Red Sanders, a diminutive tree that has an ecosystem of inter-State smuggling rackets around it, has been auctioned for the first time in the State. On November 22, the Bengaluru division of the Forest Department auctioned 52 tonnes for ₹6.46 crore.
With few natural growing patches of red sanders, which are listed as endangered by the International Union of Conservation of Nature, in the State, almost all of the auctioned wood, as well as others lying in storehouses, were seized by the police, forest mobile squads or the forest cell of the CID.
“We had put up 86 tonnes on the block, but the sale of 52 tonnes in just one day is great. The value is slightly more than what we expected and matches the established auctions of commercial red sanders in Andhra Pradesh,” said Dipika Bajpai, Deputy Conservator of Forests (Bangalore Urban).
The auction has spurred into action a plan to sell the remaining 130 tonnes of Red Sanders in depots in Shivamogga, Bengaluru and Mysuru.
Long journey
For the Forest Department, it has been a long journey. First, approval from courts had to be obtained, then rules framed to grade the wood (A grade being the best, rejects being the worst), permission from Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) — which regulates international trade — and finally, Directorate General of Foreign Trade for clearances to export the material.
“An auction earlier did not see any participation as the Chinese buyers stayed away because it was, according to their belief, an inauspicious month. We took precautions this time, even securing export licence in the name of the Forest Department so that purchasing Red Sanders will be hassle-free,” said Brijesh Kumar Dikshit, Additional Chief Conservator of Forests (Forest Resource Management).
China, where the wood is highly valued, is the biggest importer of legal and illegal Red Sanders.
For the Forest Department, the auctions opens a source of revenue for a material that was, so far, condemned to a life in godowns. The one-day auction, for instance, fetched more revenue than what was achieved by all commercial harvest through the year even besting the previous all-time record of ₹5.53 crore in the financial year 2012-13, said Mr. Dikshit.
Red Sanders, Karnataka and China
Grown in a large scale in Andhra Pradesh, Red Sanders is often smuggled through Karnataka from where, through ports, it makes its way to China.
Each year, an estimated 50,000 kg of Red Sanders is seized in Karnataka. Officials said the wood is hidden in crates of onions or disguised as ready-made furniture and shipped to Kochi, Mangaluru or Mumbai from southern Andhra Pradesh towards China. Furniture made from the rich-red colour of the wood is considered auspicious while smaller pieces are used in traditional medicine as a cure for a range of ailments, including hemoerrhages and dysentery, and as an aphrodisiac.
With demand far exceeding supply, one kilogram of the wood can fetch up to ₹12,000 in the black market. And this has given rise to violence.
In 2015, 20 people were killed in southern Andhra Pradesh when police tried to stop Red Sanders smugglers. Earlier this month, violence between two gangs led to the seizure of 9,000 kg of illegally procured Red Sanders, on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
