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Risk score
Specified risks related to 19 sub-categories
Full Timber Legally Risk AssessmentList of Applicable LegislationDocument GuideRisk Mitigation Guide
Angola covers 12,467 million hectares of land area and has abundant and extensive forest resources and biodiversity with considerable economic potential. The extent of forest and other wooded land is estimated at 58,480 million hectares, 47% of the country's 12,467 million hectares of land area. Wood stock is estimated at a total of 4.5 billion m3. The Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) is approximately 500,000 m3. According to the Ministry of Economic Planning, Angola's timber resources are largely underexploited. It is argued that timber resources within the natural productive forest and plantation forest of approximately 57,450,000m3 could be harvested. If sustainable management principles are followed, in practical terms, an average of 1,210,000 m3 of logwood could be exploited throughout the forest, with 360,000 m3 from natural forest and 850,000 m3 from plantations. It is believed that the real size of forest in Angola is not known, as a national forest inventory has not been conducted. An ongoing national inventory is in development, making key data on the extent of forest resources available. By law, the government is the owner of all forests, including existing public plantations.
The country has recovered from a long period of civil conflicts (1975-2002), which affected the forest sector's development. The new era of stability and rapid development indicates a high-level commitment to sustainable forest management, improving livelihoods for the rural people who largely depend on forest resources. More importantly, there has been a recognition to diversify Angola's Oil-based economy. The forestry sector is identified as a key alternative sector and thus will receive greater attention than previously. However, as the forest policy and related legislation have been established and implemented after the civil conflicts, Forestry Development Institute, which is the executive arm of the forestry sector, is challenged by inadequate capacity for its mandate in terms of technical knowledge, skills, experience, and the number of professional staff. Consequently, the Forestry Development Institute cannot implement long-term forest concessions for forest management as established by law and instead depends on an Annual Forest Harvesting License, which awards timber harvesting rights based on specific species. However, this practice can deplete the forest of its high-valued timber species. Official sources state that current timber extraction is approximately 200,000 m3 or about 40% of the annual allowable cutting capacity. Official sources state that in 2018 54,891 m3 of round wood was harvested from the natural forest, and 34,000 m3 of round wood was harvested from in-forest plantations. Key legal authorities within the forest sector:
• The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MINAGRIF) is the responsible ministerial department for the agricultural and forestry Sectors6 and is responsible for policy formulation and defining the strategic direction for the forest sector regarding national development.
• The National Directorate of Forestry within the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MINAGRIF) has an advisory role responsible for proposing policies and strategies and related activities to develop the forestry sector.
• The Forestry Development Institute (IDF) is the regulator for the Forestry Sector and, in principle, the implementing authority of forest policy and related legislation, programs, and activities. The IDF is viewed as a major player in the decision-making on policy issues and the development of such policy.
The World Bank Governance Indicators provide the following scores for Angola in 2020:
Estimate
(-2.5 to + 2.5)
Percentile rank, 0-100
(0 lowest rank, 100 highest rank)
Government Effectiveness
-1.2
13
Regulatory Quality
-0.9
16.3
Rule of Law
-1.0
13.5
Control of Corruption
-1.1
The estimate and percentile score show that Angola faces challenges with the four governance indicators listed. On the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, Angola scores 27 out of 100 (100 being least corrupt).
The low score on corruption, governance and the rule of law should be taken into account when evaluating risks related to the Angolan forest sector, transport, and trade. VIEW LESS
1) Natural forest in production forest/ public domain (State-owned property)
2) Natural forest - community forest. Mainly for subsistence and community use. It can be used for commercial harvesting under authorization when there is sufficient forest resource potential and only under the prior consent of the communities. This type of harvesting can be collective, individual, or collective in partnership with third parties.
3) Plantation Forest (Public Plantation and private). All existing plantation forests are state-owned. Private forest plantations are to be established on a case-by-case basis, and none currently exist for timber harvesting.
NOTE: As no concession contracts exist, it has not been possible to evaluate the implementation of legal requirements for this permit type. Generally, the risk is considered specified based on a precautionary approach for this source type to highlight the need to evaluate legality once the permits are in place. We have seen no evidence that leads us to state lower risks for concessions than what is being concluded for Annual Forest Exploitation licenses.
No Data
FSC certified area: 0 ha, updated April 1, 2023