other countries of West Africa are also victims of China's insatiable and uncontrolled demand for rosewood.
Rosewood is in great demand in China and is often used to make imperial style furniture in the country.
"Since 2012, more than 540,000 tons of rosewood – the equivalent of 23,478 twenty-foot containers or about six million trees – have been illegally harvested and imported from Ghana into China while bans of harvesting and trade were in effect ", the statement from the EIA said.
The group said it found "an institutionalized system of mbadive timber traffic, made possible by corruption and high-level collusion".
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The EIA warned that the desertification crisis in Ghana could worsen if illegal logging in the country continues.
The group further requested that the rosewood trade be suspended throughout the West African region and that China comply with international agreements on endangered species.
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Source: Yen.com.gh
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