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

Rufiji District, while licences for nine were issued for Kilwa District and licences for no more than four
each were issued for Lindi, Liwale, Nachingwea and Ruangwa Districts.
Secondly, the harvest licences from each district vary in terms of the proportion of different species
(Figure 11). The majority of licences issued in Rufiji District are Class V species and account for almost
all Class V licences issued from the entire study area (Table 15). Almost half of the licences issued from
Rufiji District in 2001 were Hymenaea verrucosa, with a further quarter attributable to Trichilia emetica.
The low proportion of Class II species from Rufiji District suggests overexploitation of these higher value
species.
Moving southwards from the Rufiji River, the proportion of Class I and II species increases markedly.
During 2001, over 80% of licences issued from Kilwa, Lindi, Nachingwea, Liwale and Ruangwa Districts
were comprised of Class I and II species. Class I Dalbergia melanoxylon was issued from four districts,
predominantly Kilwa and Nachingwea Districts. Indeed, this species alone accounted for over 50% by
harvest volume licensed for Nachingwea District in 2001. Pterocarpus angolensis remains the most
popular Class II species, accounting for 83% by harvest volume licensed for Ruangwa, 81% for Liwale
and 75% for Kilwa. The most popular species by harvest volume licensed for Lindi was Milicia exelsa
(71%).
Figure 11
Relative proportion of different classes of timber between district harvest licences, Kibiti
checkpoint and an Ikwiriri sawmill
Sawmill
Ruangwa licenses
Nachingwea licenses
Liwale licenses
Lindi licenses
Kilwa licenses
Rufiji licenses
All licenses
Kibiti checkpoint
Class I Class II Class III Class IV Class V
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Sources: Rufiji, Kilwa, Lindi, Nachingwea and Liwale District harvest licences (2001), Kibiti checkpoint (October
2001 to January 2002) and PIC Ltd. (Ikwiriri) sawmill (2001).
Timber moving north of Rufiji River
Three indicators of species composition were obtainable for timber moving north of the Rufiji River,
which in turn was compared with harvest records from the study area. These included official district
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