Re: Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata) from the Democratic Republic of Congo

A briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and other NGOs criticizing the decision by CITES to remove Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata) from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from the Review of Significant Trade. The document argues that the DRC has failed to implement sustainable management practices, continues to engage in widespread illegal logging, and has provided an insufficient non-detriment finding (NDF) to justify its export quotas.

• The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) suffers from systemic illegal logging and corruption, with estimates suggesting that approximately 90% of harvested timber is illegal or informal, and actual harvests are eight times higher than official figures.
• The DRC has consistently failed to meet CITES requirements for Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata), including failing to implement Plant Committee recommendations in 2012 to rectify non-detriment findings and establish sound harvest and export quotas.
• There is significant evidence of fraudulent CITES documentation from the DRC, including a large number of fake or falsified permits identified by the CITES Secretariat in April 2014.
• The non-detriment finding (NDF) submitted by the DRC in May 2014 is considered insufficient because it lacks independent verification of inventories and fails to provide a scientific basis for the export quota of 25,000 m3.
• The DRC's authorized cutting permits for 2014 (55,373 m3) significantly exceed its export quota (25,000 m3), suggesting that excess Afrormosia may be exported as different species to avoid higher taxes.
• The authors express profound disappointment that CITES eliminated Pericopsis elata from the DRC's Review of Significant Trade in June 2014, arguing that this decision was insufficient to elicit necessary changes for sustainable management.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2014). Re: Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata) from the Democratic Republic of Congo. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CITES_DRC_8Jul2014.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Re: Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata) from the Democratic Republic of Congo. 2014. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CITES_DRC_8Jul2014.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Re: Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata) from the Democratic Republic of Congo |date=7 July 2014 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CITES_DRC_8Jul2014.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2014afrormosia, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Re: Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata) from the Democratic Republic of Congo}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2014}, month = jul, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CITES_DRC_8Jul2014.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }