Forests play an important role in Mozambique’s society and economy. 16 million cubic meters of wood is used annually as a source for energy, building construction, and furniture -- a figure representing 8.9% of Mozambique’s GDP. But although wood is substantially represented within the GDP, only 0.2% of wood stems from industrial forestry. The thousands of saplings you see in the above picture are amongst only a handful of purposeful attempts to grow trees industrially within this country currently.
Natural forests within Mozambique, in other words, are unfortunately harvested in order to satisfy an enormous demand for wood. It follows that industrialized forests are sorely needed to alleviate pressure on Mozambique’s natural forest resources.
Over two decades of civil war ended in 1992, after a signing of a peace treaty. Rusting tankers, which lie in remote parts of the country (like the one, below, found near Dombe), are reminders of this war.
During this war, land-mines were deployed especially along Mozambique’s roads. Subsequently, the roads were also the first areas to be cleared of explosives following the ceasefire. After the war, in turn, Mozambicans relocated first to these cleared areas.
Vila Maninga -- a mission project, established in 1991 by F. and J. De Jager -- is situated within an area cleared of land-mines. The region surrounding this project is generally forested; however, several hundred hectares immediately surrounding the project lack forest, because it lies along a main highway, within a land-mine free zone -- where it has been safe for villagers to fell trees.
Vila Maninga aims, then, to help lessen deforestation and to offer some relief in the demand for wood by reforesting its 400 hectares. In so doing, it also aims to provide people with work, create a sense of social worth, as well as to financially sustain its related not-for-profit projects -- such as the building and running of schools and orphanages and adult educational programs.
This site was updated January 2007.
