The timber trade and poverty alleviation - Upper Great Lakes region

This report analyses how trade in timber produced in the eastern DRC and Southern Sudan can contribute to stability and economic development in the region. Presenting an overview of trade volumes and routes, the paper finds that almost all commercial timber exploitation in eastern DRC is non-industrial. Commercial cutting and trade heavily focuses on a few particular high-value and increasingly rare species such as African mahogany and African teak, usually exported with little or no value added.

Revenues from timber production stay with government officials, the military or armed groups and there are only little returns to local communities. Uncertain access rights and a lack of adequate mechanisms for the allocation of logging permits contribute to numerous conflicts. As there is only little knowledge at the village level of development options related to forest resources, the value of those resources tends to be under-evaluated which encourages further qualitative and quantitative deterioration.

Timber sector and trade reforms should take place urgently because, handled properly, trade in timber could become a pillar for peace and stability. However, given a weak governance framework,industrialisation of the forestry sector is inappropriate at this stage. Donor coordination will be crucial and a suite of measures needs to be applied in order to increase the forestry sector’s contribution to local development:

• clarification and completion of the legal framework for forest resource allocation, trade, taxation and regulation
• requirements on the sustainability of timber procurement
• information on improved procedures
• increased cross-border cooperation between the DRC and its neighbours