Illegal Rosewood Timber Trade Fuels Insurgency in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

           On May 14, 2024, after a four-year undercover sting operation, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) issued a report, finding that since 2017, an average of over 500,000 tons per year of timber has been exported from Mozambique to China.  The exports violate the country’s log export ban and part of the trade funds Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaah (ASW) insurgents[1] in Cabo Delgado, a province in the northern part of Mozambique. Once again, the EIA has done a superb job in exposing the enormous gap in lack of enforcement in the illegal timber trade.