Prelim - Environment, Geography

GS III - Conservation

Present status of rosewood

• Only 17.2% of India’s suitable habitat for Dalbergia latifolia — Indian rosewood — lies in protected areas, according to the Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST), Bengaluru.
• A sharp decline in rosewood populations is noted, particularly in Tamil Nadu. The State recorded just 2.85 trees per 0.1 hectare — markedly lower than Karnataka’s 6.19 and Kerala’s 5.38.
• Now finds itself largely unprotected and increasingly vulnerable to exploitation as the State decided not to renew the Tamil Nadu Rosewood Trees (Conservation) Act, 1995, beyond February 2025.

Why decline in its population?

• Researchers observed that populations are dominated by mature, ageing trees with almost no regeneration in the wild.
• Seedlings are rare.

Habitat

• The species, native to Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris, Anamalai, and Parambikulam ranges.

Why it is considered important?

• Often called the ‘ivory of the forests’, Indian rosewood is prized for its rich grain, deep colour, and exceptional durability.
• It is a premium timber resource for the furniture and handicraft industries.

Ecological importance

• Rosewood trees improve soil fertility through nitrogen fixation, support bird and insect diversity, and act as long-term carbon sinks.

Tamil Nadu Rosewood Trees (Conservation) Act, 1995

• The Tamil Nadu Rosewood Trees (Conservation) Act, introduced in 1995, had served as a safeguard for decades. The Act prohibited the cutting of rosewood without government permission and helped to prevent industrial-scale exploitation.
• It was extended in 2010 for a period of 15 years and was left to lapse this year without renewal.

Now it is at risk

• The law gone, privately owned trees, many found in tea plantations of the Nilgiris, are now at risk.
• The threats to Indian rosewood extend beyond habitat degradation. International demand, particularly for luxury furniture and musical instruments, has increased pressure on the remaining stands.

Vulnerable species

• The species has been listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2018. But domestic regulation in India has not kept pace.
• Within India, rosewood has remained in the Near Threatened category since the last national assessment in 2011-12.

Suggestion

• Government must urgently reinstate legal protections and bring in a tagging and certification system to differentiate the plantation-grown rosewood from illegally harvested wild timber.