Mozambique: Country losing around 267,000 ha of forest annually – official data

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Country losing around 267,000 ha of forest annually – official data

12:54 CAT | 28 Jul 2023

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Notícias]

Mozambique is losing some 267,000 hectares of forest each year,, according to data released in Maputo by the National Director of Forestry, Cláudio Afonso.

“We have been registering some concerns because around 267,000 hectares of forests are lost annually,” Afonso said on the sidelines of the first meeting of the Technical Committee for the Operationalization of the Maputo Declaration on the Sustainable and Integrated Management of the Miombo Forest, a two-day event that started on Thursday.

Logging activities are identified as mainly responsible for this scenario.

The Miombo Woodlands Declaration initiative was launched by the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, and the two-day meeting will discuss the regulation of the functioning of the committees (technical and ministerial) and the biennial action plan of the 11 countries of the southern African region which adopted the declaration.

For the implementation of these actions, Mozambique has already secured around US$17 million of the total requirement, estimated at US$30 million, identified for the implementation of the plan of action outlined, over a period of two years.

At this event, it was announced that the Global Fund will provide Mozambique with around US$12 million for revitalising forest reserves, restoration, institutional support and implementing the country’s forest monitoring system. Another US$5 million will be provided by the Italian Cooperation Agency, the permanent secretary of the Mozambican Ministry of Land and Environment, Emília Fumo, also announced.

The Miombo Forest is responsible for maintaining the Zambezi watershed, along which live more than 40 million people in the eight countries crossed by this watercourse.

In Mozambique, the Miombo Forest extends from the northern part of Inhambane to the provinces of Manica, Tete, Sofala and Zambézia, in the central part of the country, and to Nampula, Niassa and Cabo Delgado in the north.

According to Afonso, pressure on the Miombo forest is most intense in the provinces of Zambézia, Nampula and Niassa.

The Maputo Declaration on Sustainable and Integrated Management of Miombo Woodlands was adopted in August 2022, and recognises the need for the countries of southern Africa to join forces to increase options for the protection and conservation of the Miombo Forest and the development of the Greater Zambezi region.

Source: Lusa