The Mukula tree: Zambia’s unguarded “green copper”

Sat, 06 May 2017 13:22:10 +0000

By BENNIE MUNDANDO
IT GREW, was used and treated just like any other tree in Zambia for hundreds of years without any special attachment to its preservation and protection and has been a common specie in most parts of the country, especially the northern half.
The Mukula tree, whose botanical name is Pterocarpus chrysothrix, is a rare and slow growing specie, which is now threatened with extinction due to indiscriminate harvesting for its valuable properties.
Zambia has a long history in the management, production and marketing of timber in the SADC region.
Zambezi sawmills, a timber company was domiciled in Zambia for many years until it collapsed in the early 1980s following the economic reforms introduced by the UNIP regime.
The industry was, evidently, sustained by the huge forest resource the nation is sitting on, supported by uncontested ability of citizens to provide labour and prudent management of the industry itself by government in conjunction with investors and local communities to create a conducive business environment.
When the company collapsed, government and citizens alike developed economic awareness of timber and began to apply their potentials and talents to exploit the resource further in the absence of the giant company which went into oblivion without successful efforts to revive it.
This led to identification of other valuable species such as Mukwa, Mupapa (Pod Mahogany), Rosewood which dominated raw material requirements of emerging small companies to revive timber industry, mainly in urban areas.
In 1997 structured management of forests through documented legislation began to emerge which culminated into Acts of Parliament and government policies to enhance the extraction and usage of timber to maximum benefit of the nation and its citizens whose participation in the industry at both subsistence and commercial levels is experiencing growth over the past six decades.
In this recorded history of timber in Zambia, the industry operated in harmony with established laws and regulations in spite of minor occurrences of illicit but manageable conduct among key players and stakeholders which has gradually attacked the industry following the catastrophic decision to restructure forestry department (removal mostly of forest guards) to its present structure.
In the year 1990, Chinese merchants began to appear on the scene with high demand for Rosewood timber which culminated into production of logs and Cant wood for export to China.
This created sporadic harvesting of the resource and emergence of corruption to levels beyond capacity of forestry department to control without involvement of other stakeholders such as producer Associations and patriotic members of the general public, particularly those in the areas of resource extraction.
Rosewood is harvested from a handful of trees in the Dalbergia genus, all of which emit a sweet, rose-like scent when cut or sanded. The wood of these trees is prized throughout the world for its remarkable coloration and density.
Certain species of rosewood have been in such demand that they are now threatened with extinction, and are heavily protected by international laws. In fact, the Convention in Trade on Endangered Species (CITES) trade regulations restrict Brazilian Rosewood and the Madascacan ‘Bois de Rose’ from crossing international borders in any form.
However, despite these heavy trade restrictions, illegal logging of Brazilian Rosewood and Bois de Rose still occurs, and sources providing it in large quantities are frequently under scrutiny.
Many other species of Rosewood are less restricted in their trade, and are arguably just as beautiful as the protected woods.
Zambia National Association of Sawmillers (ZNAS) is of the view that since Zambia has enough rosewood which can be sustainably harvested, processed and traded, the international market is yawning for the Zambian rosewood and therefore Government should encourage the growth of this business than clinging to over taxation of the resource and other tailor-made policies that stagnate the growth of sawmilling industry in Zambia.
ZNAS president William Bwalya says Government must ensure that it implements the new forest Act No. 4 of 2015 failure to which the industry is destined to fail and the Act will be rendered irrelevant despite its good intention.
Mr. Bwalya notes that somewhere down the line, the rush for rosewood ended in Zambia but that fortunately for the country, a new species of hardwood timber which was being cut and destroyed in the clearing of land for agricultural and other land use activities was discovered and identified first by Chinese nationals as a timber species of high value in the Eastern province in 2012.
This tree species is exploited for industrial purposes primarily for furniture and in pharmaceutical industry. The Mukula is in high demand in the pharmaceutical industry due to its bio-chemical properties.
The tree is generally used according to its layers; the heart wood is used for making gun stocks and ornaments, the outer layer is used in the timber industry for furniture, and the bark and roots are used in the pharmaceutical industry for making drugs, i.e. colouring of the body, rectal washing to treat lung congestion etc.
It is as a result of its good utility properties such as quality timber, medicinal values and legal loopholes that have triggered the illegal harvest and export of Mukula.
“This is the Mukula timber which is branded as “Green Copper” for its high value and demand on the Chinese and Asian markets. The Mukula timber was first harvested on casual licences and exported to China in log form without removing the bark. This made it increasingly easy to produce and sell by any bodied person in the province.
“When the casual licences were stopped by government in 2014, illegal cutting and exporting continued to even higher levels using the power of the money in the mighty name of corruption to facilitate harvesting, transportation and exportation of the resource at unprecedented levels as if there was no government institutions in place to curb the vice,” Mr. Bwalya said.
In 2015 government succumbed to stakeholder demand for licences to regulate the industry, but the scourge still continued to swell without treatment as politicians, government officers and traditional rulers applied their muscles in the strengthening of the status quo, raising numbers of trucks loaded with illegal Mukula timber reporting at exit borders to more than hundred on daily basis. Mukula sales at FOB price US $600.00 per ton.
In the attempt to control the scourge, Government now engages military forces to impound the timber found in the forests, at loading bays and on trucks which are in transit to market destinations whether the timber is covered by legitimate documents from forestry department or not.
But Mr. Bwalya says the major problem of the illegal logging of Mukula lies in the manner in which casual licences to harvest and trade in Mukula were issued from the beginning.
He says people in the villages and their traditional leadership have continued to harvest Mukula without licences because the market does not require any processing with the use of machine to cut the tree logs.
“So, any villager wherever they find the tree in the bush will cut it and bring it home for eventual sale. Anyone in the villages where Mukula is found i.e. Muchinga, Northern, Eastern, Central, Luapula and North Western Provinces, is harvesting it for storage and later trade. It is the Green Copper.
“There is need to implement the Forest Act. No 4 of 2015 in its entirety i.e. creation of community forest committees, deterrent punishment for illegal trafficking and employment of forest guards be prerequisite in order to eradicate the illegal harvesting and trade of Mukula. The use of the military services is not a permanent solution,” he says.
He contends that SI No. 31 to ban export of Mukula was not well-thought after as it had adverse effects on revenue collection for Zambia over its “prized trophy”.
“It only signifies failure to manage the forests through the appropriate institutions. Also the introduction of the SI No. 31 to ban export of Mukula in log form has no bearing to the peculiar characteristics of Mukula as a tree above mentioned.
“Following this SI will only reduce the true value of Mukula at the market. It is not a well thought policy to deter illegal logging in Mukula as the country will lose the potential benefit from Mukula. Government needs to re-think and repackage the harvesting and trade of Mukula,” he says.
In the understanding and vision of stakeholder associations and their entire membership based on concrete and long experience in the operation of timber industry in Zambia, it is the strongest view and aspiration of the timber fraternity that government has ignored the core instruments for enhancing and strengthening management of the timber sector.
If the situation is left to continue, the sector will be heading for total collapse and the country subjected to loss of harmony with neighbouring countries whom we have denied access of passage of their Mukula through Zambia because we have failed to manage our forestry.
To avert catastrophic consequences of unilateral decisions on the sector and the nation in general, Government must consider the views of stakeholders and remedial proposals which they have submitted from time to time.
Some of the proposals in their order of legal, economic and management significance include the issuance of forest concession licences to applicants with expedience as stipulated in the application documents and an appointment of honorary forest officers from among stakeholders.
Other measures should include recruitment of forest guards and creation of audit section to help in the management of timber extraction as it is with plantation forestry, tree planting activities by concession holders and strengthening extension and management work of forestry department through appropriate and adequate empowerment
The establishment of stakeholder-driven depots in districts and strategic locations for timber auction centres where all timber, including Mukula, must be transported and screened for eventual sale; appropriate revenues of government and local communities collected by relevant organs of government, local councils and stakeholder associations for sustainability of their operations in a transparent and formal environment are of paramount importance. This will also curtail undue patronage of foreign stakeholders in production areas and improve the price of timber for the benefit of producers and the nation as the centres will be expected to export excess timber to rake in foreign exchange for the country.
Further, the establishment of stakeholder committees at district and national levels to review performance of the industry on a quarterly basis and increase capacity building of stakeholder associations to enhance their performance and strengthen tree planting activities by concession holders and non-producers in their areas of operation should be enhanced while deterrent penalties to illegal logging should also be established.
What we are experiencing is failure to manage our forests as a country and we should not blame or involve other countries for our own inadequacies. Let us interpret the Forest Act No 4 of 2015 because that is why it was enacted and that is where the future of our forestry lies.