Time.news – The civil war has a green engine and is powered by one of the finest woods in the world, teak. The precious wood of the plantations and forests of South Sudan, where it operates Christian Carlassare, the Italian bishop wounded by a group of Dinka guerrillas, is illegally raided in large quantities and is one of the major sources of funding for the armed groups that fought each other during the civil war – which officially ended with an agreement signed in August 2018 – and which are still fought in different areas of the country today.
The national army also participated in the looting, writes the Nigrizia website. Particularly unstable and insecure is the region of Equatoria, precisely the one where there are the vast forest areas and the imposing plantations of teak, an essence of Asian origin – introduced in the country by the British in colonial times – which flourished in South Sudan.
It is a heritage of which the country is deprived on a daily basis for the benefit of very few South Sudanese who very often invest it in arms. However, they derive very little from traffic compared to the enormous overall turnover that mainly international traders benefit from.
“Forests for thieves”
Illegal logging is so widespread in South Sudan that The Elephant – an African digital platform that publishes in-depth analyzes on issues affecting the continent – headlines an article on the subject: Forests for Thieves.
According to the authors of the investigation, Romy van der Burgh and Linda van der Pol, South Sudanese precious wood, and in particular teak, is an easy prey because the country, independent since July 2011 and plunged into a disastrous civil war in the December 2013, has not yet adopted legislation to manage and defend its cultivation and trade.
In recent years, timber traffickers have paid particular attention to South Sudan because it is home to the oldest, most productive and largest plantations in Africa. Huge reserves which, in principle, it would not be forbidden to draw on. On the other hand, teak from the forests of South Asia, of which the tree is native, is subject to restrictions.
For import into European countries, for example, it is only necessary to prove that the timber comes from a legal supply chain. But 90% of South Sudanese teak is illegally harvested and traded. And therefore, writes Nigrizia, its origin must be masked, an easily achievable goal given the poor control of the territory by the governments of the region and the widespread corruption of their officials.
The two authors of the investigation pretended to be interested in buying and importing a batch of teak in Europe and contacted one of the numerous Facebook pages of the companies that market it.
To get around the restrictions imposed by European legislation, the solution proposed by a company was the following: «… we refuel in Sudan (South Sudan, ed.). But we can do a certificate of origin from Uganda, Congo or wherever we want. Let’s give something to an official and we can have the declarations of origin we want ”.
The definitive “cleaning” of the wood takes place through illegal transport to one of the neighboring countries, especially Uganda, and export to India which is also a producer country and therefore can trade it on the international market without arousing suspicion.
The journey of the wood is also described in detail through the words of the representative of the company contacted: «We take the teak from Sudan, which reaches us through Uganda. In Kampala we fill the containers which then leave for the port of Mombasa (in Kenya) where we embark them for India… »which annually processes the largest quantity in the world and then exports the finished products.
Sudanese Sud military (Afp)
According to data from Indian customs, acquired by the authors of the article, in 2019 a hundred companies transported teak whose origin is almost certainly South Sudanese to India. About 500 ships were registered on arrival with a total load of 20 thousand cubic meters of timber for an estimated official value of 12 million euros.
The estimates are confirmed by more in-depth research. According to those of the American organization C4ADS, which specializes in the acquisition and analysis of data from countries in conflict, 100 thousand tons of South Sudanese teak are marketed every year; 73% would arrive in India.
Matters of etiquette
Neighboring countries also have responsibilities in the illegal trade in South Sudanese teak. In Kenya and Uganda there are at least 120 companies dealing in timber trading, most likely South Sudanese. Some sell directly to Europe. As there is no legislation regulating the market of origin, the timber receives a label in the transit country.
It is clearly the first attempt to disguise its illegal origin, because neither Kenya nor Uganda produce teak. In addition, South Sudanese teak is often mixed with timber from countries where harvesting and marketing are legal.
According to Interpol, mixing timber from different origins is the most common ploy to mask illegal trafficking.
According to UN estimates, South Sudan could collect taxes of around $ 50 million a year if it managed to control the market for precious wood. Instead, he receives between one and two million only.
For this dispossession, not even the European Union seems to be exempt from responsibility. The European Union Timber Regulation, introduced in 2013, remained largely inapplicable or was easily circumvented due to some flaws, the complexity of the rules and the lack of controls.
The fact is, writes Nigrizia, that fines for the importation of timber of which the supply chain of origin is not clear are counted on the fingers of one hand, while the European market is full of cheap precious wood products, largely part coming from India. Indeed, says the article cited, in recent years the import has greatly increased.
However, there are small signs of a change of pace. In recent days, six Ugandans who were illegally cutting valuable timber were arrested in the South Sudanese state of Eastern Equatoria. The complaint to the competent authorities had come from farmers who were working the fields nearby.
The communities, informed by the widespread work of civil society organizations, are now experiencing first-hand the problems caused by deforestation and the plundering of natural resources and are beginning to defend themselves.
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