The sound of a saw cutting deep into the kiaat tree (Pterocarpus angolensis, also called “bloodwood”) in a forest in Kisangi village fills the air. Sweat drips from the body of 56-year-old Rafii Hashim as he pushes the saw rhythmically back and forth to ensure a smooth cut. The birds are chirping, the forest air is clean and the lungs present are only too happy not to be breathing in the heavy and polluted city air. As the saw cuts through the tree, it bleeds a deep red color. It’s not unusual for the kiaat tree to release red colored sap from its trunk when cut.

The harvesting of trees in Kisangi village goes on in an orderly manner and without fear. This is because all activities being undertaken are legal and sanctioned by both government and the community. FSC certification is slowly taking root in some villages around Kilwa and Lindi districts in southern Tanzania.

Communities are beginning to realize the benefit of conserving their forests and putting a leash on illegal trade in timber. Despite this step in the right direction, it is worthy noting that it hasn’t always been as such in rural Tanzania.

A change for the better

Rafii Hashim bears an optimistic look on his face as he speaks to us about FSC certification and the challenges they experienced before coming to the decision to harvest their timber in a sustainable manner.

“Before FSC, we used to get 100 Tanzanian shillings per tree and this wasn’t always guaranteed since most of this timber was being harvested illegally. This money was not enough for us to do anything,” says the father of 13 children.

Today, the story is different for Rafii and the people of Kisangi village. Through combined support from FDB in Denmark, the Sound & Fair campaign, Mpingo Conservation and Development Initiative and WWF, Rafii and his fellow villagers are beginning to reap the fruits of their hard labour.

“This thing called FSC has helped us conserve our forests better. It has helped us know when it is right to harvest and when it is not. We are now making over 100,000 Tanzanian shillings for every cubic meter we harvest. All this knowledge will help us harvest our trees in a way that doesn’t harm the forest and ensure that even our children will have a forest to enjoy,” he says.

The forest in and around Kisangi village is indeed a lifeline for the communities that reside there. The money generated from sustainable harvesting of trees has the support of government. According to the National Participatory Forest Management Coordinator Joseph Kigula, the government gains when communities advance.

“This is their money and their forest. They decide when and how to use the revenue collected from sustainably sourced trees. We are not losing as a government because the villagers here are part of the government. In fact, they are the government,” says Kigula, explaining the benefits of the project.

Living in harmony with nature

The residents of Kisangi village are mainly farmers who grow maize, rice and the cash crop sesame seed. The forest around the village also has many benefits to the community. According to Rafii, the benefits of having a healthy forest cannot be underscored enough.

“We use the forest for many things. Many stomach ailments in my household are treated using medicine from the forest, from roots and leaves that make our children stronger. Today, our forests are even more beneficial to us after the education we have received so far to open our eyes and mind. We are able to build our schools and hospitals now with money from the forest. We did not know how valuable our forests were until we received education from Mpingo Conservation and Development Initiative,” notes Rafii.

It is this education that has kept illegal activities in the forest at bay and given an incredible drive and willpower to Rafii and the people in his village to protect the forest from illegal activity.

“Before, both outsiders and village insiders harvested trees illegally. Today, every villager watches the forest and takes care of it. We even want to increase the FSC certified acreage so that our villages can continue to benefit even more from our forests,” explains Rafii.

Worrying challenges remain

“This is only our second harvest, and finding markets to sell our timber continues to be a big obstacle toward the development of the village,” he explains with a look of great concern on his face. This challenge could easily see the communities in Kilwa and Lindi districts revert to previous illegal activities and trade in timber.

A great tree has come crashing down, but the benefits of this project are evident. Hospitals, schools and other development projects will be carried out with funds from the sale of sustainably harvested timber. Communities will develop and forests will thrive – provided that markets are found for this community to keep FSC certification running on its own, sustainably.

This article was originally published on the WWF Global website

Some of the world’s poorest people have opened up a new source of revenue by selling the world’s first sustainably harvested African blackwood from their forests.

The timber harvest was carried out under the strict criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and is destined for woodwind instrument manufacturers in the UK.

The harvest is the first step in a new campaign called Sound and Fair which aims to realise a sustainable trade in African blackwood through a fully-certified chain of custody linking village communities in Tanzania to woodwind instrument musicians in the UK.

The timber was felled in late 2009 in a Village Land Forest Reserve managed by Kikole village, in Kilwa District, south-eastern Tanzania. Kikole received a payment of around £1,200 in return for 15 cubic metres of African Blackwood.

Previously the community would only have received around five pence per log. In all Kikole were able to realise an income nearly 400 times more than they would have received previously on the 63 logs which were sold.

Kikole intend to spend the money they have raised on improving the road to the village, improving market access for impoverished farmers and providing local employment.

Mr Mwinyimkuu Awadhi, Chairman of Kikole village, comments: “In 2009 the communities of Kikole Village we have realized for the first time the benefits from selling our own timber. All the money was paid to the villages unlike in the past where by this money would have gone to the government. We the villagers now have full control of our forest resources and we will benefit even more when we do more harvesting in the near future.”

Local resident, Mwanaisha Likoko adds: “Changes have come to our village through the forest we own and manage under our control, the money we have received will be used within our village to improve our social services.”

Kikole’s forest reserve was established in 2006 after the District Council approved a management plan which the community had prepared setting out how they intended to manage the forest sustainably.

In 2009, Kikole became the FSC certified, community-managed forest in Africa, via an FSC-group certificate managed by the Mpingo Conservation Project, the Sound and Fair campaign’s Tanzanian partner.

Neil Bridgland, Sound and Fair Campaign Manager says: “This harvest represents a sea change for forest communities in Southern Tanzania.  For the first time, they have security over their natural resources and can reap the benefits from them. The challenge now is to persuade UK classical music instrument manufacturers and users to accept FSC certified timber as standard so creating the necessary demand for African blackwood that will enable the roll-out of Kikole’s success across Southern Tanzania.”

Jasper Makala, National Coordinator of MCP in Tanzania says: “Community forestry is not just about giving local people a stake in how the forests are managed, but ensuring they can reap the benefits. This is both social justice and effective conservation.”

From Kikole village, the wood will soon be taken to an FSC certified sawmill, where it will be sawn into billets for export to the UK.

Dr Azim Fazal, Director of the sawmill, Sandali Wood Industries, says: “This is a proud moment for us. Now we hope that Western buyers will embrace FSC certification and start discouraging enterprises who harvest and process irresponsibly.”

On arrival the wood must then be properly seasoned (dried out), a process which takes at least one year. It is expected that the first FSC-certified blackwood instruments will be available in the UK from summer 2011.

DOWNLOAD PDF OF PRESS RELEASE – 19 JANUARY 2010

As a young man Martin Doyle traveled from Bray in County Wicklow to Africa as a ships engineer, a job he took to raise funds to set up his flute making business.

Now an established flute maker and user of African blackwood, Martin dreams of returning to Africa and setting up an Irish flute making workshop with the Tanzanian forest communities that harvest the wood he uses in his instruments.

Listen to Martin’s journey

Read about Martin’s journey

John’s Kilimanjaro climb is a part of the IWA’s commitment to a new project called Rainforest – the Size of Wales.

An area “the size of Wales” is frequently used to emphasise how fast forest is being lost.

Through Rainforest – the Size of Wales, the IWA is turning this on its head and urging Wales, as a nation, to protect forests in Africa.

As much as 15-20 per cent of carbon emissions are from forest loss.

You can support this initiative by making a donation online to Environment Africa Trust.

Alternatively, please send cheques, made out to Environment Africa Trust, to:

Hannah Scrase
Project Manager
The Size of Wales
WCVA
Baltic House
Mount Stuart Square
Cardiff
CF10 5FH

And for more information, please contact Hannah Scrase:

hscrase@wcva.org.uk
074545 514254

Some of the world’s poorest people have achieved international recognition for responsible forest management, and a golden opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty, through selling responsibly harvested timber for musical instruments

Two communities in Tanzania, working through the Mpingo Conservation Project (MCP), have obtained the first certificate for community-managed natural forest in Africa. This landmark achievement will enable the communities to earn 250 times more from their woodlands – by managing them responsibly – than they have done previously.

The certificate is awarded by the international body, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which promotes responsible management of the world’s forests.

The main timber that will be harvested and sold internationally by the Tanzanian communities is African Blackwood (also known as mpingo), a slow growing tree which is highly prized for making clarinets, oboes and bagpipes. The FSC certificate will enable communities to earn upwards of US$19 (£13) per log compared to 8 cents (5 pence) they received before the MCP began working with them.

Under the system of Participatory Forest Management (PFM), which is enshrined in Tanzanian law, communities can take over ownership and control of their local forests from the government, allowing them to profit from timber sales, as long as they manage the forests sustainably. However, with illegal logging widespread, there is a need to differentiate timber coming from community forests from other sources if communities are to receive a fair price; the new FSC certificate does that.

A small collection of villages in south-east Tanzania have been working with MCP since 2004 to achieve this historic first for African people, offering new hope for the twin goals of poverty alleviation and forest protection on the continent.

Mr Mwinyimkuu Awadhi, Chairman of Kikole village, comments: “previously we just used blackwood without thought, but we have learnt that it is a valuable resource. now we see that we can utilise our stocks to benefit us all as villagers.”

Local farmer, Mwanaiba Ali Mbega (female), adds: “when we started this project we began to see the benefits that could arise from managing our forests. Now we have reached the stage of certification we are confident we are going to bring long term benefits that we will be able to pass on to our grand-children.”

The first timber will be harvested by the villagers in May/June this year. The wood must then be properly dried, a process which takes at least one year, and it is expected that the first FSC-certified blackwood instruments will be available sometime in 2011.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Mpingo Conservation Project (MCP) aims to conserve endangered forest habitats in east Africa by promoting sustainable and socially equitable harvesting of valuable timber stocks, and with a particular focus on mpingo – the African Blackwood tree – which is used to make clarinets, oboes and bagpipes.

2. The Forest Stewardship Council’s forest certification standard is recognised as the global gold standard for responsible forest management. Most FSC-certified forests are commercially-owned temperate or boreal forests; few are in the tropics, and even fewer are community-owned. MCP has been awarded certificate no. SA-FM/COC-002151 by FSC; it covers 2,420ha of forest at this initial stage.

3. The African Blackwood tree has long been over-harvested across the continent to obtain its dark, lustrous heartwood. The wood is greatly prized for its strong structural qualities by local wood carvers and international manufacturers of woodwind instruments. Although African Blackwood is still relatively abundant in south-east Tanzania, illegal logging is widespread and very poor, forest-dependent communities generally receive little benefit from logging on the land around their villages.

DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION OF PRESS RELEASE – APRIL 2009