Nobody denies the need to protect biodiversity, above all when it is threatened by human activity. But it is still necessary that being classed on the list of ‘endangered species’ is supported by solid scientific data. In the most remote and least documented regions, gathering such data is not easy. The Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (ULg) Forestry Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Regions has looked into the case of Afrormosia, also named Assamela, a species which is exploited for its timber and of which Belgium is one of the world’s largest importers. A conclusion: well managed, this species could be taken off the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s red list.

Commercially it is often called ‘African teak.’ Forestry operators for their part prefer to talk of Afrormosia or, depending on the country one is in, Assamela. ‘Pericopsis elata’ – everyone can agree on the Latin name of this tree, found in western Central Africa – is one of the most prestigious tropical species. Once it has reached maturity it is amongst the giants of the forests: it habitually reaches heights of 40-45 metres; its trunk grows straight up to fifteen or twenty metres before branching out into a splendid crown of branches of light foliage which sheds its leaves. With gaboon/ (African mahogany), sapele and ayous, it is amongst the most sought after species by the forestry companies active in this African region, who, after having processed the timber, earmark it for the manufacture of furniture, floorboards, boat bridges, etc. Assamela nonetheless distinguishes itself from the other trees by a characteristic well known in the milieu of nature protection: if features on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s list of threatened species. Placed in Annex 2 of the CITES Convention, which regulates trade in threatened animal and plant species, it is subject to special statuary limitations, notably in terms of export licences.

A justified status?

At the Forestry Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Regions (the Forestry and Natural Environment Resource Management Unit in the Nature, Forests and Landscape Department, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (ULg)), a certain perplexity concerning this classification, which dates back to the beginning of the 1990s, is not hidden. It is true that commercial exploitation of Afrormosia began in the middle of the twentieth century, first of all in a rough and ready way and then in a more and more systematic and industrial manner. But a certain number of factors push us to consider that in the end we finally know very little about this species in biological terms and that the classification on Annex 2 is not necessarily justified. ‘The classification criteria used by CITES is not very well adapted to trees,’ explains Professor Jean-Louis Doucet, the laboratory’s director. ‘They for example demand that we know the evolution of populations over the course of three generations, but for a tree like Afrormosia that means we have to go back as far as three centuries in time! Yet for large numbers of tropical and subtropical trees we only have partial information available, and it is not very reliable in scientific terms. When we nevertheless manage to gather knowledge which is sufficiently well grounded we realise that certain tree species have been unduly placed in vulnerability categories and that conversely some species which should be protected according to IUCN criteria do not feature on the lists.’