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

Declining sizes of sawn wood
Table 22 shows how the average length of some valuable Class II logs processed by PIC Ltd. is now
smaller than the market preference for sawn wood lengths, 3.66 m (12 feet). These include Pterocarpus
angolensis (2.9 m), Millettia stuhlmannii (2.9 m) and Afzelia quanzensis (2.3 m). The smaller log lengths
of these valuable species, in particular Pterocarpus angolensis, matches claims by traders throughout the
study area that plank sizes have decreased markedly since the 1980s. Field observations during this study
confirmed Pterocarpus angolensis planks in some areas measuring only 1.8-2.1 m in length due to the
scarcity of mature specimens, as well as evidence of recent harvesting of young trees throughout the
study area. Further evidence of unsustainable harvesting comes from a
survey conducted along the Kibiti-Ikwiriri road by REMP in 2000,
which revealed that the average diameter of fresh Pterocarpus
angolensis stumps in Ngumburuni Forest Reserve was 0.3 m, half the
minimum harvestable diameter of 0.6 m for sustainable harvest practices
(Anon., 2002f,h). This wood is subsequently traded as ‘off-cuts’
(normally branches from previously felled trees) that are not subject to
licensing or other forms of regulation, hence fall outside existing
measures to control and monitor timber utilisation.
Credit: IUCN/O. Hamerlynck
Hamerlynck (2003) reported steep declines in the availability of Afzelia
quanzensis in Rufiji District since 1999, with traders even targeting
diseased and irregular specimens for the production of short 1.8m planks.
Harvesting of young Pterocarpus
angolensis in Rufiji District, later to
be sold as ‘off-cuts’.
Official Kibiti checkpoint records reveal further evidence of unsustainable trade leading to declining
plank sizes. Whilst sawn wood sizes are never homogenous, sawn wood travelling north through Kibiti
from October 2001 to January 2002 averaged just 0.05 m 3 round wood equivalent (or 18.41 planks per m 3
round wood). According to the Rufiji District Forest Action Plan Task Force (RDFAPTF), a cubic metre
of round wood from well-stocked miombo woodland should yield around 12 standard planks (Anon.,
2002f). The higher number of planks being cut from a cubic metre of wood indicates smaller sized
planks. However, the average sawn wood volume of 0.05 m 3 round wood equivalent should be
interpreted with caution since the accuracy of source data is questionable.
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