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

Table 20
Class composition of hardwood licences (m 3 ) issued in Rufiji District, 1992-2001
Class 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Total
Class I 106.8 232.9 263.0 70.5 23.5 30.0 0.0 6.3 7.0 10.3 750.3
Class II 2 521.5 895.5 562.2 1 317.2 913.2 2 663.0 1 591.7 2 431.4 2 319.0 1 482.3 16 697.0
Class III 334.8 220.5 0.0 107.4 131.9 149.0 153.3 199.3 317.0 76.3 1 689.5
Class IV 0.5 4.5 1.0 40.0 4.0 109.0 802.3 278.0 727.0 372.9 2 339.2
Class V 16.0 25.5 8.0 704.1 288.8 451.0 3 013.9 3 903.7 6 929.0 6 655.9 21 995.9
Total 2 979.6 1 378.9 834.2 2 239.2 1 361.4 3 402.0 5 561.2 6 818.7 10 299.0 8 597.7 43 471.9
Source: Rufiji District licence data, 1992-2001.
Table 20 also shows how Class IV species have increased since 1997 and Dalbergia melanoxylon (Class
I) declined dramatically after 1994. The latter trend supports ground observations showing how less
valuable timber species are being selected following mass reduction of wild stands of the more valuable
hardwoods due to overexploitation. Within Class II, declines in Pterocarpus, Newtonia, Milicia and
Khaya were gradually replaced by alternatives such as Swartzia, Milletia and Afzelia. The DFAPTF
reported that Dalbergia melanoxylon, Khaya anthotheca, Milicia exelsa and Pterocarpus angolensis are
already commercially extinct in Rufiji District, whilst Afzelia quanzensis, Millettia stuhlmannii and
Swartzia madagascarensis are threatened with commercial extinction in the future (Anon., 2002g).
Figure 14
Class composition of hardwood licences (m 3 ) issued in Rufiji District, 1992-2001
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
Class V
Class IV
Class III
Class II
Class I
2,000
0
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: Rufiji District licence data, 1992-2001.
Similarly, south of the Rufiji River in Kilwa District where Class II species currently dominate harvest
licences issued, increasing quantities of lower value timber species (e.g. Brachystegia spp., Maeopsis
eminii) have been issued since 1998 (Table 21). Further, the proportions of high-value Dalbergia
48