Maputo, Aug. 1, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambican authorities on Friday warned of the alleged involvement of government officials in illegal logging in protected areas in the province of Nampula, in northern Mozambique, and an alert has been issued to all public institutions to raise awareness among staff.
“Especially in the reserves in Mecubúri, we have an invasion of poachers and, to be honest, with the connivance of community leaders. It is also likely that government structures are involved,” said Tadeu Mariano, provincial delegate of the National Agency for Environmental Quality Control (AQUA) in Nampula, quoted by Radio Mozambique.
Tadeu Mariano expressed concern about the possible involvement of civil servants and state agents in the crime, noting that an alert had been issued to all public institutions in Nampula.
“We have already issued an alert to all public institutions because we are concerned about the involvement of civil servants and state agents in the illegal exploitation of timber and charcoal,” he said, lamenting the fact that leaders and officials who enforce the law are the ones who should “detain offenders, seize the equipment involved in the offence” and “refer [the cases] to the courts for trial."
The Mozambican authorities seized 30 tonnes of charcoal at the border of Ressano Garcia, in Maputo province, on suspicion of illegal exploitation and transport to neighbouring South Africa, an official source told Lusa in June.
The provincial delegate of AQUA also warned of illegal logging in the Matibane forest reserve, another protected area in Nampula, a situation that puts the area at risk.
“The Matibane forest is also being destroyed by poachers,” said Tadeu Mariano, noting that “in addition to being a protected area,” there is “a type of wood that is prohibited from exploitation, [the] mecrusse.”
Deforestation in Mozambique affected 875,453 hectares in four years, despite declining during 2022, mainly affecting the provinces of Niassa and Zambezia, according to statistics previously reported by Lusa.
According to a report by the National Statistics Institute, compiling data from 2019 to 2022, in the latter year deforestation - of various types of forest - declined by 31% compared to the previous year, to 209,464 hectares.
The peak of deforestation was recorded in 2021, with 303,689 hectares, of which 264,999 hectares were semi-deciduous (tropical) forest, 29,258 hectares were semi-evergreen forest and 99 hectares were mangrove, among others.
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