Timber Trade Flows within, to and from East African Countries

Knowledge about timber flows, volumes and values of forest products within the East African region and between East African countries and the rest of the world is essential for the understanding of the dynamics of timber trade flows in the region. It is also useful to understand for each of the East and South African countries the role that timber trade plays in their national economy, and their potential interest in a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VAP).

The aim of the study was to provide a basis for information, data and analysis that potentially can be used to design more effective strategies to prevent illegal logging and the trade of illegally harvested forest products, either between East African countries or export from the region.

This assignment objective consisted of two main parts:

1. To provide a baseline of the wood based trade flow information in the region.
2. To provide an overview and analysis of the regulatory framework for timber production, processing and trade in 9 countries.

In addition, the study provided anecdotal information on undocumented and illegal felling and trade within the study countries, with focus on the governance of the forest sector. The study relied on available trade statistics, the compilation of which formed its starting point. This was followed by field travel and assessments in the respective countries. ORGUT coordinated the field work and the report compilation.