Thursday, May 08, 2008

My mahogany trees

When we bought the Bosque Santa Lúcia property back in 1981, not one mahogany tree was to be found on the property, or anywhere else around the area. Out of the thousands of species of trees in the Amazon, mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) seems to have been the most sought after lumber by Brazilians and the international community. So much so that it's an endangered species today. What remains of the mahogany population today in Brazil is protected by the federal government under an agreement with the CITES Convention. Obviously there are loopholes in the management of the decree, but at least it will prevent every single last tree from being cut down for making expensive furniture in Europe and North America. The attached image is of a young mahogany tree at that was killed by birds at the Bosque. Killer birds? Yes, I'll explain in an upcoming post.

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