U.S. Guitar Maker Funds Ebony Tree Planting in Congo Basin

A nine-year study led by the UCLA Congo Basin Institute found that African forest elephants play a key role in spreading ebony tree seeds across central Africa. Camera traps and dung analysis showed that elephants carry seeds for miles and that rodents avoid seeds in dung. Researchers recorded 68 percent fewer ebony saplings in forest areas without elephants.

Habitat loss and illegal ivory trade have reduced African forest elephant populations by an estimated 80 percent over the past three decades, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The study concluded that the loss of elephants could lead to fewer ebony trees regenerating naturally.

"If the elephant disappears, we should expect a loss, an extinction, of the ebony species," CBI research assistant Eric Onguene told CNN.

Taylor Guitars, based in El Cajon, California, has funded much of the research because ebony is used for guitar fretboards and bridges. The company co-owns the Crelicam ebony mill in Yaoundé, Cameroon. "In most of the places where ebony had been harvested, the supply had run out," Crelicam Mill director Matthew LeBreton told CNN.

The Ebony Project, started in 2016, has planted nearly 50,000 ebony trees and more than 34,000 fruit trees in partnership with 13 Baka communities. Baka planters receive ownership of the trees and seeds for faster-growing fruit species. "It totally changed our lives," Samuel Bambo Mempong, a planter from the village of Bifolone, told CNN.

Ebony trees can take up to 100 years to reach full size.

Taylor Guitars co-founder Bob Taylor said the company aims to reach one million planted trees within the next decade. "I just want to leave the next generation with more choices than we have," he said.