Bridging the Gap: linking timber trade with infrastructural ...

INTRODUCTION
Forests and national development
The United Republic of Tanzania, along with many other countries in the Southern Africa Development
Corporation (SADC) region, is in the process of political and economic reform in an attempt to achieve
poverty eradication goals. In this regard, all sectors, including the environment, are required to address
national development objectives. The Vice-President’s Office identified the linkage between poverty and
the environment as a major challenge for combating poverty in Tanzania (Anon., 2002e). The higher
dependence of poorer people on natural resources, especially forest products, and the evident
overutilisation of natural resources that is leading to environmental degradation and increased poverty,
highlights the need to ensure environmental concerns are acknowledged within other sectoral policies
(Anon., 2000d; Anon., 2002e). However, richer people also have an impact and a role to play. Empirical
evidence in other countries has shown clear linkages between the environment and poverty,
demonstrating how poorer households have the greatest dependence on natural resources, including the
generation of income, whilst richer households have the most impact on the environment through the use
of greater quantities of environmental resources (Cavendish, 2000).
Whilst forestry is not amongst the priority sectors for poverty eradication in Tanzania, the sustainable
conservation of forests and woodlands is a prerequisite for the development of the priority sectors,
namely education, health, agriculture, roads, water and judiciary (Kilahama, 2002). Indeed, forests and
woodlands, covering over a third of the land area, are the most valuable natural resources in Tanzania,
supporting rural and urban livelihoods through the provision of essential products 1 , commercial services 2
and many other, generally undervalued, environmental services 3 . The Vice-President’s office stated that
biological diversity services and their commercial enterprises could potentially become the biggest source
of foreign exchange in the future, helping alleviate poverty (Anon., 2002e). The National Forest Policy
(1998) further recognizes that “trade in wood and non-wood forest products offer considerable potential
for increased economic development through income and employment generation as well as export
earnings” (Anon., 1998a).
Nevertheless, the undervaluation of forest and woodland resources (both economic and social values),
and a poor understanding of their links to national sustainable development, has plagued effective
management in the past. Serious degradation of priority forests and woodlands from both environment
and development perspectives has been well documented in Tanzania, both in protected and unprotected
land. This degradation - predicted to continue at least for the next generation – will likely lead to further
losses of biodiversity values at all levels, and will hinder development in the priority sectors if allowed to
continue, consequently contributing to an increase in poverty (Turuka, 1998; Anon., 2001a,e).
1 Forest products, timber and non-timber, include wood energy, building poles and timber, medicines, fruits,
mushrooms, oils, beverages, bamboo, gums, fodder, fibre, honey, candles, dyes, ornamental plants, household
utensils and handicrafts.
2 Commercial services include income and employment from a range of enterprises, including food processing
plants (fisheries and agriculture), furniture and pulp enterprises (forestry) and the tourism and hotel industry
(wildlife and forestry).
3 Forest services include maintaining ecological cycles and micro-climates, nutrient cycling, soil fertility, erosion
control, water catchment, watershed protection, stabilising stream flows, and sink filter for air pollution emissions
and carbon sequestration.
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