Timber smuggling, estimated to be worth $23m a year, from Mozambique’s ancient forests to China is helping to fund a brutal Islamist insurgency as well as a large criminal network in the north of the southern African country.
However, a four-year undercover investigation by the EIA in both countries has revealed that poor management of officially sanctioned forest concessions, illegal logging and corruption among port officials is allowing the trade to expand unchecked in insurgent-controlled areas. The report says the insurgents’ involvement in the “smuggling of fauna and flora products”, including wood, and the “exploitation of forest and wildlife resources” is contributing to a “very high level of fundraising” for the insurgency group. It estimated its revenue from these activities amounted to $1.9m a month.
There are thought to be three main forested areas in Cabo Delgado where logging and timber sales take place: Nairoto; Muidumbe and Mueda, plus one more in Napai, in neighbouring Nampula province. It has overtaken other countries like Senegal, Nigeria and Madagascar as their rosewood species have been stripped or depleted, or laws banning exports have been more strictly enforced.Between October 2023 and March 2024, investigators traced around 300 containers of a type of rosewood known as pau preto from the port of Beira to China.
Industry sources say that typically when trees are cut down by loggers in Cabo Delgado’s forests - either at concessions operated largely by Chinese firms, or illegally beyond these boundaries - the timber is taken to be processed at sawmills around Montepuez, a large town in Cabo Delgado. A spokesperson from Maersk said in a statement to the BBC that it is “committed to combatting illegal wildlife trade and will not knowingly accept bookings of wildlife or wildlife products, where such trade is contrary to Cites or otherwise illegal. We request our customers to correctly declare the content of their cargo and we are dependent on customs authorities to verify the declarations and certificates. Shipments can only take place against Cites certificates and authority approval.
Deforestation in Mozambique is continuing apace. The country is losing the equivalent of around 1,000 football pitches of forest cover every day, according to NGO Global Forest Watch. Without this assessment, any trade violates the international treaty. China, as a signatory, would be breaking the treaty’s terms in accepting non-compliant imports.
Aside from being home to some of the world’s most valuable trees, Cabo Delgado has other lucrative sources of wealth within its borders, including oil, natural gas, rubies and sapphires.