More than 18-million cubic metres of wood are indiscriminately cut down in Mozambique, mainly for firewood, each year, Vista News reported on Thursday.
This was according to a report presented on Thursday by Mario Falcao, a researcher at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, at a debate on the state of the country’s forests held in Maputo.
The report indicated that more than 18-million cubic metres of wood were taken from the country’s forests by rural and urban people in the form of firewood or charcoal for domestic purposes.
Falcao said he had found that the destruction of the country’s forests for domestic purposes was 50% more than that destined for export of timber.
He called on the government to intensify its inspection of the random cutting down of trees in order to ensure ”the sustainability of the country’s forests”.
The government’s national forestry director, Arlito Cuco, who also attended the debate, said there were laws against the wanton destruction of natural resources.
According to a Southern African Development Community report published in 1997 and updated in 2006, Mozambique has an estimated 19-million hectares of productive woodland.
The report estimated the country’s logging capacity at about 500 000 cubic metres per year. — Sapa