Illegal Logging Cuts A Swath Across Tanzania for nytaf@ursula; Fri, 4 Feb 2000 07:28:41 -0500 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit *********************************************** WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS Illegal Logging Cuts A Swath Across Tanzania *********************************************** Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org, Inc. http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Archives http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest Conservation 1/13/00 OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY Tanzania is undergoing rapid deforestation that is leading to "land degradation, destruction of biological diversity, disturbance of the ecosystem and threatening water sources." Following are two reports which emphasize different aspects of the problem--illegal logging and charcoal production. g.b. ******************************* RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE: ITEM #1 Title: Illegal Logging Cuts A Swath Across Tanzania Source: Panafrican News Agency Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - An ecological disaster is looming in most parts of Tanzania, where rampant logging of pristine forests goes unabated at times with the aid of forestry staff. It is estimated that between 130,000 and 500,000 hectares of forest are lost annually, the permanent secretary in the Natural Resources and Tourism, Philemon Luhanjo, said. On the slopes of mount Kilimanjaro - Africa's highest mountain - 17,600 hectares of forest have been destroyed by fire over the past five years. Encroachment and overgrazing are also responsible for the depletion of Tanzania's forests. A recent publication, Cut and Run, Illegal Logging and Timber Trade In The Tropics by the International Development Research Centre in Canada, fingers Tanzania's illegal timber trade. A detailed account of the practice in Ghana shows cases of corruption and fraud malpractice. The publication says wildlife populations in Tanzania, including internationally red-listed species, are being decimated by communities of logging employees who have to subsist on bush meat. Further revelations are that hunting controls are extremely lax. It is said that even the few remaining closed forests in the country also suffer from illegal exploitation, and fraudulent practices. Luhanjo admitted the goings-on is sometimes aided by corrupt forestry staff, whom he threatened to punish. The forestry staff are also suspected of collusion in the decimation of endangered animal species. Also implicated are timber product dealers, merchants, private individuals, saw-millers and logging companies. The suspects threaten Tanzania's 33.5 million hectares of forest and woodland. Only 13 million hectares of the country's entire forest acreage are gazetted forest reserves, of which 600,000 hectares belong to Local Government Forest Reserves. Luhanjo said illegal exploitation is occurring almost all over the country both in forest reserves and in unreserved forest areas. Suspects deal in unlicensed harvesting of timber, fuelwood and charcoal. Illegal trading in timber products is especially rife in cross border areas. An example is the trading in Brachylaena Hutchinsii (Muhuhu) on the Tanzanian-Kenyan border, in which most of the timber is both illegally harvested and exported, Luhanjo said. As a means of halting the devastation, authorities have begun enlisting the help of communities living near forests. They are being advocated to help in forest conservation measures. Another measure embarked on is the mounting of police patrols on major roads in a bid to arrest suspects and the impounding of illegal forest produce. Luhanjo warned that disciplinary action would be taken against staff found to be involved in illegal timber harvesting. He noted that the inability of forestry staff to issue licenses to all people who apply in all areas and in time, may be one of the motivating factors contributing to illegal timber trade. Other factors are incompetent and corrupt elements among some staff who check and authenticate the forest products acquired or transported and weak forestry administration in some forest areas. The lack of affordable alternative sources of energy also causes communities in rural areas to resort to forests as an immediate source. "They also revert to exploiting forests as an immediate source of income," Luhanjo said. A recent study by the Research on Poverty Alleviation has indicated that of the 2.5 million hectares of forest in Coast and Dar es Salaam regions, only 369,523 hectares have been declared as reserved. The remaining 85.3 percent is left to the mercy of the public. The institute has called for proper forest management and extraction of forest products to save forests from destruction. ITEM #2 Title: Deforestation in Tanzania alarming Source: 2000 TOMRIC Agency via Africa News Service Dar Es Salaam - Every 24 hour, over 2,000 bags of charcoal enter the city of Dares-Salaam. The bags are deposited in the outskirts of the city, with most of the charcoal coming from the coast region. Tree cutting is a non-stop process in the region, and worse still very little if any efforts are devoted to planting trees- or to arrest the situation. The largest use of wood in Tanzania is fuel. It accounts for 97 percent of all wood consumption in the country. "It is a deforestation process at an alarming rate," say Mr. Richard Maja, one of the executive officers of Environmental Conservation and Human Empowerment Unit. (ECHEU), a Dar Es Salaam- based non governmental organization. Afforestation is so much needed on the outskirts of the city and coast region, as the charcoal business turns once dense forest areas into open spaces, he declared in an interview with the TOMRIC Agency. Over-utilization of existing natural resources, tree cutting for charcoal making shifting agriculture and wood harvesting for building purposes are depleting the forest areas, he says. The Egos is now looking for funds to launch tree planting campaigns, he says. Lamenting that indiscriminate cutting down of trees was continuing despite the danger being known. A study conducted in the two regions shows that with about 3 million population, Dar Es Salaam consumes 7.5m tonnes of charcoal yearly, which, experts say, threatens existing forests. The study was conducted early last year, to ascertain the situation before efforts to launch tree planting campaigns are initiated, he said. The program envisaged is not limited to tree planting but will include advocacy and conducting training among grassroots communities about ways to conserve the forest environment, he said. Mr. Maja is optimistic, says that the government and international organisations will show their willingness to provide support. In November 1998 the government launched the National Tree Planting Compaign (NTPC) which Mr. Maja says the new program is in line with the previous initiative. As in the case of poverty alleviation environmental conservation is under the office of the Vice President, and coordination of the campaign in Dar Es Salaam and the Coast regions will also follow the same channels, he said. NTPC was launched following area studies, calling for collective measures, as ten to twenty years ahead, over 50 per cent of the country's vegetable land would have turned into a dust blown, inhospitable semi desert, he remarked. There are still a few forests, though at risk, in both Dar Es Salaam and coast regions. A recent study by the National Environmental Management Council (NEMC) indicates that despite well publicised efforts to control deforestation, coastal forests face extinction. A large variety of creatures, exclusive birds among them, used to be seen in these forests but had mostly disappeared. Deforestation is not a problem faced by Dar and coast regions alone, as various studies show that Central and northern regions are just as intensively affected. Almost all of the regions in the central part of Tanzania and the southern parts of Lake Victoria basin, the Maasai steppe count among the more depleted areas, NEMC reports indicate. Depletion of coastal and mangrove forests as a result of the demand for wood and charcoal is evident in the country. Mangrove forests are part of wider forest depletion estimated by the Tanzanian Wildlife Society at 300,000 and 400,000 hectares annually. There is a dispute on these figures, as the country office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates deforestation at 140,000 hectares annually, at most. Land degradation, destruction of biological diversity, disturbance of the ecosystem and threatening water sources are becoming widespread as a result of deforestation. Contributing factors to this trend include poverty, low public awareness and failure to bring local residences, to participate in ecosystem conservation efforts, Mr. Maja noted. Professor Marjorie Mbilinyi of the Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP), emphasized the gender aspect in seeking an efficient method in dealing with environmental issues. Emphasis should be on making the program transformative, the don underlines. In their observation researchers, Dr. Gregory Njau and Mr. Eric Mugurus on towards sustainable environment in Tanzania, recommend proper ownership of the forests. According to the current system forests as the case with land is the property of the government. They think that personal ownership of forests, would be effective in curbing deforestation increase an interest in conservation and methodical tree harvesting. They say in their report that so long as prices of forest product are low, not including the environmental cost incurred by the wider community, deforestation will not be curbed, the researchers emphasizes. Dr, Alexis Naho of the Economic Research Bureau (ERB) at the University of Dar Es Salaam, asserts that bad public policies contribute a lot to environmental problems. He wants the price of woods and its related products, be raised to include environmental coasts and he says, "It is very likely demand responses to price increases will help to sort out the problem." He says the government needs to design the policy mechanism which affects the price system in the trading of forest products. Such a mechanism provides a better guarantee against deforestation than sporadic campaigns and tree planting, he asserts. Evidence in ERB studies on the problem points to the need for measures for an improvement in living standards as party of an overall solution to the serious deforestation problem, he added. ###RELAYED TEXT ENDS### This document is a PHOTOCOPY for educational, personal and non- commercial use only. Recipients should seek permission from the source for reprinting. All efforts are made to provide accurate, timely pieces; though ultimate responsibility for verifying all information rests with the reader. 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