MOZAMBIQUE

Mozambique's deforestation rate is low at 0.25%; 3.7% of the countrys forests were lost between 1990 and 2005. Forest covers nearly a quarter of the land area. 5.7% of the country is under some form of protection, the largest area being the Limpopo National Park, which is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which also includes Kruger National Park in South Africa and Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe.

Logging for valuable hardwood species has had a serious impact on Mozambique's forests and local livelihoods. In 2007, one local NGO projected that if logging continued at the current rate, there would not be sufficient hardwood species remaining to continue a viable industry in 3-5 years. Mozambican law prohibits the export of primary logs, or unprocessed timber from a number of valuable species; the government hoped that this would force overseas buyers (among which Chinese companies are significant players) to invest locally to develop a sustainable industry. However, the rules are often ignored and licenses granted for logging and export do not guarantee legality. Officials in the National Directorate of Lands and Forests say they lack the resources to enforce the law.

The government has made efforts to clamp down and has said that claims made about the amount of illegal logging are outdated. Many truck loads of illegal timber have been apprehended and forestry, port and customs officials involved in the illegal trade have been removed. In one raid in 2007, 11,000 m3 of illegal hardwood was seized at the quayside.

On a more positive note, the government launched a small grants programme in 2005, with the support of UNDP, which provides grants and other support to community-based groups and NGOs for activities that address land degradation, biodiversity and climate change issues at the local level. In addition, the Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG) is developing a timber tracking system with local industry, and working with Chinese companies to reduce their environmental and social impacts.

DOCUMENTS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
29/05/2009	Tropical Forest Tenure Assessment: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities The goal of this report is to present and analyse the state of forest tenure in much of the world's ...	Rights and Resources Initiative / International Tropical Timber Organisation
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01/05/2009	Forest Governance Learning Group Update May 2009 This 7th Forest Governance Learning Group Update describes activities and their impacts over the last ...	Forest Governance Learning Group
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01/06/2008	Forest Governance Learning Group Update June 2008 This Update highlights the impacts and plans of the Forest Governance Learning Group in its country-based ...	IIED
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01/02/2008	Forest Products Trade between China and Africa: An Analysis of Imports and Exports Recent media coverage of China's efforts to secure access to natural resources in Africa suggests ...	Forest Trends (Kerstin Canby, James Hewitt, Luke Bailey, Eugenia Katsigris, Sun Xiufang)
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01/09/2007	Forest Governance Learning Group Update September 2007 The latest update report from the Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG), describing activities over ...	FGLG
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01/04/2007	Forest Governance Learning Group Update April 2007 The latest update report from the Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG), describing activities over ...	FGLG
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01/04/2006	Forest Governance in Zambesia, Mozambique: Chinese Takeaway! This paper describes the current practices and problems of forest management in the province of Zambézia, ...	FONGZA (Catherine MacKenzie)
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01/01/2006	Forest Governance Learning Group Update January 2006 Describes the group's activities, impacts and outputs over the last year and outlines the path ahead. ...	FGLG
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01/04/2004	Lessons Learnt on Sustainable Forest Management in Africa: Study on Forest Administration and Related Institutional Arrangements This study is a component of a wider initiative jointly undertaken by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture ...	Owino, Prof. F (Forest Resources International, Kenya) & Ndinga, Dr A (Dakar Fann, Senegal)
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NEWS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
16/08/2010	Mozambique: foreign nationals arrested for illegal logging Maputo — Mozambican authorities arrested in the region of Negomano, district of Mueda, in the northern ...	allAfrica.com
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20/05/2010	Mozambique: logging in country at sustainable levels Maputo — Mozambican Agriculture Minister Soares Nhaca has denied claims that the country's ...	allAfrica
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23/07/2009	The need to check deforestation in West Africa Achieving long-term development in West Africa requires much more than just exploiting the region's ...	Business Day, Nigeria
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30/06/2009	Mozambique: The "Poster Child" under review Mozambique was once the darling of southern Africa. Teeming herds of buffalo and elephants drew celebrities ...	Policy Innovations
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28/05/2009	Indigenous people, forest communities in Africa control less than 2% of forest land Less than 2 percent of Africas tropical forests are under community control, hindering efforts to slow ...	Mongabay.com
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25/05/2009	Slow forest tenure reform threatens Africa's action against climate change A new report released today at a major global forestry conference in Cameroon has found that deforestation ...	Africa Science News Service (Kenya)
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13/01/2009	Mozambique timber companies fined over illegal exports The authorities in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado have fined four timber companies ...	Legalbrief (South Africa)
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09/01/2009	Mozambique: Timber Companies Fined Over Illegal Exports Maputo, Mozambique - The authorities in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado have fined four ...	AllAfrica.com
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30/07/2008	Mozambique: Disguised Vehicles Used in Illegal Timber Business Mozambique - Illegal logging operators in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula province have been ...	AllAfrica.com
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15/10/2007	Mozambique: Hundreds of Containers of Illegal Logs Seized The Mozambican authorities have seized 531 containers full of illegal log exports on the quay of the ...	AllAfrica.com
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28/09/2007	Mozambique clamps down on illegal exports A senior officer at Mozambique's Nacala port has been suspended for his alleged involvement in the ...	Independent Online (South Africa)
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13/08/2007	Mozambique: Illegal Logging Still Rife in Nampula Mozambique - The illegal export of unprocessed logs is still rife in the Port of Nacala, in the northern ...	AllAfrica.com
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01/07/2007	Hardwoods under threat as illegal logging escalates One of Mozambique's important natural resources, its hardwood forests, is being seriously denuded ...	The Free Library
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30/05/2007	Illegal timber exports from Moz increase Nampula, Mozambique Illegal timber exports to Asia are on the rise in Mozambique's northern province ...	Citizen (South Africa)
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19/04/2007	Mozambique: Resistance forms to illegal logging Maputo, Mozambique - As reports warning of the scope of illegal logging in Mozambique grow more serious, ...	Reuters (UK)
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09/03/2007	Mozambique: Claims of Indiscriminate Logging 'Out of Date' Parliamentary deputies of the former rebel movement Renamo who claim there is indiscriminate logging ...	AllAfrica.com
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09/02/2007	Mozambique: Only 400 Forest Inspectors in Mozambique One of the reasons why illegal logging continues to flourish in Mozambican forests is that the country ...	AllAfrica.com
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30/01/2007	Mozambique: Chainsaws cut down more than just trees Johannesburg - Worldwide demand for hardwood is stripping Mozambique's forests, cutting down livelihoods ...	IRIN (South Africa)
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26/01/2007	Mozambique: Illegal Logging in Nampula Mozambique - Police and forestry inspectors seized a total of 172,882 cubic metres of illegally logged ...	AllAfrica.com
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14/12/2006	Mozambique: taking ownership or just changing owners? 'Cahora Bassa is ours' are the first words Mozambique's president, Armando Guebuza, said ...	AllAfrica.com
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18/07/2006	Mozambique`s customs halt illegal export of logs Maputo, Mozambique - The Mozambican customs service 20 containers full of logs intended for export to ...	Angola Press (Angola)
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EVENTS

DATE	TITLE
Monday 6th December 2004	Commission For Africa ' Forest Programme Brainstorm A brainstorming session on illegal logging held in part to feed into the Commission for Africa Report, ...
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