Mozambique’s timber exports have plunged nearly 75% over the past four years, falling to 2.099 million tons in 2023, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE). The INE’s 2023 Basic Environmental Indicators report highlights a consistent decrease in timber quotas, with a sharper 12.7% drop in 2023, reducing the permissible harvest to 49,525 cubic meters. Of this, 5,369 cubic meters are classified as “precious” species, such as chacate-preto and pau-preto.
The decline in quotas corresponds with shrinking export volumes, which peaked at 7.923 million tons in 2019 and fell to 3.132 million tons in 2020, 2.276 million tons in 2021, and 2.649 million tons in 2022. Timber processed into logs also hit its lowest level since 2020, reaching 50,027 cubic metres in 2023.
The report, based on administrative data from environmental sectors, also notes Mozambique’s annual loss of 267,000 hectares of forest. National forestry director Cláudio Afonso expressed concerns over this deforestation rate during a July meeting on the implementation of the Maputo Declaration for Sustainable Management of the Miombo Forest.
To address these issues, the Global Fund pledged US$12 million (€10.8 million) in July 2023 for the revitalization of forest reserves, restoration efforts, institutional support, and the development of a forest monitoring system. An additional US$5 million (€4.5 million) will come from the Italian Cooperation Agency.