The actors in the timber exploitation chain, in Nampula province, defend the increase from 20 to 30% of the forest activity consignment fees for the communities.
This was one of several suggestions presented during the debate held last week in the city of Nampula, as part of the public hearing on the Forestry Law. It became clear that the new aspects brought by the authorities to the discussion are not of the full domain of the operators, so it was suggested that the preliminary project continues to be socialized and the proposals and suggestions should be forwarded to those entitled to them.
The vice-president of the Federation of Timber Operators of Mozambique, António Silva, confirmed that his association is one of the proponents of the preliminary project and highlighted that these are common concerns in all provinces where public consultation has already taken place.
"It's a concern, really, because the communities that host the operators, and in Nampula, for example, they don't get their 20%.
Another suggestion is that the Government should regulate the use of the fees, because what has happened is that when the amount is received there are problems in its division", he said.
The other concern is the lack of a reference price for the sale of wood, a different situation in relation to other resources such as cotton. This fact contributes to the disparity of prices set by buyers.
"In AQUA (National Agency for the Control of Environmental Quality) there are illicit charges and the Executive should put a stop to them. As partners of the Government, we want to take these concerns to the top management of this body so that the supervision there is a change of behavior," he said.
In an interview with AIM, Renato Timane, from the Ministry of Land and Environment (MTA), highlighted some strong points of the preliminary draft of the Forestry Law. He pointed out, for example, the elimination of the simple license in favor of logging concessions, in addition to the prohibition of the export of this unprocessed resource.
"The first aspect of change in this proposal is the mode of operation of the simple license system for forest concessions, with a duration of 50 years renewable. These concessions can be small-scale up to a maximum of 20,000 hectares, only for nationals, be they local communities or legal entities," he explained.
The MTA official says he got the sense that stakeholders in the timber value chain agree that revision of the current law is needed.
"Roughly agrees with the revision of the law, because it also understands that the current one has a series of gaps," he noted.
In his turn, the governor of Nampula province, Manuel Rodrigues, says that the revision of the Forestry Law is justified and pertinent. "This is a matter that certainly intends to ensure the sustainable exploitation of natural resources for our survival and well-being. There is a need for the revision of the regulatory and guiding instrument for the forestry component, which proves to be inadequate to the current national and international conjuncture", he pointed out.
Nampula has about 7.8 million hectares of forests with excellent conditions to be used for production, hunting and mountain tourism.
Its potential led to the establishment of five forest reserves, namely Mecubúri, with 230,000 hectares and considered to be the second largest in Africa, Matibane, Baixo Pinda, Ribáuè, and Mpalué.
The most exploited forest species in this province are jambire, chanfuta, umbila, pau-preto and pau-rosa.