Wounaan Fight Illegal Loggers Over Prized Cocobolo Rosewood

The Wounaan, who lack legal rights to the forested lands despite generations of residence, filed complaints with Panamanian officials and sought media support. By 2012, cocobolo's value in China had surged to over US$13,000 per cubic meter, and by 2014, Panama exported US$55.5 million worth of rosewood to China, making it the 16th-largest supplier. The species, once listed as vulnerable, was reassessed as critically endangered by 2019. A new book, Interwoven Rosewood: Collaborative Ecologies, Colonial Entanglements, and Indigenous Resistance, co-authored with the Wounaan National Congress and the Wounaan Local Congress of the Majé Community, presents the story through Wounaan values, emphasizing relationship-building and resistance against extractivist exploitation.