Forests Minister Deepak Bohara recently decided to auction 59,000 kg of sandalwood, which was seized two years ago while being smuggled from India to China. Forests Secretary Yubaraj Bhusal had hastily prepared a file to this effect before he flew to Australia when the entire country was paying attention to the demise of Girija Prasad Koirala. [break]
Annapurna Nanda Das, officiating forests secretary, confirmed the ministerial decision to auction the sandalwood. "We will formally make public this decision by Sunday," he said. He, however, rejected that teh decision has violated CITES. "We have decided to sell only the sandalwood that the court allows us to sell," he said.
In the past, District Courts had delivered contradictory verdicts on different writ petitions concerning auction of sandalwood. While a few District Courts had allowed the auctioning, many had ordered the government agencies to preserve the precious wood.
The amount of sandalwood Bohara decided to auction is one fourth of the precious wood stored in 15 districts across the country. According to Nepal Foresters´ Association (NFA), there is 199,496 kg sandalwood piled up in various District Forest Offices. The court has allowed the government to auction only 15,470 kg sandalwood. But, Bohara has decided to sell 4,000 kg more.
- Forests Minister decided to auction 59,000 kg of sandalwood
- Experts say the move violates CITES
- CITES says it sould be sent back to source country
The government will earn over Rs 47 million by selling about 59,000 kg sandalwood. Earlier, the government had decided to auction sandalwood at a rate of Rs 800 per kg. The Forests Act and Regulations stipulate that the government can fix the price of precious herbs and plants.
But, the government can not invoke its laws if they contradict with international conventions. CITES stipulates that all herbs and plants included in the list of endangered species must be protected and handed over source of its origin, in this case India.
"The government has violated CITES provisions just for the sake of a little money," Shree Krishna Neupane, Joint Chairman of Nepal Rangers Association (NRA) said. "It is like blindly earning money through illegal drug trade." He said that the government´s move could tarnish the country´s image.
Foresters have smelt rat behind the government´s act identifying the sandalwood seized with a different scientific name.
According to Diwesh Mani Tripathi, President of Nepal Foresters´ Association (NFA), the government initially identified all sandalwood as Pterocaspus santalinus. But later on, it changed the scientific name of the seized sandalwood as Pterocaspus sanders. "The exact price of Pterocaspus santalinus could be higher," Tripathi said.
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