People continue to openly sell nabak wood in many markets in Abyei despite banning of the trade two months ago in the disputed area between Sudan and South Sudan.

The Abyei Administrative Area's Department of Forestry outlawed buying and selling nabak wood because the tree is environmentally important and can be used to make medicine.

Offenders face fines of up to 1500 SSP and prison sentences of up to three months, a forestry department official said.

But illegal loggers continue to cut the trees. One builder in Luotagook told a local radio station he has few other options for lumber, adding that nabak is hard-wearing and resists insect damage.

The forestry department said it will soon appoint an observer to report people who cut nabak.

Illegal harvesters sometimes burn other trees in the forest to make the nabak easier to reach.

Nabak fruits can be eaten and the roots can be used for medicine.

File photo: A refugee from Blue Nile building his house in Maban County, 2012 (Radio Tamazuj)