new timber report - Timber Trade Flows within, to and from Eastern and Southern African Countries

Executive Summary

In response to the widespread illegal logging that is going on in Africa, the European Commission has

introduced FLEGT, the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan, to provide a set of

measures to prevent illegally harvested timber from reaching the European markets. It therefore becomes

important to understand the dynamics of the timber trade flows in Eastern and Southern Africa and identify

the potential interest that individual countries might have in improving forest management and entering

into VPAs.

This study has considered 12 specific countries in Eastern and Southern Africa region, namely Botswana,

Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and

Zimbabwe in order to provide an overview of recent trends in timber flows within and between those

countries and from the study countries to other markets. In addition, the study has also provided

anecdotal information on undocumented and illegal harvesting and trade within the study countries. The

focus has been on the governance of the forest sector.