What is mpingo?
Mpingo is one of the most expensive timbers in the world and is preferred wood of the musical instrument trade because of its high density, fine texture and exceptional durability. Due to unsustainable extraction the tree is threatened with commercial extinction, but a sustainable trade is possible, providing a secure long term future for both woodwind musicians and communities who live around the forests where it grows. The current trade is extremely inequitable with local communities receiving only a tiny fraction of the wood's value, but if this value could instead be leveraged for the benefit of local farmers it would provide valuable additional income to some of the poorest people in Tanzania and an economic incentive for those communities to conserve and protect their forests. In short it has enormous potential to act as a flagship species for both conservation and development.
Mpingo: the Tree
Mpingo is the Swahili name for Dalbergia melanoxylon, the East African Blackwood. The trees have a scruffy appearance and are frequently multi-stemmed and extensively branched. They grow very slowly and often in very gnarled and twisted shapes. Harvestable size is not reached until an estimated 70 to 100 years. Mature trees are typically between 4.5m and 7.5m high, with an average girth of 1.2m. The yellowish-brown bark on the main stem flakes off in long strips, while smaller branches bear sharp spines 2-3cm in length.
Mpingo goes under many different names:
(East) African Blackwood (English), Mpingo (Swahili), Pau preto (Portuguese), Grenadilla (trade name), Zebrawood (trade name), Mugembe (from its use as a hoe), Poyi, Endisika, Kidamo, Kinti, Masojanda, Mgembya, Mhembote, Mhingo, Minday, Mupako, Mwajinde, Ngembi, Nyamfunga, Oitlaska, Q'oya, Tamumo mhembete
Mpingo is semi-deciduous, losing many of its leaves over the dry season in common with most trees of its habitat. The flowers are small, white, sweetly scented and grow in tight clusters. They develop into greyish, papery pods each containing one or two seeds which are wind dispersed.



Links of Interest
Our Partner Organisations
- Fauna & Flora International (FFI) - the world's oldest international conservation NGO, and the first to show real interest in mpingo.
- The Environment Africa Trust (EAT)
- WWF Tanzania Programme Office
- The Tanzania Natural Resources Forum (TNRF) - MCDI is a leading member of the Forestry Working Group
- Maliasili Initiatives
- The National Forests Programme of the Tanzanian Government
Mpingo-specific links
- Soundwood
An FFI programme concerned with all trees which are used to make musical instruments. - The African Blackwood Conservation Project - an excellent and information-rich site about mpingo, its plight, and Sebastian Chuwa's admirable replanting and education project in Northern Tanzania.
- A report on International Trade in African Blackwood produced by FFI.
- Timbers used for carving in Kenya - the history of wood-carving in East Africa, and details of an innovative project working to diversify species selection by Kenyan carvers.
- Dalbergia melanoxylon: valuable wood from a neglected tree - a brief overview by Dr. Ladislaus Nshubemuki, Director of Forest Production Research at TAFORI.
- Trade and Environment Database entry for mpingo
- A small inventory of mpingo in Nachingwea District - abstract only of a paper published in African Study Monographs.
- A short blog about the making of a radio programme on mpingo.
General miombo links
- The Miombo Network - part of the the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, and the framework for the IGBP study.
- Wilderness Area Factsheet from Conservation International
- WWF Ecoregion profile
- The Miombo in Transition: Woodlands and Welfare in Africa - an excellent book on miombo by Bruce Campbell, and available on-line from the CIFOR web-site.
- A paper on the fire ecology of miombo
- An agroforestry project in Malawi
- Modelling policy impacts on miombo exploitation (a CIFOR paper)
- Socio-economic research topics in miombo management (another CIFOR paper)
- Forest Governance in Zambesia, Mozambique: Chinese Takeaway! - a major report on illegal logging in Mozambique to supply the Chinese market.
- A short quiz and information page about miombo
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