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Zaire Forestry
Zaire is the most heavily forested country in Africa,
with a
forest cover extending over 122 million hectares. The
country has
an estimated 6 percent of the world's forestland. Only a
small
portion of Zaire's forest area, however, had been
exploited
commercially by the early 1990s, primarily because of the
lack of
transportation infrastructure, particularly in the
interior of the
country.
There are three main areas of economic interest: the
Mayombé
Forest in western Bas-Zaïre covering 240,000 hectares, an
area
north of the Congo River in Équateur Region covering 21
million
hectares, and the tropical rain forests in northern
Bandundu Region
with 101 million hectares. Bas-Zaïre, close to Kinshasa
and the
country's ports, has been the site of the heaviest logging
in the
country. Much of the Mayombé Forest was seriously depleted
by
logging operations in the 1960s, and some logging
restrictions are
now in force there. The forests in Équateur Region have
been
partially degraded because of slash-and-burn farming
techniques.
The hardwood central basin forests in Bandundu Region
remain
relatively untouched, although some encroachment from
itinerant
slash-and-burn agriculture has begun to affect the
northern and
southern borders
(see Environmental Trends
, ch. 2).
In effect, all forestlands are owned by the Zairian
state,
which has granted long-term (usually twenty-five-year)
logging
concessions over huge areas to multinational companies. In
the
early 1990s, timber concessions had already been granted
for 37
percent of Zaire's exploitable forest area. Eleven
foreign-based
companies or joint ventures accounted for 90 percent of
the
country's logging operations. One German subsidiary alone
accounted
for 40 percent of logging in Zaire.
On average, 500,000 cubic meters of timber
traditionally were
extracted annually, but figures were lower in the late
1980s and
early 1990s. In 1988 about 416,500 cubic meters of logs
were
extracted; production rose to 419,000 cubic meters in 1989
and to
465,000 cubic meters in 1990 but dropped to 391,000 cubic
meters in
1991. Sawn wood production was much lower, at 131,000
cubic meters
in 1989, dropping to 117,000 cubic meters in 1990, and
105,000
cubic meters in 1991. Zairian production is extremely
modest when
compared with that of major international producers.
In the early 1990s, planning was underway for major
increases
in logging production--up to 5 million cubic meters by the
year
2020. Production increases would be accompanied by
promotion of
Zairian wood products in overseas markets, particularly in
Europe,
the United States, and Japan. There were also plans to
increase
timber exports to East Africa, currently at a low level.
Such an
increase would depend, however, on the construction of a
road
network in the interior of the country.
Over the years, attempts have been made to increase
growth,
diversity, and development in the forestry sector, but to
no avail.
Zaire's timber, like most African timber, continues to be
exported
primarily in its cheapest raw material form--as raw logs
rather
than sawn wood. Moreover, production of other products
such as
veneer and plywood remains quite limited. As with other
areas of
agricultural development, ecologically sound and
profitable growth
in forestry depends on dramatic improvements in
transportation and
both private and public management capabilities, neither
of which
appears likely in the foreseeable future
(see Environmental Trends
, ch. 2).
Data as of December 1993
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