Sandalwood smuggling robbing Kenyans of a lucrative livelihood deal

Despite a presidential ban on sandalwood trade in 2007, which lasted for five years and showed the level of government concern towards the illegal harvesting of the precious tree, smugglers are still harvesting it.

Reason? It has highly-priced essential oils that are lucrative in the global cosmetic industry.

The smugglers, who work with cartels and brokers, have penetrated remote villages in Kenya, whose residents are ignorant of the value of the precious wood. Owing to the locals’ limited knowledge of the trees’ commercial value, the outsiders lure them to cut the trees and sell on the cheap, thereby continuing to perpetuate the illegal trade.

Researchers have warned that without the kind of strict surveillance and enforcement of the law that can help nip the illegal activity in the bud, the tree may eventually become extinct.

Investigations reveal the trade is conducted by well-connected cartels that work with a chain of individuals who sneak sandalwood to neighbouring countries like Tanzania and Uganda for further processing.

Stories of people arrested while transporting sandalwood are common on Kenya’s local news channels. However, little is known about the real culprits behind the trade.

Now, a scientist from the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (Kefri) reveals that the cartels work within a very organized network with very rich people who make it hard to penetrate their ring. Those arrested are often the low-hanging fruit, with some of them transporting the sandalwood without even knowing the endangered status of the commodity in their possession.  

Communities Duped

Communities with little knowledge of how valuable sandalwood is have been robbed of this precious jewel that scientists believe can change the fortunes of many.

Baringo County is one of them.

The essential oils extracted from sandalwood are expensive in the cosmetic industry. This technology, if passed to farmers, can lead to an economic boom in hitherto poor Kenyan communities.

For example, 10 milliliters of the sandalwood essential oil costs between Sh700  and Sh2000 at Jumia, an online stores. Similarly, one litre of the essential oil fetches up to Sh270,000.

At  Sandai village in Kenya’s Rift Valley County of Baringo, Target Katero, who is in her early 90s, recalls how she has used sandalwood roots to treat stomach diseases in her community.

“I have been a herbalist for so many years. The sandalwood roots have been one of my remedies to treat stomach complications among adults and children. Now, this tree is disappearing at a very fast rate. I do not know what will happen next,” she said.

Katero confirms that the tree grows naturally in the wild, and she used to access it easily many years ago. “I have to walk so many kilometres into the wild to get the sandalwood roots, I am old now and this is strenuous to me,” she revealed.

Traditionally, the community is not allowed to uproot any medicinal tree, and sandalwood falls in this category.

But illegal traders of sandalwood have disobeyed this community law and made their way into Baringo villages by convincing people to harvest and sell the sandalwood tree, which is locally known as mormorwe, rather cheaply.

Joseph Kimaru, a father of five in Mbechot village, recalls how outsiders who were more knowledgeable about the commercial value of sandalwood lured them to cut down the tree and sell it on the cheap.

“People who were not locals from here used to come and convince us to sell them sandalwood for firewood. They were offering little money. It was not a big deal to us because we thought it was not going to impact us in any way,” he explained.

Kimaru adds that due to the high unemployment levels among the youth in his community, the allure of the quick cash offered by the traders pulled many young people into cutting down the tree without a second thought on the consequences.

“I have seen even my neighbours get involved in this harvesting of sandalwood, and now that it is almost finished, they have nothing to sell and even the buyers have disappeared,” he said.

For the local community, the tree was a priceless medicine. However, the traders put a price of Sh5-10 per kilogramme on the tree, even when the locals were not aware of the use they were putting it to.

“We never used to know what they were going to do with the tree. Mostly, they told us it was for cooking purposes.,” Kimaru regretfully narrates.

Even when the government banned the cutting of the tree, Kimaru says they were not told about it. Eventually, when they learned of the ban, it “came as a relief to us, though too late.”

“This tree is now finished; we have very few trees remaining scattered in the bush,” he laments.

Kimaru says that as a community, they are now vigilant and willing to volunteer any information about the illegal harvesting of sandalwood within their locality. They are also keen to replenish their land with fresh sandalwood trees.

“Our biggest worry, despite the ban, is how we can get more seedlings to plant the tree,” she says. “We urge the government to come up with a plan on how we can continue planting to help conserve sandalwood.”

Raphael Kipsoi, an Artificial Insemination (AI) expert, agrees that if something is not done, they may lose the precious tree as a community.

“We discovered very late the value of essential oils, apart from the medicinal value we have long known as a community,” he said.

Organised, criminal wildlife smuggling cartels that include some community leaders, law enforcers manning roadblocks, and rich ring leaders of the trade are believed to be behind the trade of sandalwood, which is later sold to Asian countries because of its expensive oils used in the beauty industry.

This investigation discovered that the top smugglers are highly connected business people who are not arrested because of their influence over the justice system. Those in the middle of the chain are the ones arrested while transporting sandalwood.

Our investigation tried to find out the trail of sandalwood smuggling but either the individuals involved in the trade were good at covering their tracks or the locals were not keen to maintain contact with them beyond the times they visit the area.

In Baringo, the community had no contact trace of the people who came to buy from them.

Some of the sources who did not want to be quoted or filmed alluded to the fact that the ring is well organized, including law enforcers who facilitate the transportation to neighbouring countries for processing.

The office of the Director of Prosecutions (ODDP) in Kenya, through a guiding document on Forestry Crime in Kenya dubbed ‘a rapid reference guide to relevant offenses,’ puts sandalwood as a protected species under schedule -Wildlife Conservation Management Act, 6WCMA 2013, amended in 2019.

The document further describes how the sandalwood trade is organised from bottom to top, with local youths being hired as woodcutters, transporters, or middlemen. The woodcutters are at the bottom of the chain, followed by local middlemen who oversee the cutting and transportation out of the forest. The kingpins are then in charge of shipping the contraband, mostly in huge amounts, out of the country and seeking lucrative overseas markets.

Offenses related to illegal logging attract a maximum fine of Sh100,000 or a maximum six months in jail.

Gikui Gichuhi, a senior principal prosecution counsel at ODPP, reveals that as poaching has decreased, there has been an increase in the hunt for forest products such as illegal sandalwood.

Further, data from the ODPP in the last five years on wildlife crimes, where sandalwood smuggling is included, reveals that in 2016 and 2017, the directorate recorded the highest number of offenders.

“As poaching has decreased, there has been an increase in the need for forest products such as illegal sandalwood. Unlike wild animals, people without knowledge will only see logs and firewood being transported. Only those with training like KFS and KWS will understand the impact it has economically for the criminals.”

A government official further reveals that sandalwood smuggling is becoming complex. Smugglers who are well-connected business people in Kenya are at the top of the chain.

“Samburu is now a hot spot for smuggling, other areas include Laikipia, Isiolo, and previously Baringo County,” said the official, who declined to be named because they are not authorized to discuss the matter in their official capacity.

The official reveals how the smugglers have now changed their transportation mode, posing a huge challenge to enforcement efforts. Previously, they used trucks together with clearance letters indicating that they are transporting goods to neighbouring countries like Uganda and Tanzania.

But now, they have changed tact. Instead, they hire sport utility vehicles that are faster and more powerful, especially Toyota Prados. The can Prados ferry up to 1000 tonnes of sandalwood.

“They hire the Prados and at times when arrested they just disappear and leave them at police stations. They never bother to follow-up on the vehicles because they are not original owners,” revealed the official.

Several youths in the villages where sandalwood is harvested testified about being duped to cut down and sell sandalwood without knowing it was going to be sold elsewhere at a higher price.

Nathan Chebii, a youth in his late 20s, says he feels terrible after learning about the sandalwood smuggling deal.

“People we did not know who posed as buyers of firewood used to come to us some years ago. We could harvest sandalwood and sell to them for little money, now see we have none left,” a distraught Chebii confides.

Kenya has ratified a number of international conventions, including the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (Cites), which is an international agreement between governments to protect or regulate and monitor utilisation of the species across international borders.

Listing sandalwood under Cites is aimed to regulate international trade and conservation in the species and enhance population monitoring through trade volumes records. The Lusaka Agreement, which Kenya is a signatory to, recommends the enhancement implementation of Cites through the establishment of a task force for cooperative enforcement operation directed in illegal trade in endangered species.

However, prosecutorial challenges remain the biggest impediment in the fight against sandalwood smuggling. For example, the technologist at the Kenya Forest Research Institute (Kefri) has to travel by road to attend court sessions to present evidence on sandalwood. He covers the entire 47 counties in Kenya.

Additionally, the Ministry of environment and Forestry is also grappling with enforcement and compliance questions, as well as the lack of national monitoring mechanisms, in their quest to conserve and protect the endangered sandalwood.

Scientific Research on sandalwood identification

 The Kefri is a research centre that helps in the identification of sandalwood smuggling because of its role in research and forest technology.

Kefro, with the help of their scientists, is critical in identifying sandalwood species at the courts. Without their identification technology, most sandalwood cases will be dropped due to a lack of evidence to prove that they are real sandalwood species.

Wycliff Mauta, a technologist at Kefri, has been traveling all over Kenya to present scientific evidence in the courts in a bid to help prosecute sandalwood smugglers.

According to him, sandalwood identification and analysis are critical when presenting evidence in a court of law.

“Without scientific evidence to be presented in court, a sandalwood case has very high chances of being thrown out,” he confirms.

Mauta, who is also in charge of wood anatomy, reveals that they have built a huge database that helps them identify plant species using anatomical features.

He confirms that sandalwood is among the most smuggled wildlife products because of the value of its essential oil in the cosmetic industry.

“Sandalwood grows across all climatic conditions, despite its widespread destruction.”

“After the government imposed a ban on harvesting, people are not harvesting it anymore, only smugglers through brokers,” Mauta reveals.

Mauta explains that he works with the police, Kenya Forest Service, and Kenya Wildlife Service by tabling evidence at the court once smugglers have been arrested.

His office is dotted with sandalwood logs, an indication that the tree species are under threat through illegal harvesting.

Sandalwood species intercepted by security agencies are brought to his office as samples for analysis. He keeps the samples at his office as evidence.

He has collected the samples for many years now.

“Every time an arrest is made anywhere in Kenya, I am called in to help in identifying if the species are true of sandalwood. Samples are brought to our labs here at Kefri for analysis which takes one to two weeks.”

“After I do my analysis and identification at our labs, I write a report where I present a copy at the court and keep another copy for our reference. Kenya is the only place in the region that does wood anatomy apart from Ghana.”

Fines and sentence of sandalwood smuggling are determined by the value of oil. One kilogramme of sandalwood is equivalent to 20 milliliters (mls) of oil.

African Sandalwood, also known as Osyris lanceolata, was listed by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN ) as a threatened species in 2018.

Despite this, and even Kenya banning its harvesting, Mauta confirms that sandalwood smuggling is rampant in Kenya, “The trade thrives because of processing companies in Tanzania and Uganda where oil is extracted and then sold to the thriving beauty market.”

Kefri scientists are working on a propagation project, where they are breeding the specimens of sandalwood to help in producing more seedlings that would see farmers plant the tree for commercial use.

“If this project is well received by farmers, they will directly benefit from sandalwood value and this will automatically clear away smugglers. There is value in sandalwood if well regulated. We will issue licenses to farmers who are willing to be part of the project and this will be a great opportunity to make money.”

According to Environment PS Chris Kiptoo, sandalwood was accorded presidential protection for a period of five years through Legal Notice No 3176 of 2007 under the Forests Act, 2005 (now extended) to allow for the development of mechanisms for sustainable harvesting of the species.

“Sandalwood species is currently listed as an endangered species under the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013. Section 43 provides for restricted activities involving the listed protected species. Sandalwood is among the protected endangered species under the Sixth Schedule under the Act. Section 48 as read with Section 80 provides for licensing for wildlife user rights,” Kiptoo says.

According to Kiptoo, “Sandalwood from Kenya is illegally poached and smuggled to India as a substitute to the Asian Sandalwoods where it is used as an ingredient in the multi-million dollar cosmetic, perfumery and flavor industries.”

Despite Kenya having the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013, the Forest Conservation Management Act 2016, Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) 2015[B(6] , and Kefri role, sandalwood protection is still a thorn in the flesh, and smuggling by cartels is still rampant.

This story was produced with support from Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.