Tree sleuths are using DNA tests and machine vision to crack timber crimes

2 min read Original article ↗

Scientists are optimistic that innovative techniques can pinpoint the true origin of timber.

By

  1. Aisling Irwin

    1. Aisling Irwin is a freelance journalist based in Oxfordshire, UK.

Red sap spurts into the air as a Malagasi worker cuts deep into a precious rosewood tree in a national park in Madagascar.

In 2016, the CITES treaty banned trade in many types of rosewood — including species from Madagascar. Credit: Toby Smith/EIA

When 420 tonnes of deep crimson logs arrived at a Sri Lankan port in April 2014, customs officers cast a suspicious eye over them. The wood was en route from Zanzibar in Tanzania to Hong Kong, where it would probably be crafted into expensive furniture for the Chinese market. However, a tip-off from international police organization Interpol alerted Sri Lankan officials to the fact that the 3,669 rosewood logs were from Madagascar, which had banned such exports in 2010.

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Nature 568, 19-21 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01035-7

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 08 April 2019: An earlier version of this story gave the wrong location for the Environmental Investigation Agency.

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