Mozambique suspends new logging licences for two years

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Mozambique suspends new logging licences for two years

3:07 CAT | 29 Apr 2020

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

The government announced yesterday that it was suspending the issuing of logging licenses for two years, as a way of reducing the ‘pressure’ on the country’s forests.

“It is a decision that addresses the issue of conservation and sustainability of our forestry resources,” Council of Ministers spokesperson Filimão Suaze told press after a cabinet meeting.

The decision comes after the realisation that the country is suffering “great pressure” with regard to forestry.

“Our country has a considerable area of forest subject to great pressure,” Suaze observed.

Several national and international reports have indicated that Mozambique is the scene of many environmental crimes, especially illegal logging, warning of the consequences of high levels of deforestation.

Various measures have been implemented in the last five years in an attempt to reduce pressure on forestry resources. In 2018, the Mozambican government issued new rules for the exploitation and export of wood, as a way of stopping the rampant felling of native species.

Official figures suggest that timber smuggling costs Mozambique between €140 and 187 million annually.

Source: Lusa