ADMINISTRATION OF THE FOREST REVENUE SYSTEM

The charges for roundwood identified in the previous section of this report are determined by way of tariffing. At least four weeks, but preferably no more than six weeks before a sale is due, the Inventory Officer must be notified by the District Forestry Officer (DFO) of the area that will be harvested. The Inventory Officer will either prepare a new tariff table for the area or supply an appropriate table, together with an estimate of likely revenue. A copy of both documents will be given to the Harvesting and Marketing Officer, who will supply the DFO and Harvesting and Marketing Forester with the tariff table. A copy of the tariff will be entered in the woodlot register.

A detailed example of how the tariffing exercise works is given below.

Wholesale tariffing system

Originally, tariffs for timber sales were based on detailed inventories of areas that would be harvested. These inventories included measurements of dbh and estimated volume for a sample of trees in the sale. However, when the labour and transport costs of inventory teams were taken into account, the construction of such local tariff tables was very expensive compared to the revenue from sales. Thus, following the recommendations of a harvesting and marketing study supported by the UK Overseas Development Administration, the Forestry Division in Lesotho now uses a wholesale tariffing system

Under the wholesale tariffing system, all trees in a sale are counted but, rather than measuring and recording the size of every individual tree in a sale, dbh size classes are used. In other words, the number of trees in each size class in a sale is recorded, rather than an exact dbh for a sample of trees. An average volume for each size class is then used (based on the mid point of each size class) and is multiplied by the number of trees in each size class in order to calculate the total sale volume and value. Details of how the relationships between dbh and volume were estimated are given in Box 2.

Advertising the sales

Effective advertising is essential to the success of a timber sale. Pitsos (public gatherings) may be effective but they are time-consuming. Forest rangers should also be notified of forthcoming timber sales, but this alone is also not very effective. Thus, timber sales are advertised on the radio before a new forest area is marketed. Information is given to the Agriculture Information Service of Radio Lesotho (telephone 312330) at least a week before the sales take place and this information is usually broadcast (at 6.15 am and 6.45 pm) a few days before the sales take place.

It is essential that the Harvesting and Marketing Forester consults with the local chief to determine the best date(s) for sales. If possible, the date(s) of forthcoming sales should also be announced during a timber sale, along with information about the dates of sales in neighbouring woodlots.

The ultimate responsibility for setting forest charges lies with the Minister of Agriculture, who publishes forest charges in the Government Gazette when they are revised. The price of wood in Lesotho is determined by market forces and, because Lesotho is surrounded South Africa (which has abundant forest resources), prices do not necessarily rise with inflation each year. Thus, for example, the last time that forest charges were revised was in 1988.

Box 3 and Box 4 below give extracts from the 1998 Forestry Act and 1983 Forest Regulations, which are the legal instruments that form the legal basis for the forest revenue system and overall fiscal policy affecting forest management in Lesotho.

Local communities are involved in the collection of fines through their Chiefs, because they are the custodians of forest reserves but they do not necessarily collect revenues. Because forest revenues are collected using a standard government procedure, the Auditor-General’s Office is responsible for monitoring and auditing, but this is not necessarily done regularly.

As indicated above, there are linkages between the administrative processes involved in revenue collection and the generation of primary forest production and utilisation statistics. This is because the tariff tables are based on the standard volume tables produced from permanent sample plots, which are used to estimate the growth and yield of the forest estate.

Standard government procedure for collecting revenue

The standard government procedure for collecting revenue is outlined below.

Receipts. A Government Receipt (AG8 Large) is required for every transaction and must be issued for every timber sale. Only once the receipt has been issued, may the purchaser remove the produce they have bought. In addition, the purchaser must be able to produce the receipt if required to do so.

Each receipt must show the following

- date of issue

- name of purchaser

- address of purchaser

- woodlot name

- amount of money (words and figure)

- type and quantity of produce (i.e. the amount in the sale)

- signature of the issuing officer

- Forest Fund Account Number (code-511, sub head-001, item-03715)

A line should be drawn through any unused sections of a receipt.

Receipt books. Anyone issued with an official receipt book is held personally responsible to account for every receipt. If a receipt book is lost, the matter must be reported the same day to the Senior Accountant and the Harvesting and Marketing Officer.

Change float. A float of M 10 is held by each Harvesting and Marketing Forester for change. This sum is carried forward from one sale to the next. Each Harvesting and Marketing Forester must carry change and money from sales in a moneybag.

Vehicles. The vehicle used by the Harvesting and Marketing Forester must remain on site at all times. Foresters must not be left alone with the sale proceeds without means of transport.

Fund allocation. Revenues resulting from the sale of woodlot produce are allocated as follows: 20 percent to the Woodlot Community Account; and 80 percent to the general Forest Fund.

The Forest Fund Account Number is 511-001-03715.

Separate accounts have not been opened in the Treasury for every woodlot. Instead, a Deposit Account exists for every District, under the administration of the sub-accountant. The exceptions are Mokhotlong and Qacha’s Nek, where no revenue has yet arisen (see Figure 1).

The numbers of these Deposit Accounts are as follows:

Butha-Buthe 503-001-23723 Mohale’s Hoek 503-001-23761

Leribe 503-001-23730 Quthing 503-001-23778

Berea 503-001-23747 Maseru 503-001-23785

Mafeteng 503-001-23754 Thaba-Tseka 503-001-23792

Additional charges. The costs of felling, extraction, transport, crosscutting and treatment are recovered in the selling price of the wood. The total amount of these extra charges is paid into the general Forest Fund (i.e. nothing is allocated to the Woodlot Community Account).

Records. Recording of sales revenue is as follows:

At the completion of a day’s sale, the Harvesting and Marketing Forester must check that the money (i.e. revenues) collected matches the total amount specified on all of the receipts issued. The Harvesting and Marketing Forester then completes the following forms:

GP 142 Paying-in Voucher (4 copies) ;

AG 162 Revenue Collector’s Cash Book (duplicate);

Monthly Revenue Return (triplicate); and

Monthly Expenditure Return (triplicate).

Copies of each of these forms are shown in Appendices 1 to 4.

In the North and South regions, the Harvesting and Marketing Forester hands the timber sale revenue, duplicates of timber sale receipts and forms GP 142 and AG 162 to the sub-accountant. These forms are then date-stamped, signed and certified by the sub-accountant, who issues a General Acknowledgement Receipt AG 59 (1 copy) to the Harvesting and Marketing Forester. Duplicates of forms GP 142, AG 162 plus the General Acknowledgement Receipt are then sent to the Forestry Division’s headquarters. One copy of form GP 142 is held at the Regional Office.

In the Central Region, the procedure is the same except that, instead of giving completed forms to the sub-accountant, the Harvesting and Marketing Forester hands the timber sale revenue and duplicates of timber sale receipts direct to the Headquarters Accounts Clerk. The Accounts Clerk in turn

- date-stamps the Receipt Book;

- issues a receipt to the Harvesting and Marketing Forester;

- deposits the money in a Government of Lesotho revenue account at the Central Bank; and

- arranges the subsequent completion of forms and delivery of revenue to the district sub-accountant.

All Harvesting and Marketing Foresters complete Monthly Revenue and Expenditure Forms after each timber sale, retain one copy for themselves and send two copies to headquarters each month, together with receipts and copies of the paying-in documents GP 142 and AG 162.

All of the fees and fines collected as revenue are deposited into the Forest Fund, which is administered by a Principal Secretary in the Central Government. In other words, revenue is collected by different districts or regions, but finally gets deposited into a central point in the Ministry of Finance at headquarters. Hence, the provisions under the 1998 Forestry Act and 1983 Forest Fund Regulations indicate clearly how the various levels of government should operate with respect to the Forestry Fund and these provisions are followed.