Let the music play!

Brazil’s proposal to list Brazilwood in Appendix I received overwhelming support, but the European Union, driven by France, proposed a working group, which Brazil accepted for the sake of diplomacy. The vote, which would have been approved by two-thirds of the delegations with flying colours, did not take place.

The conclusions of the working group, composed of Canada, the United States of America, Brazil, China, Republic of Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Russia, United Kingdom, European Union, Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Norway, Philippines and Australia are expected before the end of the conference. Observers, including luthiers, bow makers and musicians who are opposed to the listing of Brazilwood in Appendix I, are excluded from this group.

The coalition of luthiers and bow makers is showing cracks. On condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisals from an industry that is virtually fossilised, luthiers and bow makers support Brazil’s proposal. “Alternatives to Brazilwood for bow making already exist and are just waiting to be explored technically and musically. We defend crafts and music that reflect our values and move with social and environmental contexts.”

Romain Viala, a researcher in applied mechanics specialising in acoustics at the Femto-ST laboratory in Besançon (France), expresses his irritation at the violin industry’s constant repetition of the same argument in the Belgian newspaper Le Soir. “There is no marked difference between Brazilwood and other materials in terms of sound as well as of the musician’s experience.” “In the absence of such scientific study, it amounts to using a declining species based on a belief. I have no reason to think that other woods or composite materials used to make bows, with the same mass and stiffness as Brazilwood, could not do the job.” “If a petition defended the use of elephant tusks, whale oil or rhino horn in the name of tradition and unsubstantiated “quality”, it would be deemed unacceptable. The fact that we are talking about wood should not lower our scientific and ethical standards.” The article in Le Soir also takes into account the arguments put forward by Robin des Bois (Robin Hood). “Bow makers use only 5 to 10% of the tree, the heartwood, which has no cracks, knots or cross fibers. But the whole tree still has to be felled. The rest is used for purposes that are completely insignificant compared to the value of the tree. It’s an argument made in bad faith.” “Faced with the near disappearance of wild trees, bow makers and violinists are clinging to a tradition that dates back to 1750. But today is 2025! There is a refusal to take reality into account.”

Carbon fibre bows already exist. But Romain Viala is interested in the virtues of compressed flax as a replacement for Brazilwood bows. “It is a renewable material, for which there is an industry in Normandy, and its mechanical damping characteristics are closer to those of wood than carbon.” Other experts cite alternative woods such as acacia, rowan, larch, black locust and laburnum.

Previous press releases from Robin des Bois regarding the CITES COP20 in Uzbekistan:
– Brazilwood: a colonial refrain. Press release CITES CoP 20 n°1, October 30, 2025
– Brazilwood: the melody of chainsaws. Press release CITES CoP 20 n°2, November 19, 2025
– Opening of CITES CoP20 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Press release CITES CoP20 n°3, November 24, 2025