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

fees, applying ‘minimum breath height’ rules, and hammering), most of the evaluation of timber
products is actually conducted at checkpoints.
In addition, most of the checkpoint officials were not trained in forestry and not conversant with timber
identification, forest legislation and policy. Many checkpoint officials had problems in identifying
forged documents and the trade in undersize or banned timber. Basic office facilities, poor equipment
and long working hours all contribute to low morale amongst checkpoint personnel, and these factors
were cited by forest officers as major reasons leading to corrupt practices. Mud and grass-thatched huts
were used as checkpoint offices, in many cases without furniture or toilet facilities. With the exception
of Kibiti, checkpoints had no means of transport to facilitate further investigation of dealers in forest
products, especially those illegally transporting products by night using detours, reportedly a common
phenomenon in Lindi and Coast Regions. Further, most checkpoints had a shortage of, or lacked,
essential basic equipment to facilitate revenue collection, including pocket calculators, tables for
calculating timber volumes, ledger books, measuring tapes, torches or weighing scales.
Most checkpoint officials are employees of village governments or district authorities, with fewer
numbers of central government personnel. However, there is no clear memorandum of understanding on
the sharing of responsibilities between the village/district employees and central government. In reality,
differing objectives and poor linkages between different institutions are proving to be obstacles to
effective management at checkpoints. For example, central government revenue collection is in general
weak due to poor institutional linkages and a lack of trained manpower to implement the different forest
rules regarding revenue collection.
Whilst the greatest emphasis on revenue collection at most checkpoints was on village and district
authority revenue, minimal attention is placed on collecting information useful as secondary indicators
of woodland status, for example data on species composition, harvest areas or other details. As a result,
record keeping varied greatly between checkpoints.
Revenue collection
In general, timber revenue is only collected if harvesters and transporters of wood products happen to
pass checkpoints. Since many traders bypass the checkpoints, a significant amount of revenue is lost.
Potential revenues are further lost by the inability of some checkpoint staff to check consignments
against accompanying documentation adequately or because of direct collusion between traders and
checkpoint personnel. Common methods to avoid royalties include species misclassification,
underdeclaration of volumes and transporting wood as planks or semi-processed furniture parts. The
transport of so-called ‘off-cuts’ and wood pieces as furniture parts is an increasingly common practice in
the study area, with both methods routinely used to reduce royalty payments.
Forest management
The large areas of ungazetted, open woodland in the study area imply that their future integrity is largely
dependent upon management by surrounding communities. Ongoing efforts by central and local
authorities to empower local communities to manage their natural resources through wise utilization is,
therefore, a prerequisite for sustainable conservation of miombo woodlands in the study area. However,
low awareness and acknowledgement of the contribution of forests to community livelihoods - by
villagers and decision makers at all levels - is a major constraint to sustainable development. De Waal
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