Illegal settlers threaten Allied Timbers
AS much as 50 percent of Allied Timbers’ unplanted land is now under occupation by some illegal settlers, posing the biggest risk to the sustainability of the business.
Chief executive, Remigio Nenzou, told the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday that out of the 25 000 hectares ready to be planted, 13 000 were under occupation.
Nenzou said the invasions were threatening the “sustainability and viability” of the company, which owns the largest timber plantations in the country’s eastern region.
Allied, a state-owned commercial enterprise has a 99-year lease agreement with Forestry Commission, which owns 60 percent of commercial forest land in Zimbabwe.
It was born out following the unbundling of the commission in 2003, which was meant to separate regulatory activities from commercial activities.
The intention was to enable both institutions to effectively pursue their mandates, with funds from the commercial wing supposed to assist in funding the regulatory functions.
So the commercial wing gave rise to Forestry Company of Zimbabwe, later re-branded to Allied while regulatory activities were reconstituted into Forestry Commission.
Allied chairman, Itai Ndudzo, told the same meeting the company had suffered “massive losses” as the illegal settlers were causing fires destroying “our resource.”
“Our biggest challenge remains illegal settlements on the land we are leasing from the Forestry Commission for which we are paying hectare-based rentals on an annual basis,” said Ndudzo.
“It is sad to note that 13 000 ha of land have been taken over by the illegal settlers. What is even more worrying in the areas where we have some illegal settlers; we have the biggest outbreaks of fires. We have suffered significant losses in 2020.
“More than 2000 of out of planted compartments were burnt down by fires related to illegal settlers.
“To put matters into perspective, we harvested less than 2 000 ha and we were able to 1999 ha.
“So what we lost through fires caused by illegal settlers is bigger than what we were able to plant, and is bigger than what we were able to harvest. The biggest loss, the biggest risk the business has suffered has been occasioned by fires and those fires are related to some illegal settlements. So the sustainability of the business is only guaranteed if measures are put in place to guard against the illegal settlements.”
Ndudzo said the company has engaged “relevant authorities over the issue”.
Darlington Duwa, the chief executive of Timber Producers Federation, which represents local plantation companies, said an estimated 20 000 hectares are under occupation.
Last year, about 1 000 ha of “young plantations” were destroyed by fire and can’t be “salvaged.”
“As much as everybody is aware we still face this problem,” Duwa told Business Weekly.
“Even the President (Mnangagwa) gave a directive last year to have the issue resolved but there is no traction. The fires are destroying plantations and sometimes is very bad.”
While timber companies were incurring economic losses through illegal settling, it is also affecting forest management practices-from planting and harvesting to fire protection.
Some groups of the illegal settlers have been accused of being Zanu-PF party members while others are claiming to be the “rightful” owners “of our ancestral lands.”
“I don’t want to call them all illegal settlers because some claim to have been displaced from their ancestral lands during the development of some of these forests,” Zanu PF chairman for Manicaland Province Mike Madiro told Business Weekly.
“Then from the party side, we don’t support people settling themselves. There is a need for engagement, to bring all stakeholders together and find a lasting solution.”
Madiro said some traditional leaders have blamed timber companies for encroaching into their “ancestral lands.” We need to engage the surveyor-general to redefine the boundaries of these plantations. I don’t think they (traditional” are unreasonable.”