CoP17 Prop. 55

Inclusion of the genus Dalbergia in CITES Appendix II without annotation, with theexception of the species included in Appendix I
Proponents: Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala and Kenya
Summary: Dalbergia is a genus of trees, shrubs and lianas with a pan-tropical distribution in Africa, Asia andCentral and South America, ranging in habitat from tropical rainforests to seasonally dry tropical tosubtropical humid and dry forest, woodland and wooded grassland. There are currently around 300 accepted
names according to the Plant List but there is still substantial taxonomic uncertainty within the genus.
Currently one species Dalbergia nigra from Brazil is in Appendix I, D. cochinchinensis from Southeast Asia,
D. granadillo, D. retusa, and D. stevensonii, from Mexico and Central America, and all Malagasy species inthe genus (ca. 70) are included in Appendix II. A number of Central American populations of various species
are in Appendix III. Thirteen Mexican and Central American species are subject to a separate proposal(Proposal 54) for inclusion in Appendix II.
Some species produce high quality timber, often known as “rosewood”, which commands high prices in tradeand is used in construction, cabinet work, marquetry, inlay, furniture construction, musical instrument
manufacture, tools and carvings. The term rosewood is imprecise, and used differently in different contexts.
Not all timbers characterised as rosewood are Dalbergia (the name is also variously applied to species in thegenera Jacaranda, Guibourtia (the subject of Proposal 56) and Machaerium), and not all Dalbergia species
produce rosewood. Some valued Dalbergia timber is known as ebony or “blackwood”.
Much of the current demand for rosewoods is associated with the demand in China for “Hongmu” furniture.
However, not all Hongmu timber is necessarily rosewood. A national Hongmu standard (SAQSIQ 2000) of 33
species was issued in 2000 to identify those species whose density, texture and colour meet therequirements set in the Chinese National Hongmu Standard for legal marketing purposes (see Annex 1)1.
Under the Hongmu standard D. odorifera is classified as “scented rosewood”. Fifteen other species ofDalbergia are included in the standard but none is classified as rosewood (all rosewoods other thanD. odorifera in the standard are species of Pterocarpus). Eight Hongmu Dalbergia are classified as“blackwood”: D. cultrata; D. fusca; D. latifolia; D. louvelii (CITES Appendix II2); D. melanoxylon; D. nigra(Appendix I); D. spruceana; D. stevensonii (Appendix II). Seven are classified as “mahogany”: D. bariensis;
D. cearensis; D. cochinchinensis (Appendix II); D. frutescens; D. granadillo (Appendix II); D. retusa(Appendix II); D. oliveri. There is also an Industrial Standard of Precious Dark Color Hardwood Furniture inChina. This classifies an additional species of Dalbergia (D. greveana (Appendix II2)) as “Rosewood”.
Other Dalbergia species are also used for their hard wood. These include (but are not restricted to):Africa: some Dalbergia species from Madagascar; Latin America: D. brasiliensis, D. cearensis,
D. cubilquitzensis, D. cuscatlanica, D. decipularis, D. foliolosa, D. funera, D. glomerata, D. hortensis,
D. miscolobium, D. spruceana, D. villosa, D. tucurensis, D. glabra, D. calycina. Asia: D. annamensis,
D. cambodiana, D. mammosa, D. sissoo3, D. tonkinensis. Various lists of commercial timber species exist
that include Dalbergias (see “A Working List of Commercial Timber Tree Species”4 although note that somespecies mentioned in the SS and here are not included in this); not all these species necessarily produce
timber that resembles that of species already listed in the CITES Appendices.
Some Dalbergia species are used for making musical instruments. In particular the African Blackwood
D. melanoxylon is the most highly-favoured wood for clarinets and oboes. Other species known for theirmusical qualities include D. cochinchinensis (Appendix II), D. glomerata, D. granadillo (Appendix II),
D. palo-escrito, D. retusa (Appendix II), D. stevensonii (Appendix II)5, D. tucurensis and a number ofMadagascan species (Appendix II)6. Recorded export of D. melanoxylon, a species widespread in
sub-Saharan Africa, takes place almost entirely from Mozambique and Tanzania. Demand for musicalinstrument manufacture has been estimated at 255m 3 per year of semi-processed billets, equivalent toperhaps 1500m3 of roundwood.
Harvest of different species of Dalbergia and similar timbers appears to follow a distinctive pattern in which
as the most favoured and accessible timber stocks in a particular area are depleted, attention turns to others.
As an example, with the commercial extinction of D. odorifera in China and Pterocarpus santalinus in India,
the trade in D. cochinchinensis reportedly grew rapidly and it became the most sought-after Hongmu species
globally. As D. cochinchinensis has subsequently been depleted the main species now dominating theHongmu trade in Southeast Asia are reported to be D. oliveri, D. bariensis, P. macrocarpus and P. pedatus7.

1

CoP17 Prop. 55
There is generally very little quantitative information on the impact of logging on populations of Dalbergia
species. Knowledge of the status of many of them is very limited and often out-of-date. In the 1998 IUCN
Threatened Trees of the World, the following species were identified as under threat from overexploitation:
D. annamensis, D. bariensis, D. cambodiana, D. mammosa, D. oliveri, D. latifolia, D. odorifera,D. tonkinensis. Of these D. bariensis, D. latifolia, D. odorifera and D. oliveri are classified as Hongmuspecies.
Dalbergia bariensis is native to Cambodia; Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR); Thailand; Viet Nam
where it is said to be widely distributed and scattered. At the time of the IUCN assessment (1998) there wassaid to be a rapid decline in the number of large trees because of overexploitation 8. Millet and Truong (2011)
recorded D. bariensis in Tan Phu forest in southern Viet Nam but noted that it was rare, showed limited
regeneration and was “close to extinction” 9. D. latifolia occurs in India, Indonesia and Nepal. In the 1998
IUCN assessment the timber was said to be of high commercial value and wild subpopulations widely
overexploited including from illegal felling. D. odorifera was reportedly only known in 1998 from stands ofcoppiced individuals on Hainan Island, China. D. oliveri has a restricted distribution in Myanmar, Thailandand Viet Nam. Myanmar reported the export of 9000 m 3 of sawnwood to ITTO between 2000 and 20039.
Some species of Dalbergia are widely cultivated both within and outside their native range, occurring inplantations and used in agroforestry systems. Some, such as D. latifolia and D. sissoo have been regarded
as invasive species outside their natural range 10, 11. Some are shrubs or lianas with no internationalcommercial use (e.g. D. monetaria12, D. hostilis).
Use and trade of non-timber producing Dalbergia has not been assessed for this analysis. There may besome species in trade where the products in trade do not resemble those of species already included in theAppendices or proposed as meeting the criteria for inclusion in Appendix II in their own right rather than as
lookalike species. However, there are no indications of large-scale international trade in such products13.
Of the non-Dalbergia Hongmu species, P. santalinus is listed in Appendix II and P. erinaceus is the subjectof Proposal 57 to be included in Appendix II.
The wood of some Dalbergia species has a characteristic colour and texture. Many species have the samewood anatomy14 making identification by eye or using traditional anatomical methods only possible to genus
level, if at all. However, in combination with chemical methods, such as mass spectrometry, DNA sequencing
and profiling, near infrared spectroscopy and stable isotope analysis identification can consistently identify
and distinguish between species 15, 16, 17. Inexpensive and accessible tools are not available to enforcement
officers at this time.
The intention of the proposal is to include all parts and derivatives of the species, live or dead and therefore
no annotation is proposed for inclusion with the listing.
Analysis: The genus Dalbergia is a large and widespread one, comprising plants of many different forms.
Some species produce high quality and sought-after timber, some of which is traded as “rosewood”.
There is little available information on the status of, or impacts of harvest for trade on, non-CITES listed
species of Dalbergia that produce rosewood, although there are indications of decline in some species,
notably in Asia and Central and South America. There is insufficient readily available information todetermine whether any of these meets the criteria for inclusion in Appendix II in Annex 2a of Res. Conf. 9.24
(Rev. CoP16).
However, given the difficulty in distinguishing between different rosewood-producing species of Dalbergia in
the principal form in which they are traded (timber) it would appear that such species would meet the criteria
for inclusion in Appendix II in Annex 2b (lookalike criteria) owing to the resemblance of their timber in trade tothat of species already listed in the Appendices. Determining which species should be treated as lookalikes
may require some additional work; various lists of Dalbergia species timber in trade exist but these would
need to be analysed as to which rosewoods resemble each other.
One species of African Dalbergia African Blackwood (D. melanoxylon) produces timber that is in tradeprincipally in a form (semi-processed billets for the production of musical instruments) that is reasonably
easily distinguished from other Dalbergia spp. in trade and other timber species included in the Appendices.
There is insufficient information to determine whether this species meets the criteria for inclusion in Appendix
II in Annex 2a of Res. Conf. 9.24 (Rev. CoP16). It does not appear to meet the criteria in Annex 2b. No
mainland African species of Dalbergia is known to produce rosewood that is in trade.
2CoP17 Prop. 55

Many Dalbergia species are not known to be in trade, nor do they resemble species that are in trade. These
do not meet the criteria for inclusion in Appendix II.
No annotation is proposed with this listing which would result in all parts and derivatives being included, ifadopted. Current listings are annotated to include “Logs, sawn wood and veneer sheets” (#5) and plywood
for those with annotation (#6). Some of those species which are currently listed are used for the manufactureof musical instruments, although musical instruments are excluded from the listings. Species that would belisted were this proposal adopted would include musical instruments where they are used for this purpose. A
proposal to amend the annotation for D. cochinchinensis (Proposal 53) intends to widen the scope ofproducts covered to include secondary processed products, particularly furniture as it appears that traders
are crudely processing timber in the source country and then exporting it as furniture to circumvent thecontrol. A genus level listing with no annotation would include un-processed, semi-processed and finishedfurniture.
References:
Information not referenced in the Summary section is from the Supporting Statement.
1 Forest Trends (2014) China’s Policies for Hongmu Import Surveillance & Control Zhang Yue http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_4368.pdf Viewed on 2nd July 2016.
2 Under the general Appendix II listing for Malagasy Dalbergia spp.
3 FAO (year unknown) Dalbergia sissoo Roxb http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/AGPC/doc/gbase/data/pf000385.htm. Viewed
2nd July 2016.
4
Mark, J., Newton, A.C., Oldfield, S. and Rivers, M. (2014) The International Timber Trade: A working list of commercial
timber tree species. BGCI, Kew, UK.
http://www.bgci.org/files/Global_Trees_Campaign/Timber_list/TimberWorkingList_v2DImage.pdf
5 Global Trees Campaign (2016) http://globaltrees.org/threatened-trees/tree-values/musical-instruments/ Viewed 2nd July2016.
6 Jenkins, A., Bridgland, N., Hembery, R., Malessa, U., Hewitt, J. & Keong, C.H. (2012) Background Paper 1: Precious
Woods: Exploitation of the Finest Timber. TRAFFIC. Chatman House Workshop. Tackling the Trade in Illegal Precious
Woods. 23-24 April 2012, http://www.traffic.org/non-traffic-papers/ Viewed on 2nd July 2016.
7EIA (2016). The Hongmu Challenge: A briefing for the 66th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, January 2016.
8 Oldfield, S., Lusty, C. & MacKinven, A. (1998) Threatened Trees of the World, IUCN/ WCMC, Cambridge.
9 UNEP-WCMC (2014) Non-CITES timber species from South Asia (Leguminosae) potentially warranting furtherprotection. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, UK.
10 Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) (2016) Species profile: Dalbergia sissoo.
http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=1186 on 26-05-2016.
11 CABI (2016) Datasheet on Dalbergia sissoo http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/17808 Viewed on 2nd July 2016.
12 Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. (2005) Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Contributions from theUnited States National Herbarium 51: 1-48.
13 Lowry, P. (2016) In litt. to IUCN/TRAFFIC Analyses Team, Cambridge, UK.
14 McClure, P., Chavarria, G.D. & Espinoza, E. (2015). Metabolic chemotypes of CITES protected Dalbergia timbers fromAfrica, Madagascar and Asia. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom: 29: 1-6.
15 CITES (2015) PC22 Doc. 17.6. Implementation of the Convention for Dalbergia spp.
16 Musah, R.A., Espinoza, E.O., Cody, R.B., Lesiak, A.D., Christensen, E.D., Moore, H.E., Maleknia, S. & Drijfhout, F.P.
(2015) A High Throughput Ambient Mass Spectrometric Approach to Species Identification and Classification from
Chemical Fingerprint Signatures. Nature Scientific Reports. 5:11520.
17 Yu, M., Zhang, H., Jin, Q., & Liu, S. (2013) Wood identification of Dalbergia odorifera T.Chen based on DNA barcoding
sequences. In Identification of Timber Species and Origins Regional Workshop for Asia, Pacific and Oceania (20-21 Aug
2013, Beijing, China).

Annex 1: 33 species listed in Chinese National Standard for Hongmu.
Category
Red sandalwood
Rosewood
Scented rosewood
Blackwood
Mahogany
Ebene
Ebony
Wenge

Species
Pterocarpus santalinus
Pterocarpus cambodianus, P. dalbergioides, P. erinaceus, P. indicus, P. macrocarpus,
P. marsupium, P. pedatus
Dalbergia odorifera
Dalbergia cultrata, D. fusca, D. latifolia, D. louvelii, D. melanoxylon, D. nigra, D. spruceana,
D. stevensonii
Dalbergia bariensis, D. cearensis, D. cochinchinensis, D. frutescens, D. granadillo, D. oliveri,
D. retusa
Diospyros ebenum, D. crassiflora, D. pilosanthera, D. poncei
Diospyros celebica, D. philippensis
Millettia laurentii, M. leucantha, Cassia siamea

3