This is the best info I've found on the history of Mahogany imported into the US...
"There is much confusion as to their common names, with bigleaf mahogany often being called true mahogany, geniune mahogany, South American mahogany or Honduran mahogany."
"Swietenia mahogani, known as Caribbean, Cuban or true mahogany, is found from the tip of southern Florida and throughout the West Indies. Swietenia humilis, known as Honduran mahogany, is found on the Pacific coastal region of Central America. Both of these species are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Flaura and Fauna, known as CITES. This means that countries trading in these species need to verify that sources are legal and sustainable and all trade must come with paperwork showing origin.
The majority of the trade in mahogany is currently bigleaf, S. macrophylla. This species is now listed on Appendix II of CITES after decades of lobbying by environmental groups and counter-lobbying by industry groups."
"The US is the largest importer of mahogany by volume and by dollar value. US demand helped to decimate the populations of Caribbean and Honduran mahogany. Later, big-leafed mahogany was targeted, first mostly in Central America. US mahogany imports from around 1900 to 1960 were almost entirely from Belize and Mexico3. Mahogany in these countries has been reduced to third-rotation trees that are still being cut, often illegally, before they even mature.
US imports from 1960 to 2002 were largely from Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. Since Bolivia's change in forestry law, exports of mahogany have fallen. From 1995 to 1998, U.S. imports from Bolivia decreased by two-thirds, while U.S. imports from Peru surged nearly fourfold4. Further, with Brazil's recent crackdown on illegal mahogany logging (after decades of calls by environmental organizations) and Bolivia's shift to mostly certified logging operations, since 2002, Peru has become the largest exporter to the US. Much of the logging there is illegal, as most of it was in Brazil and much of it in Bolivia."
"There is much confusion as to their common names, with bigleaf mahogany often being called true mahogany, geniune mahogany, South American mahogany or Honduran mahogany."
"Swietenia mahogani, known as Caribbean, Cuban or true mahogany, is found from the tip of southern Florida and throughout the West Indies. Swietenia humilis, known as Honduran mahogany, is found on the Pacific coastal region of Central America. Both of these species are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Flaura and Fauna, known as CITES. This means that countries trading in these species need to verify that sources are legal and sustainable and all trade must come with paperwork showing origin.
The majority of the trade in mahogany is currently bigleaf, S. macrophylla. This species is now listed on Appendix II of CITES after decades of lobbying by environmental groups and counter-lobbying by industry groups."
"The US is the largest importer of mahogany by volume and by dollar value. US demand helped to decimate the populations of Caribbean and Honduran mahogany. Later, big-leafed mahogany was targeted, first mostly in Central America. US mahogany imports from around 1900 to 1960 were almost entirely from Belize and Mexico3. Mahogany in these countries has been reduced to third-rotation trees that are still being cut, often illegally, before they even mature.
US imports from 1960 to 2002 were largely from Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. Since Bolivia's change in forestry law, exports of mahogany have fallen. From 1995 to 1998, U.S. imports from Bolivia decreased by two-thirds, while U.S. imports from Peru surged nearly fourfold4. Further, with Brazil's recent crackdown on illegal mahogany logging (after decades of calls by environmental organizations) and Bolivia's shift to mostly certified logging operations, since 2002, Peru has become the largest exporter to the US. Much of the logging there is illegal, as most of it was in Brazil and much of it in Bolivia."
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