"The Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) summit on Thursday placed all 300 species of rosewood under trade restrictions, meaning criminals can no longer pass off illegally logged species as legitimate. "
“The importance of protecting the entire Dalbergia genus of rosewood is that criminals can no longer pass off illegal rosewood as one of the previously unprotected species.”
African Blackwood is Dalbergia melanoxylon.
Good thing I’m a Mopane guy 
.. perhaps it will start getting more use, since it is a viable alternative that is just as suitable for instruments. I’m actually surprised it isn’t more popular than it is.
I’ve always preferred Mopane both for looks and feel. The grain feels a little denser and harder than blackwood, but that may not be scientifically accurate. It just feels good 
sounds awesome too.
I’m a big proponent of using local materials, so I think it’d be cool to see increased use of local hardwoods.
Good thing I’m a Mopane guy >
A bit short sighted I would think. Use up the cocos, move on to rosewood, rosewood gone, well we go to mopane… Is that really the cycle you want to be locked in to? Learn from history and don’t keep repeating the same thing, hoping for a better outcome.
I’m with you on going local, but unfortunately hardwoods from temperate biomes aren’t resinous, at least not nearly to the degree you find among the Fabaceae tropical heartwoods (blackwood, rosewood, mopane, cocus, etc.). The good looks are secondary; this resinous property gives physical and performance stability by greatly slowing the absorption and desorption of moisture, very desirable traits for wooden flutes and other mouthblown woodwinds.
As an experiment (sort of), I had Pat Olwell make a flute out of Eastern US dogwood. It was a first for him; neither of us knew if it had ever been done before. As it was a prototype he couldn’t provide warranty, but considering the source, I was fine with that. The flute came out light as a feather although the wood was dense, tough, and hard as nails (it fell from a table and the rim of its endcap hit a tile floor, but the mishap left no mark!); the timbre was well in keeping with today’s trad-type flutes, with a bit of an edge to its tone that I attributed to the wood itself. It was a dandy stick, and Pat did himself proud. But even the best expertise cannot override a wood’s basic nature. The joints would swell rapidly and so much that sometimes after extended playing I couldn’t take it apart; I had to wait some time for it to desorb first, and all the worrying was too much for me. The only solution was to bind the tenons for a loose fit and let the swelling take its course to make up for it, but until then you had a loose, rattly flute. Not so good, either. All this was due to the dogwood being non-resinous. Against this, Olwell had impregnated it with linseed oil and I too oiled the daylights out of it particularly on the endgrains, but none of it made any difference. Needless to say, I went back to blackwood. It was a shame, because I really liked that flute otherwise. I would expect similar issues out of rock maple or birch, for example.
If the temperate regions had resinous hardwoods we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.
I actually agree with your assessment. I was not proposing switching to Mopane as a solution, as it was simply an observation on its current state of use.
I know you were tongue in cheek in your reaction but, I am in a pessimistic phase about the state of the world, the problem is a serious one. We’re seeing a mass extinction in progress before out eyes as the Anthropocene is taking hold.
Start planting now: http://www.mpingoconservation.org/
Does anyone know whether CITES provides outlets for such organizations? I looked at their website and I couldn’t find any specific info about waivers (I know they exist for pre-listing materials, but dunno whether there are waivers for good stewards).
What does this do for wood already harvested and sold? I’ve got a fair stock of exotic hardwoods including some favorite Dahlbergias-- Cocobolo, Blackwood, Tulipwood.
The article linked in the OP says “Some rosewood species can still be logged under the new rules, but will require permits that should only be granted if it is deemed sustainable. The rules could be revisited in the final Cites session next week, but this is unlikely. Rosewood is also used to make some musical instruments, such as guitars, but the new rules will not prevent musicians travelling with their instruments.”
It may, however, restrict the sale of existing instruments across international borders, or possibly, at all, just as those with ivory or Brazilian Rosewood have been affected.
Time to restart my GAS (guitar acquisition syndrome) and stock up on rosewood acoustics until I’m certain that I won’t ever feel the need for another later when I can’t get them.