Mozambican authorities issued a warning on Friday, August 1st, regarding the alleged involvement of government officials in illegal logging operations within protected areas of Nampula province, in northern Mozambique.
“Especially in the reserves in Mecubúri, we have recorded an invasion of illegal loggers operating with the connivance of community leaders, and it is likely that government structures are also involved,” said Tadeu Mariano, provincial delegate of the National Agency for Environmental Quality Control (AQUA).
Quoted by Rádio Moçambique, the official expressed concern over the potential involvement of state officials and agents in the crime, stating that an alert had been issued across all public institutions in Nampula.
The AQUA provincial delegate also voiced concern over illegal logging in the Matibane forest reserve, another protected area in Nampula, warning that the situation is putting the region at serious risk.
“The Matibane forest is also being destroyed by illegal operators. Besides being a protected area, it contains a type of timber called mecrusse, whose exploitation is strictly prohibited,” he emphasized.
Deforestation in Mozambique affected 875,453 hectares between 2019 and 2022, mainly impacting the provinces of Niassa and Zambézia, according to a report by the National Statistics Institute.
In June, Mozambican authorities seized 30 tonnes of charcoal at the Ressano Garcia border post, in Maputo province, due to suspicions of illegal extraction and transport destined for neighboring South Africa.
Source: Diário Económico
