UNEP-managed CITES database reveals red sanders smuggling.

• The CITES trade database has recorded 28 incidents of Red Sanders confiscation, seizure, and specimen from the wild being exported from India, a factsheet prepared by TRAFFIC, a global wildlife trade monitoring organisation has revealed.
• According to the recently released communiqué titled “RED SANDERS: Factsheet on India’s Red Sanders in illegal wildlife trade”, China remains the largest importer with more than 13,618 tonnes of the products, followed by Hong Kong (5,215 tonnes) and Singapore (216 tonnes).
• CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments, whose aim is to ensure that international trade in specimen of wild animals and plants, does not threaten the survival of the species.

About Red sanders

• Red Sanders Pterocarpus santalinus, or red sandalwood, is an endemic tree species with distribution restricted to the Eastern Ghats of India.
• The species found in Andhra Pradesh and growing up to a height of 10 to 15 metres, is reported to be one of India’s most exploited tree species, and is under severe pressure from illegal logging and harvesting.
• Under the foreign trade policy of India, the import of Red Sanders is prohibited, while export is restricted.
• Red Sanders is under severe pressure from illegal logging and harvesting.
  • Its heartwood is in demand in both domestic and international markets and is used to make furniture and handicrafts, while the red dye (Santalin) obtained from the wood is used as a colouring agent in textiles and medicines.
• Listed under Schedule IV of The Wildlife Protection Act and Endangered as per IUCN Red List, Red Sanders is a very slow-growing tree species that attains maturity in natural forests after 25-40 years.