Ramin

abc.net.au/4corners/content/2002/timber_mafia/resources/resources_ramin
Ramin (Gonystylus spp.) is a tropical hardwood tree species, occurring in peat swamp and lowland freshwater swamp forest in Borneo, Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia. As a swamp species ramin is prone to over-exploitation and cannot be cultivated on plantations. In Kalimantan some of the last stands of ramin trees exist in protected and conservation areas such as Tanjung Puting National Park, around the Sebangau River, Lake Sentarum National Park, Gunung Palung Nature Reserve, Mandor Nature Reserve, Muasra Kaman Nature Reserve, Gunung Penrisen/Gunung Nyiut Game Reserve and Pleihari Martapura Wildlife Reserve. Ramin has run out within most forest concession areas and is classified as a vulnerable tree species by the World Conservation Union (a status applied to species facing a high-risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term). Those who benefit from the sale of this valuable species log within these protected areas, including national parks or expired concessions. Ramin is a valuable light hardwood species and is the most valuable tree species found in Indonesia. It is widely used for furniture, picture frames, futons, snooker cues and so on.
Ramin commands some of the highest prices per cubic metre paid for timber from South-East Asia. Those who log ramin in Tanjung Puting National Park receive about US$2.20 per m3, by the time this wood reaches consumers in the USA, Italy, Japan and the UK the cost is US$1000 per m3. The international demand for the wood has had devastating effects on the forests in Indonesia. In 2001 the then Coordinating Minister for the Economy in Indonesia, Rizal Ramli, commented that "the illegal logging of ramin has sharply increased in line with the increasing price of it on the international market".
ramin logs ready for transport

Ramin has been a target for illegal loggers since the early 1990s with illegal cutting soaring in recent years as civil order and law enforcement has eroded. The former Minister of Forests in Indonesia, Marzuki Usman took the first action to curb the logging within Tanjung Putting by issuing a Ministerial decree to place a temporary moratorium on the cutting and trading of ramin in April 2001. In August 2001, Indonesia placed ramin on Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) with a zero quota, to seek international support for their actions. The Ministry of Forestry in Indonesia has awarded low cutting allowances to try and combat the problem of over-exploitation. However ramin is still cut and exported illegally.
Ramin distribution is restricted to Indonesia and Malaysia but is becoming increasingly scarce in Malaysia. Malaysia is a crucial pivot in the international trade in illegal ramin. As the country's own supplies have been over-exploited and fallen dramatically, its industry has moved to secure fresh sources by exploiting the situation in Indonesia. In Indonesia 90 % of ramin production is exported. Analysis of production data for recent years reveals a huge discrepancy between the legal production of ramin in Indonesia and the amount processed and exported by the timber industry and brokers. The figures read as such; in 2000 Peninsular Malaysia exported 39,644 m3 of ramin sawntimber, in 2001 Peninisular Malaysia exported 39,793 m3 of ramin sawntimber. From figures released so far in 2002 it appears exports have not dropped off significantly since last year. Indonesia has recorded no legal exports of ramin logs or sawntimber to Malaysia from 2000 to the present. Thus all these exports have originated in Malaysia, which means Peninsular Malaysia would have had to produce 80,000m3 of ramin logs in 2000 and again in 2001. However, Peninsular Malaysia has virtually no swamp left and in recent years they have produced only an estimated 80-90,000 m3 of ramin as a whole.
See an interactive map showing how ramin enters Malaysia.

Sources:

Timber Trafficking (PDF file): Illegal Logging in Indonesia, South East Asia and International Consumption of Illegally Sourced Timber - Environmental Investigation Agency/Telapak

================
http://www.kew.org/plants/ramin.html
Gonystylus species

Ramin is the common trade name given to a number of light coloured tropical hardwood tree species native to the peat swamp forests of Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, Indonesia (Kalimantan and Sumatra), Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak), Singapore, Solomon Islands and The Philippines. Ramin wood is prized for its fine grain and easy working qualities and the main products in trade are picture frames, pool cues, blinds, tool handles and decorative mouldings. The major importing countries are China, USA and Italy.

Find out more: Kew's work as the UK CITES Scientific Authority for plants

Concern has arisen about the over-exploitation of ramin, particularly from prime orang-utan habitats and Protected Reserves in Southeast Asia . Ramin is now listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which regulates the international trade in species threatened through trade. This means that a permit is needed to import certain parts and derivatives of ramin into the UK. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has been designated as the UK CITES Scientific Authority for plants. As such, its role is to provide scientific advice to the UK government on plants in trade and assist enforcement agencies, such as HM Revenue and Customs, to implement CITES not only within the UK, but at the European and international level.
Find out more