ZimConservation

Gazetted indigenous forests in the context of the land reform programme

By John Mudekwe 
National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe

Background

Zimbabwe has about 800 000 ha of gazetted forest land. Apart from the 68 000 ha in the Midlands province, the bulk of the forests are in Matabeleland North, western Zimbabwe. The forests were gazetted between 1926 and 1960 in order to control the wanton harvesting of commercial indigenous timber species used to produce mine props, railway sleepers, flooring parquets and furniture. These lands are managed by the Forestry Commission, which was established after the Forestry Act was passed in 1948. 

The Forest Act was intended to regulate forest use on state land and commercial farming areas, and gazetted forests with regulations on cultivation, grazing and residence in each land use type. Leasing of the forest areas is allowed and the rents accrue to the Forestry Commission. The Act allows for the development of a broad range of innovative resource sharing opportunities in the forests. 

Role of gazetted indigenous forest in the economy 

According to Zimbabwe’s land use classification, gazetted indigenous forests are located in natural region IV and V that are characterised by low and erratic rainfall and are on fragile Kalahari Sand. The forests are commonly referred to as ‘Kalahari Sand Forests’ and are important for watershed and soil protection, biodiversity conservation and as a source of timber and non-timber forest products. 

Gazetted forests contribute to the Gross Domestic Product through the forestry and tourism sectors. With respect to forestry, they are the largest contributor (after exotic plantations) to the 3 % GDP that comes from the forestry sector. Substantial quantities of the indigenous timber products are exported as furniture, flooring and woodcarvings (about 60 % of the wood used in the curio industry comes from the gazetted forests). The wood curio industry is largely concentrated along tourist routes such as the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road, which the largest wood curio corridor in Zimbabwe. Gazetted forests contribute to sport hunting and photographic safari revenue generation. As such the forests are contributing to the country’s economic recovery programme through foreign currency earnings. 

Gazetted indigenous forests offer employment in the areas of commercial timber harvesting, safaris, forest management and woodcarving. At any one time there are about four timber concessions operating in the forests. These concessions altogether employ about 300 people in the forest and sawmilling operations. Each concession is allowed to harvest a maximum of 4 800 m 3 under bark of timber of various species per year. The average stumpage royalty of the various timber species is about 20USD at the current commercial exchange rate. There could be as many as 160 hunts that last fourteen to twenty days each per hunting season (May to October). Sport hunting and photographic safari operation employ substantial numbers of people. Depending on the size of the safari outfit, there could be about 25 people employed in the catering, grounds, management, game tracking, skinning and tour guiding for example. There are about 44 curio stalls along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls corridor and in Victoria Falls. Each stall employs on average 20 people engaged in various activities in the production of curios.

The major policy goals are the indigenisation of business activities in the forests and the participation of more black Zimbabweans in forest based operations (Forestry Commission 2004). Business ventures undertaken within the forests are based on the principles of conservation and sustainable use of the forest resources. Consequently, all timber concessions and wildlife quotas are awarded on the basis of scientifically executed timber inventories and game counts. The timber inventories and game counts activities are conducted by the Forestry Commission in order to determine realistic and sustainable off takes (Mudekwe 2004). However, the woodcraft industry remains largely unstructured and uncoordinated. The Forestry Commission has indigenised most of its timber and safari business ventures through a number of policies and guiding principles. These include: 

- The inclusion of indigenous black Zimbabwean content as one of the criteria for tender evaluations and, 

- Insisting on the requirement that if a non-indigenous company wins a tender, the company should form a partnership with an indigenous operator who should have a 20 % minimum stake. As a result, all the timber concessions operating in the gazetted forests have formed partnerships with indigenous black operators. Of the twelve photographic leases in the gazetted forests only one is a non-indigenous operator, but, in line with the Forestry Commission’s policy 30 % of the shareholding was awarded to an indigenous cooperative. 

- Since 1982, the Forestry Commission has been exclusively running hunting operations in the gazetted forests. The organisation has since rationalised its hunting business and released some of the forests where animal quotas are sold to the public by auction. 

Participation for more Zimbabweans 

The participation of local communities in gazetted forests has been largely restricted to the following activities: 

- Collection of firewood for subsistence purposes. 

- Livestock grazing that has involved neighbouring communities grazing their livestock in the forests, relief grazing by neighbouring and distant communities during drought years and individuals with large herds of livestock obtaining commercial grazing rights.  

- Individuals involved in the woodcraft industry obtain the wood from the forests. 

The policy on indigenisation of timber concessions aims to bring local communities into timber logging activities. It requires that timber concessionaires offer 10 % of their concession area to local communities. With appropriate adjustment this policy can be extended to tourism operations. 

Summary of emerging issues 

The gazetted indigenous forests are facing increasing social and ecological problems. The problems stem from lack of benefits accruing to people living along their boundaries and from the general public with interests in engaging in forest-based enterprises. This situation has resulted in increasing conflicts over the utilisation of the forest resources making it increasingly difficult for the Forestry Commission to manage its mandate of forest conservation. The Forestry Commission’s policy initiatives in the context of the land reform programme is a recognition that forests can contribute significantly to the well-being of local people, that there is need to respond proactively to increasing pressure from both politicians and communities to share forest resources and benefits and finally that sharing forest resources and financial benefits can be an incentive for the better management of the forest by users.

A key guiding principle is the need to link the conservation of the forests with use benefits that can be enjoyed by the public but mainly locals who suffer the costs of conventional conservation of the forests.

One of the objectives of the policy decision by the Forestry Commission was to share forest resources and the opportunities that arise with the public i.e. entrepreneurs and local people. The Forestry Commission is convinced that the concept would see the forests being utilised judiciously. There is evidence that the concept and practice is working since a comparison with situations in designated farms shows that the forests are being looked after better. Animals and timber in the designated farms has almost been decimated through poaching. This sad scenario outside demarcated forest reserves could be a result of lack of being proactive to the land reform process by relevant national environmental agents. 

References

Forestry Commission. 2003 . Report of the Committee on benefit sharing. Unpublished document. Forestry Commission. Harare. 

Forestry Commission. 2004. Policy on gazetted indigenous forest in the context of the land reform programme. Unpublished document. Forestry Commission, Harare. 

Mudekwe, J. 2004. Sustainable management of demarcated indigenous forests. Unpublished report. Forestry Commission. Harare.