During the 1980s, the rapid decline of the world's tropical rainforests was a growing concern and much tropical deforestation was attributed to the international trade in tropical timber. Since then the international community has given much attention to the legalization and certification of the international timber trade. These measures have stimulated better management, but the desired effect, the conservation of tropical forests, has not been achieved. Deforestation is a result of complex socioeconomic, cultural and political processes. Its underlying causes include an unequal distribution of economic and political power, population growth, deficient market systems and bad governance. The direct causes include the extension of agricultural practices, unsustainable forestry activities and mining.

While the considerable efforts made by the international community for the legalisation and certification of international timber markets are encouraging, TBI's experience is that a focus on international timber flows is not enough. Attention should also be paid to local timber production and consumption in tropical countries - in volume far more important than the international tropical timber trade. Besides local demand for timber, the supply to these markets is influenced by various factors, such as the regulatory framework, the degree of law enforcement, access to raw materials and the financing mechanisms within the whole commodity chain. The key drivers of these markets and their impacts on forest resources and the people that depend on them are hard to identify and describe.

TBI is working on a project on chainsaw milling. We are working with all the stakeholders to find a sustainable solution to the problems associated with timber production for the local markets, for which the chainsaw milling or lumbering technique is frequently employed. In this technique the trees are felled and cut into boards at stump using chainsaws. Chainsaw milling is used in many developing countries to supply local timber markets with cheap wood, but it is widely perceived, also by decision-makers, to be a very wasteful practice, producing low quality timber and causing harm to the environment.

Impacts and benefits

The impacts of chainsaw milling on the environment are mixed. On the positive side, the light equipment used causes much less logging damage than the heavy equipment used in regular logging operations (no skidding trails are needed and the waste wood is left on the ground). But uncontrolled harvesting can lead to depletion of timber species and other adverse effects, such as pollution. Chainsaw milling adds to the competition for scarce forest resources, leading to conflicts between stakeholders, such as the state (through its implementing agencies), the sawmill industry, local land owners and the chainsaw millers. The ease with which chainsaws can be transported makes it difficult for the authorities to control the activity. Moreover, the illegality of chainsaw milling makes it difficult to assess its impacts with any precision and also means a loss of timber revenues to the state.

Nevertheless, chainsaw milling offers socioeconomic benefits to local people by providing cheap access to lumber and providing livelihood opportunities for many local people in areas where employment is scarce. It is assumed that benefits generated by chainsaw milling are distributed more widely within communities than those provided by the established logging sector. However, the trading, financing, transportation and marketing processes in the chainsaw timber supply chain, from stump to market, can be exploitative in nature. Moreover, working with chainsaws is dangerous and the risk of injury is high. Using the proper tools and training reduces this risk, while improving the recovery rate and the quality of the timber.

TBI is working on chainsaw milling in two countries, Ghana and Guyana. These countries take different approaches to chainsaw milling practices. In Ghana chainsaw milling is illegal, while in Guyana it has been regulated and is promoted as a way for local communities to improve their livelihoods. Despite these differences, in both countries about 80% of the local market is supplied by chainsaw millers. Chainsaw milling therefore clearly caters to a need and is responsible for the processing of significant and increasing amounts of timber in the tropics, inside and outside forests, both legally and illegally. The challenge now is to control this practice in a way that addresses the adverse impacts, while sustaining and possibly increasing the socioeconomic benefits. By meeting this challenge, TBI will be able to contribute to the conservation and better management of tropical forests.

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