The truth about Mahogany wood

Even today a lot of people still do not know what mahogany wood is. It's a major tonewood used for the manufacturing of electric guitars so it is important to know about it if you are in the market for a guitar. Apart from being wood, what is mahogany and why should you be interested? You may be surprised. The modern use of the word mahogany may surprise you.

In manufacturing what we regard traditionally as “mahogany” is the timber of only one of 49 genera that belong to the botanical family Meleaceae (Mahogany family.) This genus is called Swietenia, native to Central and South America and the Caribbean. It has three species:

1. Swietenia mahagoni, traded as CARIBBEAN MAHOGANY, CUBAN MAHOGANY, or WEST INDIAN MAHOGANY. It is the premier species. It is native to southern Florida in the United States and the West Indies; specifically, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bolivia, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, St Barthélemy, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, French St Martin, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Timber from this species was internationally traded (and exploited) for over 400 years and was the first species of mahogany used in the manufacturing of guitars until the 1950’s. It has been commercially extinct since 1947.

2. Swietenia macrophylla, traded as BIG LEAF MAHOGANY and as MAHOGANY with country of origin as prefix. It is native to the Atlantic side of Central America as well as much of South America, namely Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. This species replaced Swietenia mahagoni as the main timber species and is renowned as a tone wood. Since 2003 it has become commercially extinct from its native locations with the exception of some limited supply from Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, and Guatemala, under heavy restrictions. In the period 2002-2011 Peru was the main exporter of Mahogany accounting for 38–44% of total direct trade reported by exporters and importers. During the same period the United States was the main importer, accounting for 75–77% of total direct imports. Dominican Republic was also a major importer during the same period. In terms of annual exports, Peru was the main exporter until around 2006, when it was overtaken by Bolivia and Guatemala. .Plantations exist in Asia and the Pacific and since the 2010s Fiji and Philippines have become the largest exporters of genuine mahogany. [See following.]

3. Swietenia humilis, traded as PACIFIC COAST MAHOGANY or MEXICAN MAHOGANY. It is is native to dry deciduous forests and savannas of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. This species is much smaller than the other two species. There are very few populations left and it is used mainly in local carpentry. There is no official international trade in this wood.

Note. All three species are considered “Genuine mahogany” with Swietenia mahagoni originally taking precedence in the classification. The generic term for all species is AMERICAN MAHOGANY.

All species are listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with S. mahagoni listed as “endangered” and S. macrophylla and S. humilis listed as “vulnerable.”

So what happened to mahogany?

In simplicity: overlogging and illegal trade over about 85 years has brought all species of Swietenia mahogany to near extinction. Since 1950 Central American populations have suffered a 70-90% decline.

Unfortunately it wasn’t until the 1990’s that the inevitable fate of native Swietenia was fully recognized and specific measures were taken internationally to try and save the resource from future extinction.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between nations to uniformly police threats to the survival of plants and wild life due to human abuse. Formed in 1973 and passed in 1975 there are currently 180 “contracting parties” (nations) on the list today. Each party has their own national legislation which aligns with the agreement. An example is the Lacey Act of the United States which exists to police and control illegal import and export of banned or restricted plants and substances and wild life, effective from 2008.

CITES has three different levels of protection for species, known as Appendices:

• Appendix I – This appendix represents species that are in the most danger and are considered to be threatened with extinction, and are consequently the most restricted in international trade. CITES prohibits international trade in specimens of these species except when the purpose of the import is not commercial such as for scientific research. In these very exceptional situations both export and import permits are required.

• Appendix II – This appendix contains species that are at risk in the wild but not necessarily threatened with extinction. Species in this appendix are closely regulated but are typically not as restricted as Appendix I. International trade in specimens of Appendix-II species may be authorized by the granting of an export permit or re-export certificate. No import permit is necessary for these species under CITES although some countries have gone beyond the CITES requirements and do require additional permits.

• Appendix III – This appendix contains species that a certain country (contracting party) has voluntarily requested to be regulated in order to help preserve the species in question. Appendix III species regulation is only applicable for the specific party that has requested its inclusion and is therefore much less restrictive than Appendix I or II. International trade in specimens of species listed in Appendix III is allowed only on presentation of the appropriate permits or certificates. 

All three species of Swietenia are listed on CITES Appendix II: S. humilis in January 1975, S. mahagoni in November 1992 and S. macrophylla in November 1995.

Mahogany Restrictions 

Since the 2000’s there has been much work done internationally to forward actions to conserve the resource and to explore alternatives for reforestation and sustainability on a worldwide scale.

Unfortunately, attempts to repopulate mahogany in its native locations have turned out to be largely unsuccessful. There are four major reasons why Swietenia can no longer be re-grown natively:

• The soil is now depleted and barren.

• The aggressive mahogany shoot borer Hypsipyla grandella kills the new trees. Modern Science has not managed to overcome this.

• Genetic loss means that the current generations of seeds for planting are inferior and/or mutated.

• Erosion has taken place where large forests have been cleared leaving those areas now uninhabitable.

In order to save Swietenia from impending extinction global Authorities were forced to look beyond its native locations to find solutions to the problem.

Attempts in the past to grow Swietenia in Africa resulted in uniform failure and abandonment due to attacks by Hypsipyla robusta, the African equivalent of Hypsipyla grandella.

Europe was not considered as it does not have the right climate to grow it.

Asia To The Rescue

It turns out that Asia and the South Pacific are the most successful areas where Swietenia can be grown outside of its native locations.

Following initial trials a number of Asian countries were consulted with and invested in to develop controlled, sustainable and renewable Swietenia mahogany plantations. This started mostly in the 1990’s and was helped along by the 1993 World Bank report entitled “Tropical Hardwood Marketing Strategies for Southeast Asia“. Under nursery conditions attack by Hypsipyla can be successfully controlled with insecticides.

CITES Appendix 2 listing for Swietenia does not apply to plantation-grown Swietenia.

In actual fact, some Asia-Pacific countries had already been growing Swietenia for a very long time, but not necessarily for timber purposes! Mahogany grown in Asian countries, especially in Indonesia and the Philippines, was  mainly for protection of slopes and water catchments. The trees were also planted throughout Asia, but especially in Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka, as ornamentals along avenues. In some Asian countries it is used in agroforestry systems, for example with corn, rice, cassava, peanuts, and pumpkin.

Plantation mahogany producers

The country of Fiji had Swietenia macrophylla introduced originally in 1911 as an ornamental species using seeds from Honduras and Belize.

The first mahogany plantations in Fiji were established by the government in 1935 and then expanded throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Mahogany continued to be planted throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Production was corporatized in 1998. Today, communal groups own 89% of the unexploited forests and 84% of all Fijian forests, including planted forests; the remaining 16% of forests are privately or state-owned. Unlike the rest of the world Hypsipyla does not exist in Fiji. There are now over 100,000 hectares of mahogany plantations, many over 40 years old and are naturally regenerating. Harvesting began in 2003. By 2005, production was over 60,000 cubic meters of logs per year. 

In 2010 the total volume of mahogany harvested in Fiji surpassed the volume harvested from natural forests. In 2020 almost 100% of mahogany exports from Fiji went to the United States. 

Philippines has approximately 7.2 million hectares of forest area. 82% is naturally regenerated forest, and 12% is primary forest. 0.3 million hectares is planted forest of which Swietenia macrophylla accounts for approximately 50,000 hectares. 1.9 million hectares is designated for production. 63% of forest ownership is publicly owned and 37% is privately owned. Since 2000 forestry programs and natural regeneration have seen forest areas increase by 0.5% per annum. Over 90% of timber exports are to Japan. Japan, USA, and China are the largest markets for lumber. UK, Netherlands, and Japan are the largest markets for pulp and paper products.

Philippines had Swietenia macrophylla introduced in 1907 and in 1913 as well as Swietenia mahagoni in 1911, 1913, 1914, 1920 and 1922. It was planted with many other exotic tree species for the purpose of reforestation. Considerable planting of Swietenia macrophylla along with other exotic timber species occurred in the late 1980’s as part of a major afforestation and reforestation project by the Philippine government at that time. By 1993 there were 13,000 hectares of planted Swietenia macrophylla and it would go on to become the third most planted hardwood species thereafter. S. macrophylla is the third most important timber species harvested with 76,000 cubic meters of logs harvested per annum. Timber is the country’s third most valuable commodity.

Solomon Islands first introduced Swietenia macrophylla in plantations in 1978 and continued planting until 1995 when the government privatized the program. During that time over 3,500 hectares were planted. Large scale forestry planting is now done by private companies only and has led to exploitation and illegal logging. China accounts for almost 90% of timber exports, followed by much smaller exports to India Vietnam, Taiwan and Korea. In 2014 Solomon Islands was still the fourth largest exporter of tropical logs in the world. Timber exports account for 60-70% of the total export revenue of the national economy. In 2016 and 2017, around 65% of the country’s export earnings came from forestry, mainly through sale of round logs, sawn timber and veneer. Solomon Island's major markets for sawn timber are New Zealand and Australia. Taiwan and South Korea are major markets for veneer. 

Mahogany in the world market

The United States has always been the largest importer and consumer of American mahogany accounting for around 77% of the world market. Dominican Republic and Canada are also significant importers. Germany, Spain and Denmark have been the largest European importers, although total European imports pale in comparison to those of the United States at only 3% of the world market.

Despite international efforts, illegal logging is still taking place in some parts of South America today with 80% of this illegal timber being supplied to the USA by criminal operations. Since January 2019, Interpol has categorized illegal logging as organized crime.

Since the 21st Century most intercepted illegal American mahogany has originated from Brazil, Peru or Belize. Significant seizures have occurred in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Poland, and Spain. And then of course there is the suppressive, racist, and totalitarian regime of Communist China... no one knows for sure as they withhold cooperation with the rest of the world (unless it suits their agenda), but we could surmise that they may be one of the worst, if not the worst violators.

Summary

• Genuine mahogany consists of only 3 species.

• Two of the three species are and have been of commercial interest in the timber trade.

• All species of mahogany are restricted in their native locations.

• Native mahogany is all but gone.

• There is almost zero trade in native Swietenia, since 2003. 

• Asia and the South Pacific is where most new mahogany comes from today.

• Asian and South Pacific mahogany for export is grown in controlled plantations.

• There are no restrictions on plantation-grown mahogany.

• The only difference between Asian/South Pacific mahogany and American mahogany is where it is grown. They are the same species.

• Fiji is the most successful harvester and exporter of mahogany in the 21st Century.

• Illegal logging is still a problem in South America. 

• No factory-made musical instruments are ever made of American mahogany other than American mahogany from plantations.

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