Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya ...

Tanzania Seizes 157 Containers of Timber in Porthttp://www.cepf.net/xp/cepf/news/newsletter/2004/september_topstory.xmlPage 2 of 34/18/2005southern Africa.At the opening of the bridge in August 2003, PresidentBenjamin Mkapa warned against uncontrolled charcoalproduction and timber harvesting with disregard to laws andprinciples of sustainable utilization.A recently awarded Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund(CEPF) grant to TRAFFIC aims to address these issuesthrough field research to compare current timber trade levelswith historical transect data and baseline data collected byTRAFFIC with support from the Rufford Maurice LaingFoundation and WWF before completion of the bridge.Previously, seasonal flooding of the Rufiji River delta duringmonsoons resulted in serious isolation south of the river.However, improved transport infrastructure is opening upthe entire southeast portion of Tanzania to much-neededdevelopment, which inadvertently exposes the coastalforests to the growing demands of urban and foreign timbermarkets.“We envisage that the additional information on the status ofkey forests and levels of harvesting—building on baselineinformation we collected before completion of the Mkapabridge—will add more solid facts to justify the kind ofmanagement actions that are starting to emerge now,”Milledge said.The results will assist the government in ensuring thatnegative environmental and associated livelihood impactsare minimized during the forthcoming period of developmentfollowing creation of a permanent link between southeastTanzania and Dar es Salaam.The containers were locked out by the ban deadline beforethey could be loaded onto ships. Other hundreds of logsmay be stockpiled in forests or on the way to the port fromlogging sites inland.Four private companies had threatened legal action,including demands of $1.6 million in compensation forstorage loss. However, the Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Tourism recently confirmed that all 157 containersinspected contained tree species not authorized for export.”In terms of raising awareness and law enforcement action,the last month has been really positive but harvesting andexports continue in some areas and concerted efforts shouldcontinue,” Milledge said. “In particular, the export of logs andsawn wood from small ports along the southeast coastlineneed more attention.“It is also hoped that any legal proceedings consider theeconomic impact of declines in some species that could take20 to 30 years to recover, huge revenue losses bymisclassification and under-payment of royalties, and mostimportantly, degradation of landscapes that support so manylivelihoods.”Subscribe to the Newsletter or View more E-News top stories