He was speaking in the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic on Thursday, in response to a request for information from the opposition Renamo-Electoral Union coalition on the management of the country's forest resources.
According to Castro's figures, the amount of commercial logging comes nowhere near half a million cubic metres a year. He said that in 2002, log production was 163,212 cubic metres, and has been less than this in the subsequent four years (113,125 cubic metres in 2003, 151,711 cubic metres in 2004, 102,626 cubic metres in 2005, and 143,587 cubic metres in 2006).
The government's figures indicate that the hunt for wood fuel is a much more serious threat to the country's forests than is commercial logging.
Wood fuel, said Castro, accounts for 80 per cent of the energy consumed in Mozambique. It is estimated that the amount of firewood and charcoal taken from Mozambican forests amounts to 17 million cubic metres a year.
Castro said there are over 118 tree species in Mozambique that could be exploited commercially, of which only 31 were currently being used, "which shows that we are not fully using the existing potential".
From 2002, the government banned the export of unprocessed logs of "class 1" species of trees (precious hardwoods). These woods can only be legally exported after they have been processed inside Mozambique.
"This measure", said Castro, "seeks to reduce the pressure on these species, and to promote the industrialisation of the timber sector, producing goods with greater added value, as well as creating more jobs in the countryside".
After the restriction on the export of logs, there was a growth in the number of processing units (mostly sawmills) from 139 in 2000 to 178 in 2005. The production of sawn wood rose from 28.121 cubic metres in 2004 to about 40,000 cubic metres in 2006.
Over the same period the export of processed wood rose from 7,000 to 30,000 cubic metres.
"The numbers presented suggested that the restriction on the export of 1st class logs is having positive effects on the industrialisation of the sector and the export of manufactured products", said Castro.
To cover the entire country, the government has no more than 400 forestry wardens, some in mobile brigades and others at 57 fixed posts at strategic points (e.g. on inter-provincial roads, at the entrance points to major cities, and at the entrances to ports).
These wardens, Castro said, had undertaken inspection actions in 2006 which resulted in the seizure of 5,283 cubic metres of logs, 147 cubic metres of sawn wood, 470 cubic metres of firewood and 4,814 sacks of charcoal.
But illegally logged class 1 hardwoods are still making their way into the country's ports, Castro admitted - which is only possible with the connivance of wardens. This year, 19 containers, filled with about 500 cubic metres of class 1 logs, were seized at the northern port of Pemba, before a Chinese-owned company could export them.
Castro added that another eight containers were seized in Nacala port and 18 in Beira. The goods had been seized and fines imposed on the companies concerned. In addition, disciplinary proceedings had been opened against those forestry wardens who are presumed to have connived at filling the containers with illegal logs.
Castro thus painted a picture of reasonably healthy forestry management, where hardwood resources are protected, and where those who break the law are caught. He did not so much as mention reports which indicate widespread corruption in the forestry sector and that foreign companies (many owned by Chinese citizens), in collaboration with Mozambicans, are looting the country's forests.
The main such report, entitled "Forestry governance in Zambezia: a Chinese takeaway", written by Katherine Mackenzie, was released by the Forum of Zambezia NGOs (FONGZA). It claims that bribery is the norm in Zambezia forestry, and that trucks tend to carry double the amount of logs that are declared. The government has yet to respond to these extremely serious accusations.
Opposition deputies have certainly read the reports, and they believed that Mozambican forests are in danger of disappearance. "In five or ten years, there will be no more forests in Zambezia", declared Angelina Enoque. "It's time to change our attitude towards the indiscriminate cutting down of our forests. We run a risk of erosion, desertification and an increase in poverty".
"Exporting logs means that in a short time Mozambique will have no forests", predicted Luis Gouveia. This was due to a handful of Mozambicans "in collusion with a country we all know" (he was clearly referring to China).
Manuel de Araujo attacked "a timber mafia, linked to powerful figures" which, thanks to widespread corruption, was ravaging the country's forests "without any respect for the law".
"Thousands of class 1 logs are piled up in the ports of Quelimane, Pemba, Nacala and Beira !", he exclaimed. "Why are some sectors protected but others are not ? Why are forest resources not protected in the same way that sugar is ?" "Some of our leaders, businessmen and officials measure the development of the country by the girth of their stomachs", Araujo accused.
He suggested that there should be an immediate moratorium, not only on the export of all logs, but on granting forestry licences and concessions, followed by an investigation of all existing licences and concessions.
Castro is expected to reply to the Renamo deputies on Friday.
SOURCE: AIM
