In the wake of the 2012 'Cocaine Coup' in Guinea-Bissau the illegal logging trade exploded, largely driven by huge demand for rosewood logs in China - a species protected under international law.

By 2014, such was the extent of this illicit trade, civil society pressured the new government to introduce a five-year moratorium on timber exports.

Now, in 2021, as the government seems poised to lift the moratorium, there is fear that there could be a resurgence in illegal logging causing irreparable damage to the environment.

Guests

Obento Branco Catami (Regional Delegate for Forestry and Wildlife in the Cacheu region).

Ude Fati (Economist, Head of Voz di Paz)

Fodé Mané (University of Bissau) 

Tânia Gomes (President of the Association of Friends of Guinea-Bissau)

Lucia Bird Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo, Senior Analyst, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Reading

Deep-rooted interests: Licensing illicit logging in Guinea Bissau

Authorized Plunder in Guinea-Bissau - Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)

Breaking the vicious cycle: Cocaine politics in Guinea-Bissau

The Seidi Bá cocaine trial: A smokescreen for impunity?

Presenter: Jack Meegan-Vickers