After weeks of pursuing the elusive illegal logger of mahogany known only as El Gato (the cat), National Geographic journalist Scott Wallace and a group from the Peruvian Ashéninka tribe charge into the villain's camp. But as the righteous mob descends, El Gato introduces himself, agrees to leave and literally pleads with the Ashéninka to let him take the trees he's already cut so his crew can put food on their tables. He is deep in debt to the man who funded the logging expedition and needs to have something to show for it.
After weeks of pursuing the elusive illegal logger of mahogany known only as El Gato (the cat), National Geographic journalist Scott Wallace and a group from the Peruvian Ashéninka tribe charge into the villain's camp. But as the righteous mob descends, El Gato introduces himself, agrees to leave and literally pleads with the Ashéninka to let him take the trees he's already cut so his crew can put food on their tables. He is deep in debt to the man who funded the logging expedition and needs to have something to show for it.
This scene and more are detailed in National Geographic's April 2013 issue, which includes Wallace's investigation of the Peruvian mahogany trade. In it, Wallace speaks with frustrated conservationists, worn-out logging teams and angry village leaders trying to balance conservation and income.
After Brazil declared a moratorium on logging big-leaf mahogany in 2001, Peru emerged as one of the largest suppliers of "red gold," the article says. The last stands of mahogany are almost all on Indian lands, national parks and territorial reserves set aside to protect isolated tribes, leaving loggers with two options: pay off the tribes to cut in restricted areas or cut down other, lesser-known species for which there are much smaller markets.
One of the lesser-know species is known as copaiba. This species is known for the medicinal oil it produces while living. Describing the felling of one of these trees by an indigenous family, Wallace notes that the giant tree could have brought in far more money if it had been left standing, while the timber is worth less than $100.
To make matters worse, Peru's central government recently decided the regional governments should be responsible for enforcing forest regulations. Local officials are often more easily bribed or threatened to turn a blind eye, the article says.
Wallace's complete story, "Mahogany's Last Stand," is available on National Geographic's website.
