In a clandestine meeting near Banjul, a trafficker outlined plans to smuggle rosewood timber from Senegal to The Gambia, despite a regional ban since June 2022. The prized rosewood, nearing extinction in The Gambia since its official classification in 2012, is in high demand by Chinese manufacturers. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) imposed the regional ban, but traffickers revealed ongoing illicit trade. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) reported that China imported over 3 million tonnes of rosewood worth $2bn from West Africa between 2017 and 2022. Despite increased difficulties at Banjul’s port, traffickers highlighted their continued operations with 200 containers waiting to ship rosewood to China. The Gambian government expressed unawareness of such containers. The investigation found evidence supporting traffickers’ claims, including depots owned by Chinese businesses storing rosewood timber intended for export. The timber trade, linked to a low-intensity conflict in Senegal’s Casamance region, has persisted despite regulatory efforts.
