Vera Ribeiro - Geasphere Mozambique

Mozambique is a country rich in forest resources. Most provinces have vast areas of unspoiled, beautiful forests, from where rural communities acquire several goods for subsistence as well as for cultural and spiritual reasons. The majority of Mozambicans live in rural areas (63% of the total population of 19 million) and depend on the collection of firewood and the production of charcoal for cooking and heating, which represents 85% of the total energy consumption in the country.  It is estimated that in 2005 alone, 22 029 000m³ of wood were removed for the production of charcoal, which represent a major form of resource depletion. Timber and precious woods are also used by communities for the construction of houses and for arts and crafts such as carvings and sculptures.  Non wood forest products (NWFPs) include medicinal plants, grass, bamboo, reed and veldt foods such as wild vegetables, fruit and tubers, amongst others. Most of these NWFPs are not marketed by local communities, largely due to a lack of infrastructure and the difficulties in accessing towns and markets. However, there are several people selling mats and baskets, chairs and beds made out of grass along the main roads.

Approximately 60 million hectares or 75% of the country’s land area is covered in forests and woodlands. Because these forests are far less dense than the typical African tropical rain forests, it makes it easy to find and remove valuable trees. Driving through Mozambique, it is easily apparent that deforestation is on the increase everywhere, more devastating, though, as one approaches the coastal areas particularly those in the vicinity of ports and harbours, as well as major cities and towns. Trucks loaded with logs are a constant sight, and at sunset, the air becomes heavy with the smell of coal and firewood burning. In recently logged areas there are several abandoned logs, left either because they had defects or it was unprofitable to transport them. In most of these areas there are no signs of trees being replanted or any type of forest management.

Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) is a strategy adopted by government in order to implement the social objectives of the national Forest and Wildlife Law of 1999, which embrace the principle of participation in the decision making process regarding the sustainable use of natural resources. This type of approach is designed to bring benefits to conservation, to the national economy, to private operators and to communities. Today, there are approximately 68 such initiatives in Mozambique. In Macosso District (Chinguinhene & Tsetsere localities), there are examples of local communities being involved and empowered in the management of forest and wildlife resources. These have Comités de Gestão dos Recursos Naturais (Natural Resource Management Committees), composed of 10 community members (including women), who are chosen by the local community (although in some instances government decides), and meet on a regular basis to discuss problems encountered and possible solutions to control, manage and protect forest resources. Decree no. 12 of 2002 stipulated that 20% of the value of access, exploitation and utilization fees should be channeled to local communities. However, this has been very poorly implemented, as communities lack both information and resources, and are usually not sufficiently organized to be able to effectively utilize the 20% on their own. In several cases investors and the Provincial Services for Forests and Wildlife do not follow the prescribed actions, and communities are left with little resources to refute or alter the situation. Felix Cossa, who works closely with the Macossa District communities states that despite the fact that they still have a big challenge regarding the allocation of the 20% value of fees to the local community, there have been substantial improvements in the state of forest resources as there is no logging taking place without community consultation/knowledge, and there has been a decrease in uncontrolled forest fires. At the same time, the communities of Chinguinhene now owe a flour mill.

Despite the adoption of CBNRM, there are still vast areas of unsustainable forest practices. Many of these are found in the so called simple license regimes, where foreign traders (especially Chinese traders), local business people and government officials are involved in the removal of precious hardwoods at an alarming rate, rendering the resource unsustainable in the long term. Although the volumes involved in trade are small, they have negative impacts on the national economy, and bring no benefits to local communities. Forest concession systems (which are required by law) are being established very slowly, and, although there are a number of legal requirements to obtain a concession (timber resource inventory, topography map, technical and industrial capacity to process the timber within the concession area, consultation with local communities, and a management plan), very few do so.

Rural communities are therefore left with very few alternative sources of employment, and are forced to work for simple license operators for extremely low salaries with no skills development or by simply supplying dealers with illegally harvested logs. The 20% of license fees which is supposed to benefit communities is still not properly implemented, as the mechanisms involved in the process are still new and largely unknown.

In order to preserve this remaining unique and valuable resource in Mozambique, more community based projects, including tourism ventures could be developed, and support given to communities so as to uplift them and increase ownership of their resources. Forest operators wishing to exploit a forest area should be forced to enter into partnerships with local communities. At the same time, there’s a need for stronger and more efficient law enforcement with regards to forest exploitation. For example, there should be mechanisms in place to ensure forest concessionaires reforest logged areas with indigenous plants (and not with alien monocultures such as eucalyptus and pine, as these would bring very little social benefits and have negative impacts on local ecosystems), and that they have an industry in place so as to add value in the country and to develop skills. A cost and benefit analysis should be carried out in order to inform the government, civil society and the international community on how forest resources are currently being exploited and to show the real costs of deforestation to the country’s economy and to its largely impoverished population who deeply depend on healthy ecosystems for their livelihoods.