Since the coronavirus outbreak in China, there’s been a sharp decline in demand for illegal rosewood from West Africa, KFGO reports.
As a result, many illegal logging activities in West Africa have come to an abrupt halt, giving the region’s plundered forests a reprieve.
Chinese demand for the protected timber has for years fueled much of the illegal harvesting in West Africa, according to the report. The ban on logging in protected forests has been difficult to enforce, with some governments lacking resources to combat it, the report states.
"This coronavirus, I’m happy for it. I don’t want anybody to die, but I feel pain in my heart when I see this forest cut," a former park ranger told KFGO. "This sickness is the only thing keeping them away."
