The government of Mauritius has announced that it will declare sandal wood as a protected plant, following numerous reports that several groups of people have been entering private properties and State lands illegally to cut these trees for the purpose of procuring the said wood for exportation.
In a communiqué, the government said that there has been a rise in the felling of tree species Santalum album commonly known as sandal wood, a culturally significant tree species which form part of the few trees growing on dry lowland landscape of the country.
It emphasized that with a view to halting the destruction and theft of the sandal wood, the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security would stop the issue of phytosanitary certificate for export of sandal wood by the National Plant Protection Office as an immediate measure and it will also declare sandal wood as a protected plant.