State of forests and plantations
Angola is one of the African countries with a large planted area mainly with Eucalyptus and Pinus species, established in years 30 and enlarged between 60 and 70, mostly located in the central plateau. According to forestry sector source of information there is about 140 000 ha of planted area belonging to private sectors, specially the Benguela Railway (CFB) the Pulpwood Company of Alto Catumbela and Luanda Railway Company (CFL).
It is difficult to describe with accuracy the current state of forest plantations of Angola. There is no relevant studies predicting its status apart from the Final Report of FAO TCP/ANG/0051 of Jorge Malleux prepared in 1991. The visual study undertaken in some plantation plots states that 40 to 50% of plantations are in advanced critical state of degradation generally caused by illegal cutting of neighbouring populations and the lack of silviculture treatment and management.
A report of the Ministry of Agriculture stated that in 1980 a total of 104 sawmills and other wood-based factories, among which 27 under the control of this Ministry and the rest under other government and private sectors were still operational from 1976 to almost 1986. Early 90 only 26 units were still operating in the whole country, with a very low production capacity. Most of them are old and obsolete. It is reported that from 1976 to 1986 the production of saw wood decreased from 10 045 m3 to 5 372 m3 per year. The whole forestry industry in the country was operating under 20% of its productive capacity.
Forestry industry is practically paralysed. According to forest sector reports consulted, the annual roundwood production is in most cases under 20% of its annual extraction capacity. This is since the independence until now and the trend continues to be the same even with the privatisation of the forest industrial sector, started in the beginning of 1991.
The main wood industries in the country located in northern part of Angola in Cabinda and in Luanda present the following picture:
Sawmill of Cabinda with a capacity of 100 - 120 m3 of saw wood of production per day is paralysed
Two plywood and sawmills in Luanda, SGE-Sociedade de Gestäo Empresarial, Limitada and in Cabinda, respectively with a productive capacity of 5 000 m3 of lumbers per year and 30-40m3 of sawn wood are operating irregularly. The Cabinda sawmill has an annual export capacity of 10 000 m3 with the possibilities to enlarge its production capacity to 20-30 000 m3 per year also faces a range of problems.
The pulpwood industry of Alto Catumbela in the central zone of the country with a planted area above 50 000 ha, with a production capacity of 15 000 tons per year has been closed since 1985 due to the unrest situation.
Apart from these, 15 small-scale forestry production units have been reported in Luanda in 1994 working with antique and obsolete machinery and equipment. This number has increased, and but difficulties encountered for their functioning are more evident. However in the south of the country, intensive logging activities are reported mainly in Cunene province where three small sawmill are implanted, among which two have the capacity production of 46 m3 per day and one with 20 m3 per day. Namibia and South Africa are the main users of the output of processed wood of the Cunene and Kuando Kubango provinces. This last one is a supplier of roundwood.
Generally speaking, the current installed capacity of sawmills in Angola is estimated in 350 - 400 m3 per day or 85000 100 000 m3 per year. It is to stress that a very few capacity of the industrial forest sector has been explored. In terms of revenue, the sector could contribute with USD 100-150 million to the national economic y the sector forest industrial worked accordingly.
Wood demand and supply
There are no relevant studies with regard to wood demand and supply, however among the main wood products having direct impact to the population; wood and firewood are eventually mentioned. NWFP has at some extent a significant importance mainly in the rural areas, where major part of the population make use of it for food for their daily diet such as leaves, roots, fruits among other. A valuable contribution of NWFP is also largely recognised in medicine supply. According to FAO estimations, 9 000 000 m3 are needed to produce charcoal, and wood directly used as firewood is not really known. If wood and its by-products are not fully accountable to the national economy due its complexity, it is evident that NWFP be another component forgotten when it comes to value the contribution of forest products to the national GDP.
The lack of statistical data and availability of information with regard to forest products has been a major constraint for the sector. No inventory on forest resources took place at national level as well as regional level; especially where forest exploitation has a major impact is among the problems faced by the sector. The movement of forest products at local level and export and import forest products is not available in figure for the sector. This fact is due to the limitation of the sector in the terms of qualified personnel and necessary means as well. Also to mention the weak links between the sector and its partners or in single word, weak institutional co-operation. Finally, the negative attitude of private sectors to collaborate with the government institution in terms of data and information regarding their activities.
Social and economic implications
Contribution of forestry to income and employment
The rural population is one of the main and direct beneficiary of forest and forest resources as part of their lives has a long and vital link to the forest. Tough the rural population of Angola has lastly characterised by constant movement of change; i.e. leaving their original land to other for security reasons, their connection to forest is still evident. There is a set of non-forest products and non-wood products issued from the forest, largely consumed by rural and urban inhabitant's tough difficult to account. Apart from crop production, forest is one of the main income resources for a number of rural and peri-urban inhabitants. In Angola there are many small-scale wood farmers undertaking charcoal processing activities and also contributing significantly to logging processes when recruited by forest exploiters. Also, from the forest they collect innumerable products they trade for monetary income.
Forests are the source of employment for almost all the population of rural areas in Angola. This is a great potential non-formal employment market, it absorbs a significant number of inhabitants, at some extent much more comparing to formal employment market. Unfortunately there is no mechanisms found so far to assess this non-formal sector as well as their contribution and value to the socio-economic life of the country.
Role of forest vis à vis to other sectors
If all sectors are linked or not to the forest sector, but it is true that they are direct or indirectly dependent to the forest resources. It is obvious to think about wood products that all sectors may need, but very far away to think about other services offered by the forest such environmental functions, and other related. Private sector being the key element of the industrial sector is also one of the major beneficiary of forest as far as raw material is concerned.
Angola is signatory of CCD and CBD and took part of IFP and IPF processes. Efforts are made in order to adhere to CITES and the country is maintaining good relationships with IUCN at least at regional level. Despite various constraints faced by the sector, the country is trying to observe and implement international conventions and treaties related to the preservation of forest resources and environment as a whole. It is recognisable that the implementation of conventions and treaties is possible if they are translated into realistic action programmes. However, the limitation of funds drastically affecting the sector is a hampering factor influencing negatively for the success of these resolutions when it comes to their ground application. This is a major problem faced by most of developing countries.
Conservation of biodiversity
There is a wide range of species, including some 8 000 species of plants, of which 1 260 are endemic, 275 species of mammals, 20 species of endemic amphibians; and 900 species of birds. During several decades flora and fauna and their habitat have suffered from human impact with special emphasis to military disturbance. The lack of conservation programmes to ensure their preservation is one of the main concerns, also to emphasise that all conservative areas despite of their critical status of conservation are located in the Miombo area. Avifauna represents varied 872 species (Stuart et al. 1990) Angola forest is particularly rich in terms of bird species.
It is reported that there are valuable tree and animal species in the northern part of the country such the elephant and gorilla, especially in the Mayombe forest. Unfortunately no conservative areas have been established to ensure the preservation of that particular regional flora and flora, very important as biological reserve and also for the social and economical life of the local inhabitants in the context of eco-tourism development.
Other protective values of forests
Basic principles of conservation is to ensure the integration of existing protected areas and including other sites which biological diversity is noticeable. This includes watershed, eroded areas due to loss and degradation of soil cover, sequestration carbon and others. In this context an active political support from the government is required. However the institution responsible requires qualified personnel at all levels and adequate means and necessary equipment as well, to secure the implementation of integrated programmes and projects identified by the sector.
Institutional framework for forestry
Within the Chart of the Institute for Forestry Development there is a lack of relevant components. Despite of having a large of departments, aspects related to training and forestry extension are not among its main tasks. However, seems to be very difficult to the institution to sought of issues related to training and forestry extension if they are not present in the structure.
Among main institutional constraints affecting the sector, following aspects are underlined:
Lack of appropriate Forest Law regulating the administrative and sustainable management of Forestry sector and forest resources;
Funds limitation to enabling the sector to implement development programmes already identified by the sector;
Forestry sector poorly staffed and lack of professional cadres at all levels;
Lack of operational forest management plan;
Weak co-operation at internal level among institutions dealing with the administration and management of natural resources and the society as well; and
Permanent political instability affecting the development of vital economic sectors of the country.
Structure and functions of the forestry sector
The forestry sector is responsible for three main components, i.e. the forest, wildlife and inland fisheries. IDF is responsible for implementing government policies theoretically issued by DNAF, with a structure technical and administrative. These are Department of Study and Planning, Department of Forest, Department of Wildlife, Department of Inspection and Control, Department of Budget and Accounting and Department of Human Resources respectively. This central structure has a repercussion at provincial level, headed by a Provincial Director. Therefore, the Department at provincial level has the designation of sectors, and under these are more sections.
Moreover beside the IDF there is within the Ministry of Agriculture the National Directorate of Agriculture and Forest which policy formulation and guidance are the main task. This last one poorly represented at the national sphere is still facing to various institutional problems and as a consequence, overlapping and duplication of functions are two major issues characterising both government institutions. Out of the Ministry of Agriculture there is the Ministry of Fisheries and Environment which constitutes a serious institutional threat for some implementing institutions, mainly to the forest sector, due to its interference policy ignoring its environmental role.
Roles of private sector and local communities in forest management
Concept of management and collaborative management should be carried out in Angola, but require to be first of all understood by decision-makers and lastly by all key partners. Community and private participation to the management of forest is still weak in the country. The lack of participant programmes encouraged and supported by the government will maintain the sector at the same level. Therefore corrective measures should be taken to reverse this trend. Private sector is more or less active in logging and at some extent in processing rather in management. Communities are trying to the respond positively to government appeal when it comes to tree planting activities, whenever management aspects are relatively forgotten by the responsible institution.
New arrangements in forestry education and research
There is no training institution delivering forest education in the entire country. The only related training so far conducted after the independence is on agriculture and wildlife sciences. At the end of the 80s the government of Angola introduced the programme of silviculture in the Institute of Agronomic in Huambo, producing around twenty Diploma holders in forest science. Due to financial and skilled personnel constraints to secure the on going of the programme, the government has decided to its discontinuity. Therefore, the course of silviculture ceased, as well as the Department of Forest Studies from the Institute of Agronomic Research (IIA).
The country could benefit within the frame of regional co-operation a national training project on establishing a forestry college in Angola at diploma and certificate levels. The project financed by the Finnish government starting in 1989 and ending in 2001 did not take part to the country due to the war situation. However the country continue benefiting from the project attending short courses duration and seminars.
Forest research undergone in the Central South of the country in Huambo province, connected to the Faculty Agronomy and Silviculture. Some, though less intensive phitosociological studies were carried out in plantation, the work carried out in Angola was of high technical quality and the resources available at Huambo were among the best possible including pilot units for sawmilling, wood preservation, production of plywood, pulp and paper; as well as resources for chemical, anatomical and mechanical analysis of wood. With the country's independence in 1975, there was an exodus of skilled personnel generating a lack of staff for carrying out the forest research at university level.
With the paralysing of the above-mentioned institutions, the forest research in the country became almost non-existent. The Institute of Agronomic Research continued, concentrating its scarce resources in the agrarian research and tried only to preserve the forest research facilities established during the colonial period, unfortunately with the restarting of the unrest in 1992, all infrastructures and means were lost and that was the end of forest research in Angola. However the IDF is trying to work side by side with the Institute of Agronomic Research in Luanda in order to incorporate forest research in their programme.
