Enforcement actions against illegal trade of Paubrasilia echinata: revealing frauds in Brazil's bow making industry
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Trabajo de Fin de Máster de Formación Permanente en Gestión y Conservación de Especies en Comercio: El Marco Internacional (2023/24). Tutora: Dra. Margarita África Clemente Muñoz. Paubrasilia echinata has been considered endangered in Brazil since 1992 and since September 2007, included in Appendix II of CITES with annotation #10. After Federal Decree No. 750/1993, the exploitation of this species, endemic to the Atlantic Forest, has been formally prohibited in natural fragments in the country. However, the bow making industry uses it as the main raw material for making violin, viola, cello, and double bass bows. Although substitute species have been researched, none have been found with physical and mechanical properties equal to those of Pernambuco. Bows made from this species reach remarkably high values on the international market, especially in the United States of America and Europe, and are used by orchestras and musicians all over the world. Commercial exploitation involving Paubrasilia echinata over the last 25 years is strongly connected to the stringed instrument bow industry. Reviewing the administrative cases that IBAMA processed in this interstice, this thesis sought to put together the pieces of the puzzle by analyzing the data in an integrated way, highlighting the scheme of fraud and environmental illicit activities involved in this exploration, by demonstrating that the offenders act organized and in collusion over the last few decades to launder illegal wood, taking advantage of weaknesses in environmental legislation and the control systems of state and federal agencies. The main administrative infractions detected by IBAMA's environmental inspection are reported based on information contained in the citations, seizures and embargos terms, and inspection reports, as well as in the technical notes and reports issued by state agencies, available in the IBAMA administrative cases. The offenses and frauds were grouped according to the types of infractions pointed out in the reports, notes and fines: fraud in declared origin, illicits on transportation, storage of raw material without proven origin, illegalities in the commerce of bow blanks and finished bows, frauds involving donations, illegal logging in protected areas, embargo, suspension of activities and failure to compliance with Brazilian laws and procedures and obstruction of the work of public agencies. The descriptions of the cases and the discussions presented reveal the point of view of the environmental authorities expressed in the available documents as understood by the author of this thesis. After Operation Dó Ré Mi that started in 2018, a complex mechanism of laundering illegal wood from Bahia that fed the music industry in recent decades became evident. This scheme disguised the legality of thousands of bows made with illegally sourced wood, mainly from southern Bahia, which are now available for commerce in the international bows market.
Trabajo de Fin de Máster de Formación Permanente en Gestión y Conservación de Especies en Comercio: El Marco Internacional (2023/24). Tutora: Dra. Margarita África Clemente Muñoz. Paubrasilia echinata has been considered endangered in Brazil since 1992 and since September 2007, included in Appendix II of CITES with annotation #10. After Federal Decree No. 750/1993, the exploitation of this species, endemic to the Atlantic Forest, has been formally prohibited in natural fragments in the country. However, the bow making industry uses it as the main raw material for making violin, viola, cello, and double bass bows. Although substitute species have been researched, none have been found with physical and mechanical properties equal to those of Pernambuco. Bows made from this species reach remarkably high values on the international market, especially in the United States of America and Europe, and are used by orchestras and musicians all over the world. Commercial exploitation involving Paubrasilia echinata over the last 25 years is strongly connected to the stringed instrument bow industry. Reviewing the administrative cases that IBAMA processed in this interstice, this thesis sought to put together the pieces of the puzzle by analyzing the data in an integrated way, highlighting the scheme of fraud and environmental illicit activities involved in this exploration, by demonstrating that the offenders act organized and in collusion over the last few decades to launder illegal wood, taking advantage of weaknesses in environmental legislation and the control systems of state and federal agencies. The main administrative infractions detected by IBAMA's environmental inspection are reported based on information contained in the citations, seizures and embargos terms, and inspection reports, as well as in the technical notes and reports issued by state agencies, available in the IBAMA administrative cases. The offenses and frauds were grouped according to the types of infractions pointed out in the reports, notes and fines: fraud in declared origin, illicits on transportation, storage of raw material without proven origin, illegalities in the commerce of bow blanks and finished bows, frauds involving donations, illegal logging in protected areas, embargo, suspension of activities and failure to compliance with Brazilian laws and procedures and obstruction of the work of public agencies. The descriptions of the cases and the discussions presented reveal the point of view of the environmental authorities expressed in the available documents as understood by the author of this thesis. After Operation Dó Ré Mi that started in 2018, a complex mechanism of laundering illegal wood from Bahia that fed the music industry in recent decades became evident. This scheme disguised the legality of thousands of bows made with illegally sourced wood, mainly from southern Bahia, which are now available for commerce in the international bows market.