APRIL 2020 A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OF THE NAMIBIAN INDIGENOUS FOREST/TIMBER INDUSTRY WITH REFERENCE TO ZAMBIA AND ANGOLA Karen Nott , Amber Nott, David Newton Product of the first research portfolio of TRAFFIC REPORT A Critical Assessment of the Economic and Environmental Sustainability of the Namibian Indigenous Forest/ Timber Industry with Reference to Zambia and Angola TRAFFIC is a leading non-governmental organisation working globally on trade in wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Reprod uction of material appearing in this report requires written permission from the publisher. The views of the authors expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of TRAFFIC, SASSCAL, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), or the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The designation of geographical entities in this publication and the presentation of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of contributing organisations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Suggested citation: Nott, K., Nott, A. and Newton, D. (2020). A Critical Assessment of the Economic and Environmental Sustainability of the Namibian Indigenous Forest/ Timber Industry with Reference to Zambia and Angola. TRAFFIC, Southern Africa Programme Office, Pretoria. Product of the first research portfolio of SASSCAL SASSCAL 2012-2018 Published by: TRAFFIC, Southern Africa Programme Office, Pretoria ISBN: 978-1-911646-17-4 © TRAFFIC 2020. Copyright of material published in this report is vested in TRAFFIC. UK Registered Charity No. 1076722 Author associations: Karen Nott and Amber Nott: Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) David Newton: TRAFFIC Southern Africa Programme Office, Department of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand Cover photo: David Newton / TRAFFIC Table of Contents ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................ 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... 8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ 9 1. BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................... 13 2. KEY TIMBER SPECIES .................................................................................................. 15 2.1 KIAAT PTEROCARPUS ANGOLENSIS ................................................................................................ 16 2.2 AFRICAN ROSEWOOD GUIBOURTIA COLEOSPERMA .......................................................................... 20 2.3 ZAMBEZI TEAK BAIKIAEA PLURIJUGA ............................................................................................. 22 2.4 OTHER NAMIBIAN TIMBER SPECIES ............................................................................................... 23 2.4.1 Sickle Bush Dichrostachys cinerea ................................................................................. 23 2.4.2 Wild Syringa Burkea africana ........................................................................................ 23 2.4.3 Silver Cluster-Leaf Terminalia sericea ........................................................................... 24 2.4.4 Mopane Colophospermum mopane ............................................................................. 24 2.5 OTHER ZAMBIAN TIMBER SPECIES ................................................................................................. 24 2.5.1 Mukula Pterocarpus tinctorius ...................................................................................... 25 2.5.2 Lucky Bean Tree Afzelia quanzensis .............................................................................. 27 2.5.3 African Mahogany Khaya nyasica ................................................................................. 27 2.5.4 African Linden Mitragyna stipulosa .............................................................................. 27 2.6 TIMBER SPECIES FROM ANGOLA ................................................................................................... 28 3. METHODS AND ACTIVITIES ........................................................................................ 29 3.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................... 29 3.2 STUDY AREA.............................................................................................................................. 29 3.3 PERMIT DATA FROM NAMIBIA ...................................................................................................... 30 3.4 STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT WITHIN NAMIBIA ............................................................................... 32 3.5 CROSS-BORDER STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT ................................................................................. 32 3.6 PRODUCTION OF REPORTS, INFORMATION AND TRAINING MATERIALS ................................................. 33 4. THE LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY FRAMEWORK ............................................................. 34 4.1 LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR NAMIBIA ....................................................................... 36 4.1.1 Historical overview: Namibia ............................................................................................... 36 4.1.2 Current framework: Namibia ............................................................................................... 37 4.2 LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY FRAMEWORK IN ANGOLA .......................................................................... 39 4.2.1 Historical overview: Angola ................................................................................................. 39 4.2.2 Current framework: Angola ................................................................................................. 40 4.3 LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR ZAMBIA ........................................................................ 42 4.3.1 Historical overview: Zambia .......................................................................................... 42 4.3.2 Current framework: Zambia ................................................................................................. 43 5. USE OF TIMBER RESOURCES IN NAMIBIA ................................................................... 46 5.1 FOREST RESOURCE INVENTORIES .................................................................................................. 46 5.2 TIMBER RESOURCE USE ............................................................................................................... 47 5.3 COMMUNITY FORESTS IN NAMIBIA ............................................................................................... 51 5.4 OVER-UTILIZATION AND EXPORT OF FIREWOOD ............................................................................... 54 5.5 ANALYSIS OF TIMBER PERMIT DATA ............................................................................................... 55 6. CROSS -BORDER CHALLENGES .................................................................................... 61 6.1 IDENTIFYING CROSS-BORDER CHALLENGES ...................................................................................... 61 6.2 RESPONSES TO SOME OF THESE CHALLENGES .................................................................................. 65 Sustainability of Namibian Indigenous Timber Industry 3 6.2.1 Meeting between Forestry Directorates of Angola, Namibia and Zambia ................... 66 6.2.2 Drafting of MOU for collaboration ................................................................................ 67 6.2.3 Timber trade directory and cross-border permits booklet ............................................ 68 6.2.4 Cross-border workshops and information sharing ........................................................ 68 6.2.5 Non-gazetted border post information sharing ............................................................ 71 6.3 OTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATIVE CROSS-BORDER MANAGEMENT ....................................... 72 7. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................... 74 8. REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 77 9. APPENDICES .............................................................................................................. 86 Sustainability of Namibian Indigenous Timber Industry 4 ACRONYMS BMBF Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany) CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CBNRM Community-based natural resource management CF Community Forest CFMC Community Forest Management Committee CITES Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora DAPEES Directorate of Agricultural Production, Extension and Engineering Services (Namibia) DBH Diameter at breast height DC Devil’s Claw DoF Directorate of Forestry (Namibia) DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo DVS Directorate of Veterinary Services FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FINNIDA