Editing Mahogany (section)

===Recent history===
The [[French Revolution]] of 1789 and the wars that followed radically changed the mahogany trade, primarily due to the progressive collapse of the French and Spanish colonial empires, which allowed British traders into areas previously closed to them. [[Saint Domingue]] became the independent republic of Haiti, and from 1808, Spanish controlled Santo Domingo and Cuba were both open to British vessels for the first time.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

From the 1820s mahogany from all these areas was imported into Europe and North America, with the majority of them going to Britain. In Central America British loggers moved northwest towards Mexico and south into Guatemala. Other areas of Central America as far south as Panama also began to be exploited.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The most important new development was the beginning of large scale logging in Mexico from the 1860s. Most mahogany was cut in the province of [[Tabasco]] and exported from a number of ports on the [[Gulf of Campeche]], from Vera Cruz eastwards to Campeche and Sisal.<ref>Thomas Laslett, Timber and Timber Trees, London (1875), p.178</ref> By the end of the 19th century there was scarcely any part of Central America within reach of the coast untouched by logging, and activity also extended into Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil.<ref name="National Archives"/>

Trade in American mahogany probably reached a peak in the last quarter of the 19th century. Figures are not available for all countries, but Britain alone imported more than 80,000 tons in 1875.<ref>The National Archives (United Kingdom), Cust. 5.</ref> This figure was not matched again. From the 1880s, African mahogany (''[[Khaya]]'' spp.), a related genus, began to be exported in increasing quantities from West Africa, and by the early 20th century it dominated the market.

In 1907 the total of mahogany from all sources imported into Europe was 159,830 tons, of which 121,743 tons were from West Africa.<ref>J. R. Baterden, ''Timber'', London (1908), p. 158.</ref> By this time mahogany from Cuba, Haiti and other West Indian sources had become increasingly difficult to obtain in commercial sizes, and by the late 20th century Central American and even South American mahogany was heading in a similar direction. In 1975 ''S.&nbsp;humilis'' was placed on [[CITES Appendix II]] (a list of species that would be in danger of extinction without strict regulation) followed by ''S.&nbsp;mahagoni'' in 1992. The most abundant species, ''S.&nbsp;macrophylla'', was placed on Appendix III in 1995 and moved to Appendix II in 2003.