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| In Nicaragua it can be estimated that
about half of the hardwood production, and 40-45% of the pine-wood
production, is clandestine. Much of the remainder is also timber
with an illicit origin, which follows a process of retrospective
legalisation via auctions, licenses (felling, transport) and
the payment of certain taxes and fines. The following case and
thematic studies analyse the dynamics of illegal logging and
trade; the legal, policy and institutional failures that are
the fundamental causes of the problem; and its impact on governance,
the economy, civil society and the environment. |
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Micro-level case studies were completed
to record and analyse the illegal logging of broad-leaved
woodland in three sites in the Atlántica region
of Nicaragua – the Municipalities of Puerto Cabezas
(Bilwi), Rosita and El Castillo. These sites were chosen
to capture a diversity of scenarios, including production
for the domestic market as well as for export to the
Caribbean and Costa Rica. The studies show the roles
of the many actors in the illegal logging trade, including
community leaders, small forest owners, loggers and
local merchants, buyers for export companies, and local
and national government officials.
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The main challenge in countering negative
illegal logging impacts on the poor people in the regions
studied could be to strengthen community control over forest
resources. The policy and legal framework established for
the last fifty years or more simply does not recognise the
rights of those who plant or care for trees. Due to complicated
procedures needed to acquire permits, even to cut trees on
their own land, and the associated transaction costs, small
farmers are often forced to ignore the law. In El Castillo
and Rosita, there are open institutional conflicts between
the municipality and INAFOR over the levying and sharing of
taxes, which facilitates the defrauding and embezzlement of
seized goods. There are few resources to uphold the law. In
the municipality of Puerto Cabezas, the National Institute
of Forestry (INAFOR) has only one official, two assistants
and a secretary to cover 15 000 square kilometres (1.5 million
hectares). At the same time, INAFOR is solely responsible
for management plans, with no input from the local community,
making the process vulnerable to corruption.
The total annual financial losses due to
illegal logging in Nicaragua were estimated at between $4-8
million, including municipal and national forestry taxes,
taxes on income, and the ‘waste’ of international
aid and public expenditure on forest management. This is equivalent
to providing houses for 3 000 people, in 600 houses; to employing
5 000 teachers who would teach approximately 150 000 children;
or provide technical assistance to 3 000 farmers. Illegal
logging brings some immediate benefits for the poor, but the
case studies also reveal high costs. The timber producers
(whether as labourers or forest owners) receive a very small
proportion of the value created (between 5 and 10%), whether
the extraction is legal or not. The illegal logging trade
also increases conflicts over forest areas as well as the
abuse of power by community leaders. The involvement of armed
groups in some areas has worsened the insecurity. The forests
studied are in a process of degradation and destruction (especially
cedar and mahogany populations) due to unsuitable extraction
levels, uncontrolled burning, and other factors.
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