ZIMBABWE’S land tenure system could drive timber industry players out of business in the next eight years, Timber Federation of Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Darlington Duwa, has warned.
Speaking at the National Consultative Dialogue Workshop on Land Tenure and Land Policy in Zimbabwe last week, Duwa appealed to government to issue the sector with freehold tenure titles instead of the 25-year leases it has been offering timber producers. Industry players say government’s 25-year land lease was not sustainable because the gestation period for any plantation is 25 years, meaning that the leases expire at the time the timber is ready for harvesting.
“We are pleading (with government) that we be accorded secure land tenure that will attract investors to the sector. At least three rotations, 75-year land tenure, will be more appropriate,” Duwa said.
“Without that, timber shortages in the country should be expected and surpluses for export should also not be expected in approximately eight years unless the challenges facing the sector are addressed,” he said.
The timber industry used to be one of the country’s major foreign currency earners, raking in about $130 million in 2011. Earnings declined to $21 million in 2016.
“For 2017, we are still compiling the figures, but the situation is more or less the same as in 2016,” Duwa added.
Challenges in the sector have resulted in a decline in production from 500 000 cubic metres (m³) per year in the 1990s to the current 120 000 m³.
The industry, which exports electricity transmission poles mainly to Zambia, Malawi and Botswana, is currently utilising just under 70 000 hectares of its 200 000 hectares in the country’s Eastern Highlands.
Most of the land has been lost to mining and human settlements in the plantations.
All plantations in Zimbabwe fall under State land that is exclusively set aside for the use of forestry and are protected by the Forestry Act, but some people have been granted mining and farming rights in these plantations.
“Conflicting legislations are a major problem and illegal mining is causing a lot of problems in areas like Tarka Estates,” Duwa said, adding that forests are a legitimate land use and should, therefore, not be regarded as excess land which can be grabbed and turned into crop farming land.
Besides the illegal settlements and mining activities, veld fires have also ravaged the forests, with 4 000 hectares lost in 2016 and 9 000 in 2015.
The Timber Federation of Zimbabwe has also called on government to pay compensation for land lost under Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements.
“These challenges repel possible investors, hence the need for government to immediately address them,” Duwa said.
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