Illegal logging in Mozambique has cost the state around US$200 million per year, a “significant amount” for the country’s development, the Environment Ministry said on Monday, 21 March.
According to Lusa, the funds would be used, for example, to renew infrastructure destroyed by cyclones or to renew for almost two years external military support to combat terrorism in the north of the country.
The tax evasion figures were published by the Mozambican government on World Forest Day, which was marked yesterday, and after high-profile cases of interception of cargo for smuggling.
In 2021, the Mozambican authorities recovered 76 containers of wood illegally exported to China.
The previous year, the authorities seized almost 2,000 logs of wood from illegal logging in the central province of Tete alone.
“The country has been implementing measures to ensure the sustainable use of its forest heritage, by combating trafficking, reducing deforestation and forest degradation,” the statement said.
Revision of the legal framework, implementation of a forest management system, assessment of local authorities and operators are measures indicated by the government, along with promotion of planting.
In Mozambique, forests cover 32 million hectares, or around 40 percent of the country’s total area, of which 17.2 million hectares have potential for producing wood.
The forestry sector employs 14,000 people and has 1,000 operators, a fifth of whom are under concession and the remainder under simple licence.
