New Zealand cracks down on illegal exports of ancient timber

The New Zealand government Monday announced a crackdown on exports of an ancient timber resource after claims that exporters were duping regulators to illegally sell the logs abroad.

The move followed claims that swamp kauri logs -- massive logs of New Zealand's native kauri hardwood that have been preserved in peat land for thousands of years -- are being exported as art works after rudimentary Maori designs have been carved on them.

New Zealand law bans exports of the highly-prized swamp kauri logs -- said to be the world's oldest workable wood -- although the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) can authorize exports of

finished swamp kauri products, such as bowls, table tops and carvings.

MPI said Monday that all swamp kauri extraction would have to be reported to the authorities, and MPI inspectors would inspect every consignment of swamp kauri for export and the extraction site.

MPI would also monitor swamp kauri advertisements on overseas websites and take action when a business could be violating the rules, MPI director spatial, forestry and land management Aoife Martin said in a statement.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said the changes would make the extraction, milling and export of swamp kauri more transparent.

"Many operators have been processing swamp Kauri domestically for 30 years and while most is still processed and sold locally, in recent years the export trade has been growing," Guy said in a statement.

Swamp kauri is a finite resource found only in the far north of the North Island.

It is believed the trees -- some of which had grown for up to 2, 000 years -- were leveled by events such as storms up to 50,000 years ago before being preserved in peat lands, according to the government's Te Ara online encyclopedia. Endi