Costa Rican officials also battling cocobolo logging

An official points out heartwood of an illegally felled cocobolo tree. Photo courtesy of the Diario Extra.

In Panama, cocobolo fever (el fiebre de cocobolo) is rising, as the dry season moves into its second month. But it's not limited to Panama. In Costa Rica, officials are battling illegal harvesting of the precious wood, facing a "mafia" that is becoming ever more sophisticated in how they smuggle the wood to market. Here's the full story (Spanish).

According to the latest International Tropical Timber Organization report, a cubic meter of cocobolo (dalbergia retusa), in one port at least, is selling for nearly $8,500. As a point of reference, a cubic meter of teak is going for around $1280.

Cocobolo doesn't tend to develop heartwood until it's more mature, so ours should be safe for now. But come year 20, we might need a small army to fend off opportunistic loggers.

Read more about the cocobolo frenzy in our previous blogs here, here, here, and here.