Gimme a break, There is no way that the needs of luthiers for exotic woods can endanger the trees. Luciano says that his woods come from dead trees, but it isn't necessary that he say that. The massive endangerment of the rain forests in S.A. is not only from the loggers but also the cut and burn of the native agriculturists. Any wood sold as rosewood, or whatever, comes from someone who knew the value of the rosewood. The problem is those who don't know that the wood has value and just cut it to get it out of the way (either of their crop fields, or of their lumbering). The forests of England and Spain were stripped of fine oak in the time of the great fleets, but the yew wasn't stripped for the archers. The bow had to be made from just the right branch of a mature tree - whereas the masts of the Armada and the English fleet required the entire trunk of the straightest and best oak.
Take any wood you will, the entire production of hand crafted musical instruments in the world won't impact the ecology. But if the elite decide they need rosewood dashboards on their cars, and the polloi follow them, that would be a problem. There is an old joke, The Lawyer's Prayer: Dear God, if there is a God, and for the purposes of this prayer we shall assume there is a God. Well then I'll say that that god invented rosewood, cherry and all the other exotic wood specifically for the use of luthiers - to be harvested carefully and nurtured for the making of music for mankind. But not for clear cutting or burning. Best, Jon
