Mozambique has announced plans to implement a new digital timber export control system to combat data disparities and resource smuggling.
Imede Falume, Mozambique’s director of forestry and wildlife, said the government had already started its digitisation process for forestry licensing and that it would now move to implement a similar digitalised export process.
He said the new system would ensure high reliability because information provided for processing recently had been inconsistent.
Falume, who was speaking before the first meeting of the National Directorate of Forestry and Wildlife, said the use of digital tools should resolve timber smuggling, particularly in central and northern Mozambique.
“Once we implement the digital export control system, we believe it will significantly resolve this,” he said.
This comes after the Public Prosecutor’s Office said in March that it had opened a criminal case into the suspected illegal export of about 400 containers of logs from Pemba port in Cabo Delgado province.
Lusa news agency recently reported that Mozambique lost US$500 million annually to unsustainable forestry practices like illegal logging and slash-and-burn agriculture – a farming method where vegetation is cut down and burned – according to the Forest Stewardship Council.
According to the council, the forestry sector supports millions of Mozambicans through timber- and charcoal-related jobs and activities.
The government has not yet indicated when the digital export system will be rolled out.
