Development of Sustainable Forest Use Strategies - Eastern Arc ...

3.2.1 Logging: current status and indicators
The current status of logging practices is considered unsustainable. Indicators that
were used to evaluate the forest use through logging included illegal harvesting,
harvesting on steep slopes and catchment areas, presence/absence of management
plans, the number and type of confiscations, number of court cases related to
products from EAMFs, number/presence of sawpits in an area, poor harvesting
practices (e.g. high stump heights, damage to remaining plants, and harvesting of
under-size logs), high extraction rates, and low material utilization.
All logging activities in EAMFs were banned since 1990s. However, evidences of
serious illegal logging were witnessed as indicated (Figures 3, 4, and 5). In addition,
figures in Tables 2 and 3 show how widespread illegal harvesting is in the EAMFs.
Areas visited such as South Pare (Chome FR), East Usambara, Udzungwa and
Rubeho Mountain blocks show high levels of illegal harvesting (www.easternarc.or.tz
, 2006; and MNRT 2005).
Figure 3: Evidence of illegal timber business at Same District Catchment Forest
Office (left) and District Forest Office (right) (Field photo, 2006).
Figure 3 shows confiscated timber and timber products at Same District Forest
Office. The door frames were made from Olea capensis, which is a rare species in
the Eastern Arc Mountains. The species is heavily and illegally exploited in Kwizu
Forest Reserve, which is under the Local Authority. It was reported that about 22
frames were confiscated at one round and that many others are smuggled out. The
illegal harvesting makes the species locally threatened. It was further observed that
illegal tree felling in the forests is continuing despite the joint forest management
agreements between FBD and villages. This is reflected in the volumes of timber
confiscated as observed at Same District Catchment Forest Office (Figure 3 left) and
Amani Nature Reserve Office (Figures 3 right). In Same district, between May 2005
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