In a move that should be music to the ears of forest conservationists, the African blackwood tree, also known as mpingo, is getting increased protection in Tanzania.
Two remote villages in the East African country will harvest and sell eco-certified mpingo, a slow-growing tree that is highly prized for making clarinets, oboes, and bagpipes.
It is the first time that local communities in Africa have obtained certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an international nonprofit organization that encourages responsible forest management.
Most FSC-certified forests around the world are commercially owned temperate or boreal forests found in cooler climes.
"This is the first time a rural community in Tanzania has had the chance to really benefit from their local forests," said Steve Ball, the international coordinator of the Mpingo Conservation Project in Tanzania.
Previously, "well-connected outside loggers … have taken all the loot for minimal payment," Ball said.
Traditional Uses
African blackwood has been overharvested across Africa by loggers who value it for its dark, lustrous heartwood.
It's been heavily logged out in Kenya, where it's now commercially extinct, and northern Tanzania.
But the thorny tree, which is smaller than most other timber species, is still common in southeastern Tanzania and northern Mozambique, where most harvesting now takes place.
Illegal logging, however, is rampant in Tanzania. One 2005 study by TRAFFIC, the wildlife-trade monitoring network, suggested that 96 percent of timber extracted from southeastern Tanzania was illegally logged.
Blackwood is the preferred source material for ethnic Makonde wood carvers in Tanzania.
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