'There's no timber harvesting'
The minister says he does not support large-scale harvesting which can decimate Namibia's forests within 20 years.
Despite reports to the contrary, environment minister Pohamba Shifeta said there has been no commercial harvesting of timber since the introduction of the moratorium on the issuance of harvesting permits in 26 November last year.
“Since then there were no issuance of harvesting licenses and there has been no timber harvesting since November,” Shifeta said in parliament on Thursday.
He said the trucks transporting timber to Walvis Bay may not contain timber originating from Namibia, but that these are merely being transported through Namibia from neighbouring countries.
“The majority [of the trucks] are not from Namibia,” he stressed.
Shifeta, however, emphasised that Namibia cannot allow timber harvesting at the scale as was experienced before November.
If allowed, he said, it will take less than 20 years “to bid farewell to our only forest zones we have”.
“Namibia is a semi-arid country; this makes our forestry and hardwood resources even more precious. Thus we need to manage them properly and sustainably,” he said.
He said his ministry “does not support” large-scale harvesting, especially if done without any value-addition and if done in contravention with the Environmental Management Act.
Shifeta and his team visited the affected areas during 18 to 22 February and found that an estimated 390 permits were issued without environmental clearance certificates in Kavango East.
By then, 68 000 trees had already been harvested and exported.
Shifeta said it was found that foreigners are being contracted by farmers to harvest the trees while there is very little monitoring of their activities and enforcement on the ground as required by law.
There was also a concern over random harvesting because trees are not marked.
He said although the directorate of forestry in the agriculture ministry uses marketing permits as tools to control the transport of the logs, it is difficult to control because of the high volumes of trucks and timber being exported.
Shifeta said the finance ministry should get on board to regulate export duties and taxes relating to timber and suggested that operating hours be restricted to daytimes.
Currently most hauling and transportation commence at night, which Shifeta said opens up the opportunities for illegal harvesting and increased risk of poaching.
The sizes of trees that have been harvested was also questioned, where in some cases it was reported that trees lower than 45 centimetres in diameter were felled.
“Ignorance of the law is not an excuse,” he said, acknowledging that the legal requirements have been “largely ignored”.
None of the harvesting that has so far taken place was done properly because none of the harvesting licences have been accompanied with any environmental impact assessments or environmental clearance certificates.
Also remarkable, he said, is that since the suspension of harvesting licences, 231 applications for timber harvesting had been submitted.
None of the 231 applications have done environmental impact assessments.
The agriculture ministry on 8 February relaunched the transport and export of timber after the suspension of the harvesting licenses. The transportation is allowed until 31 March.
CATHERINE SASMAN
“Since then there were no issuance of harvesting licenses and there has been no timber harvesting since November,” Shifeta said in parliament on Thursday.
He said the trucks transporting timber to Walvis Bay may not contain timber originating from Namibia, but that these are merely being transported through Namibia from neighbouring countries.
“The majority [of the trucks] are not from Namibia,” he stressed.
Shifeta, however, emphasised that Namibia cannot allow timber harvesting at the scale as was experienced before November.
If allowed, he said, it will take less than 20 years “to bid farewell to our only forest zones we have”.
“Namibia is a semi-arid country; this makes our forestry and hardwood resources even more precious. Thus we need to manage them properly and sustainably,” he said.
He said his ministry “does not support” large-scale harvesting, especially if done without any value-addition and if done in contravention with the Environmental Management Act.
Shifeta and his team visited the affected areas during 18 to 22 February and found that an estimated 390 permits were issued without environmental clearance certificates in Kavango East.
By then, 68 000 trees had already been harvested and exported.
Shifeta said it was found that foreigners are being contracted by farmers to harvest the trees while there is very little monitoring of their activities and enforcement on the ground as required by law.
There was also a concern over random harvesting because trees are not marked.
He said although the directorate of forestry in the agriculture ministry uses marketing permits as tools to control the transport of the logs, it is difficult to control because of the high volumes of trucks and timber being exported.
Shifeta said the finance ministry should get on board to regulate export duties and taxes relating to timber and suggested that operating hours be restricted to daytimes.
Currently most hauling and transportation commence at night, which Shifeta said opens up the opportunities for illegal harvesting and increased risk of poaching.
The sizes of trees that have been harvested was also questioned, where in some cases it was reported that trees lower than 45 centimetres in diameter were felled.
“Ignorance of the law is not an excuse,” he said, acknowledging that the legal requirements have been “largely ignored”.
None of the harvesting that has so far taken place was done properly because none of the harvesting licences have been accompanied with any environmental impact assessments or environmental clearance certificates.
Also remarkable, he said, is that since the suspension of harvesting licences, 231 applications for timber harvesting had been submitted.
None of the 231 applications have done environmental impact assessments.
The agriculture ministry on 8 February relaunched the transport and export of timber after the suspension of the harvesting licenses. The transportation is allowed until 31 March.
CATHERINE SASMAN
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