Razia Saïd launches a campaign against Gibson concerning Rosewood guitars

Razia Saïd, the Malagasy singer residing in the United States, has become more and more committed in the protection of the environment. After an awareness campaign she conducted in Masoala last year, she is currently campaigning against the American Gibson guitar manufacturer.

As indicated in the newspaper “Le Monde” of January 21, Razia Saïd launched on Thursday, January 19, an awareness-raising question at the opening of the Anaheim Convention Center in California where the association of music traders held a meeting (NAMM). “Do you want illegal wood on your guitar?”, she declared, certainly making reference to rosewood used on the necks of most Gibson guitar.  

According to Razia Saïd, “The American manufacturer of Gibson Guitar uses rosewoods that are illegally logged from Madagascar.” This great American company has already been charged for making pressure on the U.S authorities to abandon certain measures preventing the import of precious wood illegally logged and requiring buyers to declare where their goods come from and proving their legality.

Razia Saïd’s fight against the illegal export of rosewood is already in its fifth year. It began in 2007 when she returned from a trip to her native village, Antalaha, which is one of the important zones of illicit export of rosewood in the Great Island. As recently as last year, she already launched a reforestation campaign in Masoala, as part of a festival entitled “Wake up Masoala” in which the artist was able to encourage the population as well as environmental organizations to plant up to 20.000 trees.