Tourists' insatiable demand for didgeridoos has led to a booming black market that is endangering a rare species of eucalyptus tree, environmentalists warned yesterday.
The Aboriginal wind instrument was traditionally made only from branches already hollowed out by termites.
But Josh Fornea, a university researcher into sustainable harvesting, said manufacturers nowhad no such scruples, hacking off branches and boring through them with power tools.
The most frequently used tree is Eucalyptus phoenicea, a rare gum tree that grows on the fringes of the Central Desert and is increasingly scarce because of the illegal trade.
Mr Fornea said that, in one region near Katherine, in the Northern Territory, "you see literally hundreds of trees with missing branches or just cut down completely".
The trade is strictly regulated; the National Parks and Wildlife Commission in the Northern Territory issued permits for just 3,000 didgeridoos last year. But one souvenir shop in Darwin, the Northern Territory capital, says that it alone sold 9,000 in 2000. Demand for didgeridoos rose sharply during last year's Sydney Olympic Games.
Parks and Wildlife officials are now considering introducing a tagging system in which didgeridoos made from legally harvested timber would carry a label of authenticity. Mr Fornea, who is working with the agency on the problem, said the system would help to ensure that production did not exceed the annual quota. "Hopefully, the authenticity tags will also indicate that a didgeridoo was harvested or painted by Aboriginal people," he said.
Both black and white people are involved in the illegal trade. Bushland in Jawoyn tribal areas near Katherine has been particularly badly affected. Not a single permit has been issued for the area.
