Bleeding Trees: Tracking Illegal Loggers in Namibia

John Grobler’s Namibian holiday led him on an unexpected journey tailing trucks and loggers to expose the interests behind illegal logging, a lucrative and illegal business making millions for Chinese companies and local elites.

In this episode Nick Wallis traces OCCRP’s investigation into who is killing the last of Namibia’s protected rosewood trees. We also hear from OCCRP journalist Khadija Sharife on how the tragic destruction of these prized forests fits into the wider looting of Africa’s natural resources.

Finally, sustainability expert Dr. Clemens von Doderer analyzes the causes of Namibia’s illegal logging and what needs to be done to put an end to deforestation.

Dirty Deeds is a Little Gem production for OCCRP. The host is Nick Wallis. The producer is Lindsay Riley at Rethink Audio, with research from Phoebe Adler-Ryan and Riham Moussa.

Read the investigations:

• Felling Namibia’s Ancient Giants
• ‘They Are Finishing the Trees’: Chinese Companies and Namibian Elites Make Millions Illegally Logging the Last Rosewoods

This week’s guests

• John Grobler - @JohnGrblr
• Khadija Sharife - @khadijasharife
• Dr. Clemens von Doderer

Transcript

• Read the transcript on the OCCRP website here

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[00:00] Introduction

[02:33] Khadija explains why she commissioned an investigation into Namibian rosewood

[05:18] John gives a crash course on Namibia

[06:20] Why Chinese demand for rosewood trees is increasing

[08:03] Why and how John began investigating rosewood logging

[13:38] An explainer on CITES and why it’s important for threatened species

[16:13] How Namibia’s political and legal system fuels illegal logging

[18:55] What it’s like to take on a government as a lone journalist

[20:25] Can the redwoods be saved?

[24:33] Dr Clemens von Doderer explains the causes of illegal logging in Namibia

[27:26] How can illegal logging be stopped?

This podcast was originally produced in Spanish. Following recent events in Venezuela, we are sharing it with a wider audience through this human-reviewed AI translation. This is an experiment, so minor imperfections may be present. Original Spanish podcast below:

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• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cuello-blanco-manos-sucias/id1872501127

We welcome your feedback on this experiment at occrp.org/podcast.

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