Illegal activities disrupting timber business

Business Writer
Operations of Zimbabwe’s timber companies remain constrained due to illegal occupation of their forests, an industry lobby group said.

Timber Producers Federation (TPF), that includes biggest producers said about 20 000 hectares of its members’ forests have been occupied for agricultural purposes, making it inaccessible for replanting.

Gazetted commercial forests are under Zimbabwe’s protected area network which also includes national parks, wildlife parks, conservancies and communal areas.

The invasions by some artisanal miners and wood poachers, are also worsening the situation amid growing concerns this could lead to timber shortages in the near future.

“The affected areas are inaccessible and this is affecting replanting programmes of our members,” TPF chief executive Darlington Duwa told The Herald Finance & Business in an interview.

He said some companies who are not their members were also affected, adding that the illegal settlers have also become a major source of fires.

“There are promises that the matter will be settled by the authorities,” said Duwa.

Commercial forests declined from 120 000 hectares to about 69,000 hectares in 2019, according to the Timber Producers Federation.

Zimbabwe has an estimated utilisable commercial forest land of 100 000 ha but the unplanted area resulting from the veld fires ranges between 30 000 ha and 40 000ha, according to the Forestry Commission.

This was creating harvesting gaps of mature trees and companies might soon be forced to stop felling as there would be no adequate resource warranting harvesting.

Eucalyptus trees, popularly known as gum trees and pine are the most grown species in Zimbabwe’s commercial forests. They take between 20 and 25 years to mature.

Duwa could not quantify the potential loss but indicated “it is quite substantial.”

“The (human) population is growing, the economy is growing and this will certainly create a challenge in terms of meeting demand if it goes on like this,” said Duwa.

“If we are to meet the demand it is important for the companies to continue planting. We are not only looking to meet domestic demand but also produce surplus for export markets so that the country can earn foreign currency.”

The market has already started feeling the logging industry’s challenges with the price of timber shooting through the roof.