Ancient trees cut down illegally

HUNDREDS of African Leadwood trees, illegally harvested four months ago in the Okombahe communal area, have been confiscated by the Directorate of Forestry, an investigation by The Namibian has established.

Director of Forestry Joseph Hailwa on Wednesday confirmed the case.He said the rogue operation came to their attention after two men applied for a permit from their Walvis Bay offices to export hundreds of tons of ‘firewood’.When their officials became suspicious and asked to see the ‘firewood’, they discovered that these were in fact freshly cut Combretum imberbe (African Leadwood trees or hardekool), harvested illegally in the northeastern Okombahe communal area.The rogue cutting operation, in which sophisticated tools and heavy equipment were used to move the extremely heavy Leadwood logs, took place somewhere between July and September of this year, Hailwa said.Acting on a tip-off from the public, The Namibian on Monday visited Omaruru where about 200 Leadwood logs were found stacked in and outside of the local Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry office complex. A local botanist who had seen some of the photographs estimated that some of the logs came from trees that could have been as old as 1 000 years, judging by their circumference.Further investigation brought to light that the rogue woodcutting operation had also felled a large number of trees at Otjohorongoro, about 25 kilometres northeast of the Herero communal settlement of Omatjaete. The Combretum imberbe is a protected species in Namibia in terms of the Forestry Ordinance of 1952 and the Forestry Act of 1968, and it is considered a holy tree in the Herero and some Oshiwambo cultures.An extremely slow grower – carbon-dating tests have shown mature trees to be as old as 1 050 years – its heavy and extremely dense wood does not float in water and is used exclusively for the Okuuuo, the Herero holy fire kept alive in every Himba kraal.According to documents seen by The Namibian, a certain councillor Maté of the Okongwe constituency appeared to have signed a letter in which he granted a certain Fernando Kamukwago permission to collect dry Combretum imberbe wood.Instead, the men appeared to have taken this for licence to start cutting down live trees. Otjohorongoro chief Dawid Kuauzunda said two men (described as someone from Kavango and a white man providing the logistics) arrived unannounced in their area in September and started cutting down live trees along the river.’When we heard that this was what they were doing, we went to talk to them and informed them that it was illegal to cut the omborombongo, but they just ignored us. When they finished cutting, they just went away. We now hear the Government will take the wood,’ Kauazunda said.Hailwa said their suspicions were first aroused when a man, believed to be Kamukwago, applied to the Forestry office at Walvis Bay for a permit to export a large amount of firewood.While Leadwood firewood – prized for its long-burning properties – for personal use is tolerated, commercial exploitation is strictly forbidden, Hailwa said. His officials were therefore surprised to hear that the men wanted to export about 50 tons of dry Leadwood as ‘firewood’. Upon further investigation, Agriculture officials at Omaruru and Omatjaete discovered that the ‘firewood’ was in fact several hundreds of freshly cut logs, harvested illegally from areas around Okongwe and Otjohorongoro, Hailwa said.Hailwa said the case was referred for his personal attention, and two men came to see him to apply for an export permit. A third person, described by other officials as ‘a very nervous-looking Chinese gentleman’ waited in the car for them, but Hailwa declined to discuss this.’It seems that once they got that letter, they went out cutting, cutting, cutting, cutting … and they really cut a lot,’ Hailwa said. He told them he should have them arrested, but because he could not prove it was they who did the actual cutting, he had to let them go, Hailwa said.The timber has been declared forfeited to the State and will be auctioned by the end of this month, Hailwa said. * John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587