Curbing illegal timber trafficking

In a significant step forward in the fight against illegal timber trafficking in Namibia and sub-Saharan Africa, the International Programmes Office of the American Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Forest Service has established a Wood Identification and Screening Centre (WISC) in Windhoek.

Namibia’s natural forest resources are under threat. A rapid increase in exotic hardwood timber exports from Namibia, challenges in permitting and monitoring systems and negative impacts from unrestrained timber harvesting have combined to rob Namibians of natural resources and ecosystems that furnish the economy, livelihoods, culture and heritage.

Globally, the demand for prized wood has surged dramatically in recent years. Illegal logging and associated trade, once emerging threats, now constitute the third largest transnational organised crime sector by value, following counterfeiting and drug trafficking, according to Forest Service.

"Namibia serves as a transit point for both legal and illegal timber from neighboring countries and beyond."

The new centre will assist law enforcement and regulatory agencies in verifying the declarations of forest products and gathering evidence to prosecute illegal logging cases. The centre is a collaboration between the environment ministry, the Namibian Revenue Agency, the Namibian Police, the USDA Forest Service, and the American department of state's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.



Study tour

From 3 to 20 May, the Forest Service WISC, co-located in the United States Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon, hosted four employees of the new Namibia WISC for a study tour. Participants learnt the fundamental principles and procedures of timber identification used in America, and joined seasoned forensic chemists in collecting wood samples, analysing spectra and testing for unknown species.

They also learnt how to use the direct analysis in real time (DART) time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS), an instrument that can be used to identify wood species from a sliver-sized wood sample. They gained familiarity with the software system, practiced assessing accuracy and learnt basic maintenance for the machine. While the Namibian study tour participants were in Ashland, a new DART TOFMS arrived at the WISC office in Namibia.

“The trainers at the WISC lab made us feel so welcome and were incredibly knowledgeable and approachable,” study tour participant Orletta Hamata said.

“The hands-on sessions were the highlight for me. Getting to use the DART TOFMS and seeing how the wood identification technique works in real life was super fascinating. It really brought everything to life and gave me a much better grasp of the subject.”



Enhanced capability

The International Programmes Office of the Forest Service has been working in Namibia since 2019 and receives funding from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

The ministry's director of forestry, Johnson Ndokosho, told Agri Monitor that WISC will indeed play a role in curbing illegal timber trafficking.

"So far, we only got funding to set up WISC at the Namibian Police Forensic Science Institute, procure the equipment from the United States and have staff members trained in America in coming months," he said.

"The WISC will enhance Namibia’s capability to identify various timber products and origin of such timber."



- [email protected]