Madagascar's ruling High Transitional Authority has introduced heavier penalties in a bid to crack down on illegal exports of rosewoods and ebony, an official source said Friday.

"Given the scale of the damage and the harm to the national economy, it is appropriate to strengthen the measures covering rosewood and ebony, to plan for and punish further breaches," said a statement from the HAT.

The measure is a bid to deal with "the progressive and increasingly fast deterioration" of the Madagascan environment by introducing new terms for logging and the marketing and export of the rare timber.

Promulgated last Monday by the HAT's president, strongman Andry Rajoelina, the decree bans unauthorised exploitation of precious wood, punishing breaches with jail terms of between two and five years and providing for fines of twice the commercial value of the illegally cut timber.

An illegal traffic in rare wood has long existed, but has developed rapidly since the beginning of a political transition and power struggles in 2009, leading to the destruction of natural resources in the Indian Ocean island nation.

A special authority in the capital Antananarivo will deal with future infractions, under the decree.

Under pressure from donor countries which continue to finance Rajoelina's contested regime, the Madagascan authorities have taken steps in recent weeks to deal with illegal trafficking and corruption.

Several cargo containers of rare woods were recently found in Mauritius and in Madagascar itself. A member of parliament has been taken into custody in connection with the affair.

The Madagascan state currently holds about 10,000 logs, worth several million euros (dollars), which it plans on selling.

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