Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MAPUTO1207
2007-10-11 14:46:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Maputo
Cable title:  

China in Mozambique: Illegally Logged Timber.

Tags:  SENV EAGR KCOR PGOV MZ CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7005
RR RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #1207/01 2841446
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 111446Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8078
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 001207 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2017
TAGS: SENV EAGR KCOR PGOV MZ CH
SUBJECT: China in Mozambique: Illegally Logged Timber.

REFTEL:SECSTATE 93848

Classified By: Chargi dQAffairs Todd Chapman for Reasons
1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 001207

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2017
TAGS: SENV EAGR KCOR PGOV MZ CH
SUBJECT: China in Mozambique: Illegally Logged Timber.

REFTEL:SECSTATE 93848

Classified By: Chargi dQAffairs Todd Chapman for Reasons
1.4 (b) and (d)


1. Q(C) SUMMARY: Below is a response to the request for a
report on the environmental impact of Chinese trade or
investment in the forest and forest products sector, keyed
to the topic areas in reftel. Chinese purchase of illegally
harvested Mozambican timber has a significant negative
impact on the environment. Mozambique has adequate laws to
address illegal logging but the income generated by the
illegal logging has created a system which will not be
easily dismantled. END SUMMARY

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Sufficient Laws
--------------

2.Q(C) MozambiqueQs Forest and Fauna law is
comprehensive, modern and contains sufficient, appropriate
penalties to allow the GRM to protect the countryQs
forests. The law creates two classes of legal logging Q
concessions and licenses. QConcessionsQ require
stewardship of the land including an initial inventory,
reforestation and on-site sawmills to employ locals.
Twenty percent of the annual concession fee is distributed
to the local community which decides on its use.
Concessions are large and generally easy for the GRM to
monitor. QLicensesQ require only that the license holder
harvest within the area covered by the license, no other
burden is placed on the license holder, nor is any license
money returned to the community. Licenses are widely
abused. Originally intended to be an inexpensive way for
individuals to continue their traditional employment in
wood cutting, licenses are now exploited, used to cut
illegal quantities and/or harvest rare hardwoods for
illegal export. There are large numbers of licenses
granted - each to an individual, covering a small amount of
land and, therefore, difficult to enforce. Under the law,
timber is classified; export restrictions vary by
classification with the most stringent placed on QpreciousQ
hardwoods - the ones most coveted by the Chinese. The law
allows the GRM to assess significant financial penalties on

illegally harvested/identified timber; the fines are shared
with the local officials who discovered and reported the
illegality, in part to encourage reporting and to decrease
the taking of bribes.

-------------- --
Personnel and Equipment Available for Increased
Enforcement?
-------------- --

3.Q(C) There are 50-80 enforcement officers of the GRM
assigned to duty in Beira, home of the primary timber
shipment port. GRM officials state that this is not enough
manpower to enforce the Forestry law; additional vehicles
and equipment are also needed. The long time owner of a
local concession disputes this claim, alleging that the
numbers of people and equipment is sufficient, but the will
to enforce is missing. The owner told Poloff that his
employees, traveling a few kilometers into the concession,
in a period of six hours encountered seven significant
illegal logging actions. The owner believes much of the
illegal activity could be reduced by more aggressive
enforcement by the GRM using the personnel and materials
already in place; instead of Qstanding by the road waiting
for the trucks to come by.Q

-------------- --
No Environmental Requirement Imposed By Lenders
-------------- --

4.Q(C) Chinese purchase of Mozambican timber is
reportedly funded by Chinese banks which, purportedly, do
not include environmental requirements in the terms of the
loan.

-------------- --
Insatiable Appetite for Rare Mozambican Timber
-------------- --

5.Q(C) The Chinese are exporting all of the rare
Mozambican timber they can obtain. The focus seems to be
on old-growth hardwoods, although there is a lesser
interest in common woods as well.

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Techniques Negatively Impact Environment
--------------

MAPUTO 00001207 002 OF 002



6Q(C) The Chinese give cash to license holders with
which to purchase chain saws and other logging equipment in
return for the promise to sell timber at a below-market
price. Buying from licensees gives the Chinese deniability
if accused of purchasing illegally harvested timber; they
can truthfully say that it was purchased from legally
licensed individuals. The Chinese only purchase logs sized
to fit shipping containers. Those logging illegally will
cut down an entire tree, remove the correct length and
leave the remainder of the tree to rot, wasting the
resource.

7.Q(C) Mozambican law requires logs to be identified as
to type with indelible markings. Bills of lading reflect
the labeling. Recently, eye witnesses report mislabeling
of logs, unlabeled logs and bills of lading being revised
(type of wood changed) once the containers are loaded onto
ships. When questioned, the Maersk manager at the Port of
Beira refused to speculate as to the types of woods in
containers destined for China which had revised bills of
lading, stating the contents of the containers is not the
business of Maersk, but of the shipper.

8.Q(C) Illegal harvesting keeps legal demand down,
reducing the number of companies willing to pay for a
concession; concession holders are required to husband the
forest sustainably and reforest. Illegal harvesters do not
reforest. Concession holders are required to have an on-
site sawmill to provide jobs for residents. Illegally
harvested logs are shipped intact and processed in China,
denying employment to Mozambicans.

--------------
Comment: Illegality, Corruption Worrisome
--------------

9.Q (C) There is more money to be made in illegal logging
than in legal logging. Illegal logging generates illegal
income in the form of bribes of officials and license
holders. Ironically, illegal logging also generates legal
income, albeit in the form of rewards paid to officials who
uncover and report illegalities. In either case, the
income generated by illegal logging is greater than the
income which can be generated by legal logging. Unless
illegal logging becomes less lucrative - or legal logging
generates substantially more income - it is likely that
illegal logging will remain the norm. Reforming this
incentive structure will be all the more challenging given
the extent of bribes allegedly being given to GRM
officials.

CHAPMAN