In a previous blog I mentioned Engelmann Spruce being CITES listed. This is to explain more about CITES see: http://www.cites.org/
Timber is also becoming a scarce commodity and we need to plan and use wisely what we have left. Even in this small trade of guitar making we can see the depletion of good quality of wood - with proper planning we can win.
In our fast moving economic environment, and our ever growing world population, we are experiencing an increasing demand on our natural resources and if we, as a human race are not careful, because of our ever growing desire to have and consume, we will deplete and possibly destroy our planet. There are organisations that exist and are doing good work and are trying to make people aware and are trying to put restrictions on using resources that are endangered..... CITES is one of these agreements...
What is CITES
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
Widespread information nowadays about the endangered status of many prominent species, such as the tiger and elephants, might make the need for such a convention seem obvious. But at the time when the ideas for CITES were first formed, in the 1960s, international discussion of the regulation of wildlife trade for conservation purposes was something relatively new. With hindsight, the need for CITES is clear. Annually, international wildlife trade is estimated to be worth billions of dollars and to include hundreds of millions of plant and animal specimens. The trade is diverse, ranging from live animals and plants to a vast array of wildlife products derived from them, including food products, exotic leather goods, wooden musical instruments, timber, tourist curios and medicines. Levels of exploitation of some animal and plant species are high and the trade in them, together with other factors, such as habitat loss, is capable of heavily depleting their populations and even bringing some species close to extinction. Many wildlife species in trade are not endangered, but the existence of an agreement to ensure the sustainability of the trade is important in order to safeguard these resources for the future.
Because the trade in wild animals and plants crosses borders between countries, the effort to regulate it requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation. CITES was conceived in the spirit of such cooperation. Today, it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 35,000 species of animals and plants, whether they are traded as live specimens, fur coats or dried herbs.
How Cites Works
CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls. All import, export, re-export and introduction from the sea of species covered by the Convention has to be authorized through a licensing system. 
Each Party to the Convention must designate one or more Management Authorities in charge of administering that licensing system and one or more Scientific Authorities to advise them on the effects of trade on the status of the species.
We need to do much more as a human race to protect this planet against greed and abuse. In South Africa we have a rapid depletion of our Rhino due to brutal poaching, all for just their horn. Yet amazingly, you can still acquire a licence to hunt a Rhino..? We need to do Much More!!!
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