Summary-The article talks about how the recent governmental shift in Madagascar has allowed an explosion in illegal logging of an increasingly rare tree, the rosewood. The wood is mostly being exported to China because they have already cut through their share of rosewoods. The number of rosewoods is dwindling so much that even experienced loggers can take up to two days to find one.
Personal Response-I think that as a duty to the environment, all governments should be held accountable for stopping illicit trade of illegally logged trees. Also the Chinese importers should face penalty as well for taking in illegal goods, much like drug traffickers. All in all this is a drop in the bucket, with all the environmental degradation we should use this and other stories like it as a poster child to the world. To show that even endangered species are not safe from crime on the international market.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/world/africa/25madagascar.html
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Most governments aren't enforcing their laws on logging as well as they should, and this is a great example of that. The new government in madagascar needs to, as michael said, face penalties for logging. This "explosion" of logging is going to cause the extinction of this now rare tree and its of paramount importance to keeps species alive since the rate of extinction in now at an all time high.
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