Minister cracking down on illegal extraction of precious wood

In January and early February it seemed that rosewood was in the news nightly, with somebody either harvesting it illegally, burning it, sneaking it out of the country or discovering it by the container-load. But since then there’s barely been a murmur about rosewood. Now is that because the smugglers have gotten craftier or because the Forest Department has cracked the whip and given notice? Today Minister Lisel Alamilla told us that it’s the latter.

Lisel Alamilla, Minister of Forestry

“The word is out that the forest department and the ministry that were serious about enforcement and so we have stepped up our patrols in areas that are highly threatened by illegal activities and that is not only in regards to rosewood. We have increased presence in the north, in Orange Walk, increased presence in the Cayo District and so that has become a priority for us because illegal logging is a huge threat to the management of our forest and the long-term livelihood on people who depend on logging for a living.”

Mike Rudon

Lisel Alamilla

“Could you give us an update on Mister Alamilla?”

Lisel Alamilla

“No I have not been following that situation; it would be something that the Chief Forest Officer would be better able to respond to.”

Hilmar David Alamilla, a close associate of Minister of Natural Resources Gaspar Vega, was the man found illegally harvesting rosewood not once but multiple times. He was threatened with his concession being revoked, his assets being seized and a fine, but since then his name has dropped off the radar. We tried to reach Chief Forest Officer Wilber Sabido for comment today but were told that he is out of the country, and his deputy was unavailable.