Part I
REGIONAL SYNTHESIS (continued)

Chapter III
FOREST RESOURCES OF TROPICAL AFRICA (continued)

1. PRESENT SITUATION (continued)

TABLE 2 - Standing “Volume actually commercialized” (VAC) at end 1980 ¹
Undisturbed productive forests
(totals in million m³)

¹ Weighted means are indicated in brackets

TABLE 3 - Estimated areas of undisturbed productive closed forests logged annually (sawlogs and veneer logs) in the period 1981–85 ¹
(in thousand ha)

¹ In addition to areas of undisturbed productive closed forests cleared (mainly for agriculture)

It must be noted, however, that the mere addition of these two processes has little meaning because selective logging as practised in Africa affects forests relatively little whereas agricultural clearings are responsible for the disappearance of mature forests, for at least several decades.

Northern savanna region

In northern savanna countries total timber production amounted to 85–90 000 m³ of logs per year (1978 level), a very small figure indeed. The main producing country was Chad with about 25 000 m³, followed by Senegal (about 20–25 000 m³ per year, essentially from Casamance) and Mali (about 20 000 m³ per year). This region is heavily dependent on imports of logs. This is the case of Upper Volta which is essentially supplied by Ivory Coast and of Senegal which imports the equivalent of twice its national production.

West Africa

Countries of West Africa can be ranked in decreasing order of their timber production in 1978: Ivory Coast (4 400 000 m³), Nigeria (2 300 000 m³), Ghana (2 140 000 m³), Liberia (630 000 m³), Sierra Leone (70 000 m³), Guinea (35 000 m³), Benin (22 000 m³), Togo (19 000 m³) and Guinea-Bissau (10 000 m³).

Forest logging is organized differently according to the countries: it is carried out by private companies of industrial scale in Ivory Coast, Ghana and Liberia. On the contrary, small-scale production accounts for most of logging in Nigeria, Benin, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Togo. Logging by companies with an important state share holding corresponds to a significant proportion of total production only in Guinea-Bissau and to a lesser extent in Togo where the state corporation ODEF is responsible for approximately 25% of the national output.

The range of utilized species is most often extremely limited: less than 5 species correspond to the largest proportion of the production in Benin and Togo, less than 7 species account for more than 85% of log output in each producing area of Nigeria, 9 species represent 70% of production in Guinea-Bissau and 80% in Sierra Leone. In 1980, 15 species represented 80% of production in Ivory Coast and the remaining 20% are broken down among 34 species. Moreover 19 species contribute 73% to the volume of exported logs.

National production has always been limited to the supply of domestic demand in Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Togo and Benin. Production has developed in response to the international market in only four countries:

• Ivory Coast which, in 1927, exported 170 000 tons (of which 80% was mahogany) and exported more than 61% of its production in 1979;

• Ghana which has been exporting regularly between 600 and 800 000 m³/year since the early 60's, but has now imposed a law on the exports of the logs of the 14 most important commercial species;

• Nigeria which has been reducing its exports for the last few years;

• and, more recently, Liberia which started exporting in 1963 only (11 000 m³ in this year).

The trends in production and exports in these last four countries since the early 60's, are summarized in the following table which is based on figures extracted from the FAO Year-book of Forest Products (figures for the 1976/78 period are sometimes estimates only):

Annual production and exports of sawlogs and veneer logs ¹
(Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria)
(in thousand m³)

¹ Percentages between brackets correspond to the volume percentage of exports.

The distribution of production between local processing and log exports is different in the other countries:

• Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Benin supply only their internal market;

• Togo is importing part of its needs.

The grouping of countries according to the organization of primary processing is the same as for exports:

• mechanized private sawmills process most of the production in Ivory Coast, in Ghana (85 sawmills in 1977), in Liberia and to a lesser extent in Nigeria;

• small-scale processing (pitsawing or very little mechanized sawmills) is most important in Togo and Guinea (50% of production) and in Benin (40% of production);

• state controlled mechanized sawmills process almost all the production in Guinea-Bissau, about 60% in Benin and around 25% in Togo.

Finally, irrespective of the political and administrative structures of countries, processing is mechanized in those countries where high forest covered or still covers large areas, and is artisanal in those countries where mixed formations and degraded forests have always prevailed.

There is, however, a general trend towards the increase in the rate of domestic processing, even if, sometimes, a relative decrease of this rate is experienced due to a faster development of logging compared to industrialization.

Central Africa

The countries of this region can be classified in decreasing order of their log production in 1978: Gabon (1 400 000 m³), Cameroon (1 350 000 m³), Congo (460 000 m³), Central African Rep. (370 000 m³), Zaire (350 000 m³), Angola (200 000 m³) and Equatorial Guinea (50 000 m³).

Logging is organized very much in the same way in these countries as in West Africa. The means differ from one country to the other:

• sawlogs and veneer logs are produced essentially by industrial, mechanized companies either private or in joint ventures; Congo is the only country where state corporations are responsible for part of the production;

• basic principles for forest regulations are the same throughout the region, i.e. granting of licences, of permits or of temporary concessions for logging to industrial companies and application of harvesting regulations. Differences between countries relate to procedures, tax systems, enforced local processing rates, control of the application of harvesting regulations, exploitable diameter limits, etc. These regulations aim in principle at rationalizing and sustaining forest activities, at developing the available resources in the best way through reduction of waste, of creaming and of overexploitation of a very small range of species. Detailed procedures were applied in Central African Rep. in the 60's where the granting of large-scale concessions was preceded by forest inventories and contained detailed harvesting regulations; in Gabon large scale inventories were also carried out prior to the granting of various types of permits, such as logging permits, industrial permits, etc.; in Cameroon harvesting regulations include the compulsory establishment of a processing unit, the size of which is a function of the area granted. In Congo, more recently, a system of forest resources development planning is applied with the definition of forest management units were logging is programmed;

• marketing is the responsibility of the private sector in Cameroon and Central African Rep., whereas Gabon and Congo have continued the marketing control policy by the state after Independence, through national marketing bureaus or companies. For instance SNBG marketed more than 93% of the volumes of okoumé and ozigo in Gabon during 1979.

Part of the production is secured by small national entrepreneurs: in the first zone of Gabon they are responsible for approximately 10% of the total production; in Congo the “piétistes” ¹ carry out logging in gallery forests and small forest patches; in Cameroon, small entrepreneurs account for 10% of the national forest production.

The range of species used is very limited, although there has been a tendency for it to widen over the last few years:

• three species represented 94% of the industrial production of Central African Rep. in 1970;

• two species (okoumé and ozigo) account for almost all the Gabonese production;

• in 1978–79, nine species represented most probably more than 80% of the Cameroon's production; seven species accounted for 73% of log exports from the port of Douala and two species corresponded to more than 75% of exports of processed wood from the same harbour;

• in 1977 86 % of the Congolese production corresponded to eight species while seven species represented 93% in 1970;

• in Equatorial Guinea, nine species represent more than 70% of the exploited volume. Until 1970 this country's output was characterized by the largest range of species in Africa.

History of forest logging in this region can be summarized as follows:

• the most easily accessible zones of Gabon, Congo and Zaire were logged from the start of the century, either for local needs (forest permits along the Congo railway) or immediately for export (as in Gabon with okoumé and in Zaire);

• later on, logging proceeded inland along the penetration axes: water courses in Gabon and Congo (also towards Central African Rep.), and the Cameroon railway.

Recent trends are:

• stagnation of production in Cameroon, Gabon and Central African Rep.: in Cameroon for reasons of infrastructure mainly; in Central African Rep. for politiċal problems in recent years; in Gabon because of a very specific market, based on two species of relatively low value and high production costs;

• decrease of production in Zaire, Equatorial Guinea, Congo and Angola where production in the last years is of the same order of magnitude as in the 60's.

In view of the availability of forest resources in these countries in relation to their national needs in the short and medium terms their commitment as exporters of forest products is obvious in so far as they want to develop their resources. Their share of the international market is therefore a function of their political will for forestry development. The production varies considerably from one country to the other and its distribution between local processing and log exports is also very variable:

• Equatorial Guinea has exported practically no logs since 1970: average annual log exports have decreased from 400 000 m³ between 1965 and 1970 to less than 20 000 m³ since 1970;

• although Zaire will, in 1985, possess around 70% of the areas of undisturbed productive closed forests in Africa, it exports annually no more than some 30 000 m³ of logs since 1974 and its exports never exceeded 70 000 m³ during the last 20 years;

• on the contrary, Gabon, Cameroon, Congo, Angola and Central African Rep. accounted in 1978 for about 38.5% of African exports of tropical logs.

Trends in production and export of logs are summarized in the following table (figures extracted from FAO Yearbook of Forest Products):

Annual production and exports of sawlogs and veneer logs ¹
(Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon and Central African Republic)
(in thousand m³)

¹ Percentages between brackets correspond to the volume proportion of exports
² Figures taken from the FAO yearbooks need to be corrected

Primary processing is almost exclusively locally secured by industrial companies with mechanized sawmills and private financing, except in a few cases (state corporations or joint ventures). Processed products are mostly for international consumption. No shortage situation is experienced in this region except in the main cities of Zaire.

¹ Persons having obtained tree (“pieds”) permits.

East Africa and Madagascar

In the late 70's countries of this region could be classified in the following decreasing order of production of wood for industry: Kenya (660 000 m³ of which 300 000 of softwoods), Madagascar (400 000 m³), Mozambique (325 000 m³), Tanzania (165 000 m³ of which 50 000 of softwoods), Zambia (135 000 m³), Uganda (120 000 m³ of which 14 000 of softwoods), Ethiopia (110 000 m³), Sudan (75 000 m³), Somalia (28 000 m³), Rwanda (4 000 m³), Malawi (1 800 m³) and Burundi (1 500 m³).

Logging is organized in very different ways from one country to another; it is almost exclusively in the hands of mechanized, private companies in Kenya; mechanized logging is carried out by a state company (TWICO) in Tanzania; in Ethiopia, Madagascar, Rwanda and Uganda part of logging is carried out by state companies (almost exclusively in Uganda, 50% in Ethiopia and 15 to 30% in Rwanda), or under strict control by the state (Somalia).

Logging by the state varies from one country to the other in accordance with the means employed. In Ethiopia mechanization is lacking and productivity is very low. In Uganda only skidding operations are mechanized (by agricultural tractors). In Rwanda logging is almost exclusively manual except that carried out by a pilot sawmill.

In the other countries (Sudan, Madagascar, Burundi, Zambia and Malawi) forest production is carried out essentially by small entrepreneurs or craftsmen with practically no mechanized means. Moreover, in most cases, production is processed into sawnwood by pitsawyers working in the forest. However, a slow shift towards mechanization can be observed in some countries (Sudan, Madagascar) parallel to efforts being carried out by forest authorities to rationalize forest development.

As far as exploited species are concerned, the range is also very restricted in this region:

• in Mozambique 3 species correspond to 90% of the processed production;

• in Kenya “pencil cedar” and Podocarpus accounted for 22% and 16% of the 1968 production respectively;

• in Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Sudan, about 10 species correspond to almost the whole production.

One characteristic of this region is the importance of logging of plantation wood:

• in Kenya it corresponded to 53% of the production already in 1965 and should produce about 950 000 m³/year between 1980 and 1984 and 1 150 000 m³/year between 1985 and 1989 according to present forecasts;

• in Tanzania production of plantation wood is increasing;

• in Burundi, plantation programmes started in 1978 should reduce the worsening of the present situation;

• in Mozambique, eucalypt plantations around urban centres should allow for the decrease of pressure on natural woody vegetation.

Another characteristic is the logging of coniferous forests, particularly in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and, to a lesser extent, in Ethiopia where 3 out of 10 exploited species are coniferous.

Finally, mangroves appear to be actively exploited in Madagascar.

Log exports from this region are almost nil. Madagascar prohibited the export of cabinet woods (palisander, longotra). Zimbabwe was the only one to export around 10 000 m³ year or more, and Mozambique is contemplating the development of its exports.

Local processing is active: the level of organization corresponds to that of logging in every country. It is artisanal and non-mechanized in Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda (except for a pilot sawmill). Sawmills are privately owned and mechanized in Kenya (180 sawmills in 1976), in Madagascar (60 sawmills at end 1975), and in Ethiopia (they accounted for 75% of sawnwood production in 1978). 17 out of 20 sawmills are state owned in Sudan. In this latter country a trend exists towards dispersion of the sawmills to the production sites. There are also state sawmills in Uganda.

c) Other forest products

Fuelwood and charcoal ¹

In tropical Africa wood has a most important role as fuel in the various energy consuming activities. It is indeed the almost exclusive household fuel of most inhabitants (95 to 98% of total rural energy household consumption and 60 to 90% in urban areas).

In rural areas, the fuel used is the wood directly collected by each family over a distance which can be as much as 5 km. In small rural centres (more than 5 to 10 000 inhabitants) needs are satisfied to a more or less great extent through purchasing by traders. Cooking and eating habits are important factors of energy consumption (which is higher per capita to that of tropical Asia). In rural centres fuel is also used for cottage industry and semi-industrial needs (processing of agricultural products and smoking of fish, small-scale catering, bakeries, forges, tanning industry, potteries, etc.). These needs are not negligible and may reach 20 to 40% of household consumption.

In the towns, charcoal is rather important because of its easy use and its consumption increases with the development of ways of living different from those of the rural communities. Fuelwood and charcoal are used by public and private communities and for cottage industry and semi-industrial needs. In the landlocked countries without other energy resources (such as Mali, Chad, Burundi and Rwanda) wood is used for some industries: match factories, tobacco factories, breweries and tea factories.

Nominal fuelwood needs (including charcoal) can be summarized as follows:

In Africa natural woody formations are the almost exclusive source of wood resources, since in most countries agricultural woodlots are not important, agricultural wood residues are neglected and forest plantations are still very poorly developed. Fuelwood productivity of the various woody formations have been studied in specific sites but extrapolations to whole countries have been shown to be generally acceptable since they were confirmed by subsequent studies. The following simplified table can be presented.

Annual fuelwood productivity (excluding timber)

These figures are those used by the FAO in its global study of the fuelwood situation in the developing countries. As a conclusion of this study, six categories of situations can be distinguished as far as Africa is concerned, i.e.:

The fuelwood balance for these six categories is the following:

¹ In the accessible areas only
² These figures include only 0.3 m³/hab for natural vegetation, the balance coming from woodlots and agricultural residues
³ These figures include Lesotho, Swaziland, Mauritius and Reunion, with Ethiopia representing 2/3.

Three categories appear in a deficit situation. In categories 1 and 2 the present deficit leads to an overexploitation of woody formations which can lead to a total destruction. Among these countries some areas are in an alarming situation because of the reduction and degradation of woody formations. They evolve towards a wood shortage situation, already visible in subdesertic areas and in the urban centres of more than 20 000 inhabitants. This is the case of the Sine Saloum region in Senegal, of the Gambia River Basin, of the central region of Upper Volta (Mossi area), of southern Togo and Benin, of western Cameroon (Bamileke area), of northwestern Nigeria (Haoussa area), of the lake Victoria belt (in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania), of southern Malawi, of the mining zone of southern Shaba (Zaire) and northern Zambia. Urban centres of medium size in these zones (more than 50 000 inhabitants) are already in a critical household energy situation. Countries of category 6 (Ethiopian plateau, Rwanda and Burundi) are in a serious shortage situation particularly Rwanda and Burundi, where fuelwood availability from natural formations is extremely low (0.1 m³/hab/year). Despite the use of dried animal dung and agricultural waste (at the expense of soil fertility) the remaining woody vegetation is exploited beyond its productive capacity, hence its more and more accentuated degradation. As for the zones with a positive balance, two groups must be separated. The first one includes category 3, with important areas covered with mixed formation (NHc/NHO) and with a low population (Central African Republic, southern Chad, central Zaire, southeastern Angola, eastern Botswana, western Zambia, northern Mozambique, southern Tanzania, southern Sudan) and the countries of the Cameroon-Congolese block of closed forests with low population (category 5). The second group comprises zones of closed forests in western Africa (category 4) and some savanna zones of the same regions with still a low population, the fast growth of which is however a threat to vegetation (southern Mali, northern Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast and Ghana, south-eastern Niger, eastern Upper Volta); as woody vegetation is being gradually destroyed by populations the present positive balance is in fact concealing a trend towards an imbalance in a more or less near future (depending on the countries), already illustrated by the present difficult supply of large centres such as Abidjan, Accra, Bamako, Lagos and Ibadan.

¹ Information included in this section is, for the most part, derived from the global study on fuelwood needs and potential in developing countries carried out in 1980 by the FAO Forestry Department.

1.1.3 Present situation of the growing stock

Gross bole volumes over bark of trees more than 10 cm DBH (VOB) (tables 4a, 4b and 4c)

a) Closed forests (NHCf/NSf)

From table 4a it can be seen that two main classes of humid closed forests can be separated:

• on the one hand, humid closed forests with a high wood potential, which are those of the countries of the Cameroon-Congolese block: Cameroon, Central African Rep., Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Zaire to which can be added humid closed forests of Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Ghana. In all these countries the VOB of undisturbed forests (not exploited during the last 60 years) is more than 200 m³/ha, exceeding more than 300 m³/ha in Congo and Central African Rep.;

• on the other hand, the humid “semi-dry” and dry closed forests of the countries surrounding the two main blocks of humid closed forests: in these forests VOB ranges between 100 and 200 m³/ha. In Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique these figures are less than 100 m³/ha (60 and 70 m³/ha respectively).

Part of these differences is due to varying proportions of forest types in the countries and, to a lesser extent, to extrapolations and corrections made and to different forest mensuration methods used.