Neil D. Burgess, Paul Harrison, Peter Sumbi, James Laizer, Adam ...

Vikindu
Pande
Pugu
Ruvu
Kisiju
Muchungu
Ngumburuni
Namakutwa
Kiwengoma
Stacked % felled Timber Class
Average 'stump value' in US$
MANAGEMENT ISSUES: TANZANIA’S COASTAL FORESTS 2011
4.4.3 Logging
The commercial logging of Coastal Forest tree species currently occurs mainly in northern Mozambique
and the remoter areas of Tanzania, especially to the south. Logging using pit sawing techniques occurs in
those Coastal Forests where commercial timber trees remain. Many forests have already been logged to
exhaustion for the usual commercial timber trees but are ever threatened by further logging when
commercial attention shifts to new species.
Particularly heavy exploitation for round wood export recently occurred in the Coastal Forests of the
Rufiji, Kilwa and Lindi Districts of Tanzania, although this has now been stopped to a limited extent.
Although some of this logging is undertaken using licences obtained from the relevant authorities, most
is illegal. Logging of the valuable trees is often the first major disturbance to a forest, which then
progresses to fire wood collection and charcoal burning, and in the worse cases to clearance for
agricultural use. Studies within 10 forests from Dar es Salaam south to the Matumbi Hills (Ahrends
2005) have shown that logging of the highest value trees is concentrated more than 150 km south of the
city – for the simple reason that these high value timber species have already been exploited in the
forests closer to Dar es Salaam (Figure 20).
Distance from DSM in km
100%
10 20 30 50 70 100 170 210 220
100
75%
50%
25%
0%
75
50
25
0
Timber Class V
Timber Class IV
Timber Class II
Timber Class I
Average 'stump value'
Linear (Average 'stump
value')
Forest
Figure 20: Logging of timber trees in the forests from Dar es Salaam to the Matumbi Hills (From Ahrends
2005)
4.4.4 Uncontrolled fires:
Although forest fires are an occasional natural phenomenon in eastern Africa, due mainly to lightning
strikes, the vast majority are started by people, who use fire to clear farmland, drive animals for hunting,
collect honey, and remove tsetse flies from an area. Some other fires are started accidentally, for
example from cigarettes thrown from passing vehicles or by pedestrians. Fire can invade lowland