Characterising the links between the trade in donkey skins for Traditional Chinese Medicine and timber of conservation concern

Trade in donkey skin for the production of E-Jiao, a Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been linked to the international wildlife trade, including the timber trade. We investigated timber species available in the donkey skin trade networks in business-to-business e-commerce websites in terms of speci...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Su, S, Macdonald, EA, Arcilla, N, Beseng, M, Thomaz, F, Macdonald, DW
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023
_version_ 1797110587808808960
author Su, S
Macdonald, EA
Arcilla, N
Beseng, M
Thomaz, F
Macdonald, DW
author_facet Su, S
Macdonald, EA
Arcilla, N
Beseng, M
Thomaz, F
Macdonald, DW
author_sort Su, S
collection OXFORD
description Trade in donkey skin for the production of E-Jiao, a Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been linked to the international wildlife trade, including the timber trade. We investigated timber species available in the donkey skin trade networks in business-to-business e-commerce websites in terms of species origins, supply, and demand. Using 340 product categories offered by 385 traders located in 55 countries we conducted a network analysis centred on trade in donkey skins. We identified over 60 tree species of 54 genera and 22 families, most of the species of conservation concern were native to Africa, including four hongmu species, which are high-value tree species identified by the National Rosewood Standard in China. We found 24 tree species of global conservation concern included in the donkey skin product network; these are designated by CITES in Appendices and/or by the IUCN as threatened or near-threatened. The presence of both donkey skins and timber species of conservation concern indicates a need for heightened surveillance and transparent reporting of the donkey skin trade. Furthermore, this points to a fresh avenue for monitoring the trade of timber, particularly for those species that are linked to the donkey skin product network.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T07:58:26Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:0a21a66c-9fe9-448e-b776-43749942c968
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T07:58:26Z
publishDate 2023
publisher Elsevier
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:0a21a66c-9fe9-448e-b776-43749942c9682023-09-06T16:36:05ZCharacterising the links between the trade in donkey skins for Traditional Chinese Medicine and timber of conservation concernJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:0a21a66c-9fe9-448e-b776-43749942c968EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2023Su, SMacdonald, EAArcilla, NBeseng, MThomaz, FMacdonald, DWTrade in donkey skin for the production of E-Jiao, a Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been linked to the international wildlife trade, including the timber trade. We investigated timber species available in the donkey skin trade networks in business-to-business e-commerce websites in terms of species origins, supply, and demand. Using 340 product categories offered by 385 traders located in 55 countries we conducted a network analysis centred on trade in donkey skins. We identified over 60 tree species of 54 genera and 22 families, most of the species of conservation concern were native to Africa, including four hongmu species, which are high-value tree species identified by the National Rosewood Standard in China. We found 24 tree species of global conservation concern included in the donkey skin product network; these are designated by CITES in Appendices and/or by the IUCN as threatened or near-threatened. The presence of both donkey skins and timber species of conservation concern indicates a need for heightened surveillance and transparent reporting of the donkey skin trade. Furthermore, this points to a fresh avenue for monitoring the trade of timber, particularly for those species that are linked to the donkey skin product network.
spellingShingle Su, S
Macdonald, EA
Arcilla, N
Beseng, M
Thomaz, F
Macdonald, DW
Characterising the links between the trade in donkey skins for Traditional Chinese Medicine and timber of conservation concern
title Characterising the links between the trade in donkey skins for Traditional Chinese Medicine and timber of conservation concern
title_full Characterising the links between the trade in donkey skins for Traditional Chinese Medicine and timber of conservation concern
title_fullStr Characterising the links between the trade in donkey skins for Traditional Chinese Medicine and timber of conservation concern
title_full_unstemmed Characterising the links between the trade in donkey skins for Traditional Chinese Medicine and timber of conservation concern
title_short Characterising the links between the trade in donkey skins for Traditional Chinese Medicine and timber of conservation concern
title_sort characterising the links between the trade in donkey skins for traditional chinese medicine and timber of conservation concern
work_keys_str_mv AT sus characterisingthelinksbetweenthetradeindonkeyskinsfortraditionalchinesemedicineandtimberofconservationconcern
AT macdonaldea characterisingthelinksbetweenthetradeindonkeyskinsfortraditionalchinesemedicineandtimberofconservationconcern
AT arcillan characterisingthelinksbetweenthetradeindonkeyskinsfortraditionalchinesemedicineandtimberofconservationconcern
AT besengm characterisingthelinksbetweenthetradeindonkeyskinsfortraditionalchinesemedicineandtimberofconservationconcern
AT thomazf characterisingthelinksbetweenthetradeindonkeyskinsfortraditionalchinesemedicineandtimberofconservationconcern
AT macdonalddw characterisingthelinksbetweenthetradeindonkeyskinsfortraditionalchinesemedicineandtimberofconservationconcern