The government plans to hire 750 inspectors by 2026 to work at ports, border crossings and conservation areas, reinforcing inspection and preventing deforestation and the illegal exploitation of forest resources, the Lusa news agency reported on Friday 21 March .
‘Another 750 inspectors are planned, and they won’t just be for ports and borders, but also to increase our inspection capacity at the cutting site and in conservation areas, which have been increasingly targeted due to the presence of virgin forests and appreciable timber. The aim is to ensure greater control in these areas,’ said Emília Fumo, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries.
According to her, 1,000 inspectors have already been recently allocated to reinforce control at border posts, ports and conservation areas, having been recruited last year. However, Emília Fumo emphasised the need to increase the number of agents in the districts and provinces where illegal exploitation of forest resources is most intense.
Deforestation in the country affected 875,453 hectares in four years, despite a decrease in 2022. The provinces most affected were Niassa and Zambézia, according to statistics collected by Lusa and released last October.
A report by the National Statistics Institute (INE), which analysed the period from 2019 to 2022, revealed that in that last year, deforestation – covering various types of forest – fell by 31% compared to the previous year, standing at 209,464 hectares.
Deforestation peaked in 2021, with a total of 303,689 hectares affected, of which 264,999 hectares corresponded to semi-deciduous (tropical) forest, 29,258 hectares to semi-evergreen forest and 99 hectares to mangroves, among others.
In 2019, deforestation totalled 199,910 hectares, rising to 242,390 in 2020.
During the period analysed by INE, the provinces of Niassa and Zambézia recorded the highest rates of deforestation, with 180,279 and 167,367 hectares, respectively.
