Geographies in Depth

Why Africa needs to halt the illegal timber trade

Chris Arsenault
Writer, The Thomson Reuters Foundation

Forest protection agencies in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Madagascar will step up joint efforts to combat the rapidly expanding trade in illegal timber under a new deal.

The Zanzibar Declaration on Illegal Trade in Timber and Other Forest Products, signed at a global gathering on forests in South Africa, aims to improve communication between customs authorities and collaboration among forest officials from the east and southeast African nations.

If properly managed, forests provide jobs for workers and homes for wildlife. They also act as a filter pulling planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, so protecting them is crucial for the broader environment.

Across the region, the illegal timber trade is flourishing at an alarming pace, said Juma S. Mgoo, chief executive officer of Tanzania’s Forest Service. Criminal groups are benefiting from the environmental destruction.

“Forests continue to dwindle at unprecedented rates in our region,” Mgoo said in a statement.

“If we continue at the rate which we are going there will be nothing left for our children and their children to enjoy.”

Kenya loses around $10 million annually due to the illegal cross-border wood trade with Tanzania, while Tanzania loses more than $8 million, according to studies cited by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a green group backing the new agreement.

Between 2000 and 2012, forest cover in Tanzania shrank by 2 million hectares (4.94 million acres) – an area the size of Wales in Britain – and by 2.2 million hectares in Mozambique, a WWF analysis showed.

Prior to the agreement, the fight against illegal logging had been “hindered by inadequate collaboration among national forest agencies and customs agencies across the region”, said WWF spokesman Geofrey Mwanjela in a statement calling the new plan a “bold step”.

In east, central and west Africa, criminal groups are thought to make more money from selling illegal wood products – up to $9 billion annually – than through street-level drug-dealing, the United Nations Environment Programme reported last year.

Violent armed groups and “terrorist organisations” in parts of east and central Africa use illegal logging and other forest crimes to finance their activities, UNEP said.

This article is published in collaboration with Thomson Reuters Foundation trust.org. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Author: Chris Arsenault covers global food security and agricultural politics for the Thomson Reuters Foundation. 

Image: An aerial view of Garamba forest in Haute Uele region of northeastern Congo February 21, 2009. REUTERS/Finbarr O’Reilly

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Forests

Related topics:
Geographies in DepthNature and Biodiversity
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Africa is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

How hydrogen powered vehicles will help India reach its emissions targets 

K.R Jyothilal and Narendra Nath Veluri

December 6, 2024

BRICS: Here’s what to know about the international bloc

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum