Siamese rosewood (Dalbergia cochinchinensis) is a type of ‘precious wood’ targeted specially for the ‘hongmu’ market, a trade which has exploited several species of Dalbergia, Pterocarpus, and Machaerius genera, globally. Through monitoring and recording online media news reports, a seizure database was created and analysed to explore the temporal and spatial trends of the Siamese rosewood trade in Thailand. Thailand, both a source and transit country, it is an excellent case-study to examine the crucial initial stages of the trade. Within the larger landscape of Southeast Asia, we trace trade of two hongmu species found in the region, namely, Burmese rosewood (Dalbergia bariensis) and Burmese paduak (Pterocarpus spp.), both of which are increasingly traded to substitute the decline of Siamese rosewood.
One key factor contributing to the persistence of the illegal trade is the difficulty in identifying and tracing processed timber products. This has resulted in loopholes for illegal traders to misidentify timber products and substitute them into legal channels. This presentation further outlines the incongruent regulations and protection for rosewood species at the domestic and regional levels. The approach of compiling seizure data through media demonstrates a novel and topical approach to better understand and address the complex issues of the illegal trade of wildlife species.
