Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

Simon Kosgei Choge 163

shortage of specialised hardwoods from the tropics as a result of overharvesting

(Sharman 1992; Barbier and Burgess 1994), imposing severe economic

consequences on sectors that depend on these hardwoods. Woodcarving, now

commonplace in may countries in Africa, is experiencing a loss of self-sufficiency

in favoured wood species (Cunningham and Choge in press).

The woodcarving industry in Kenya has received some national and

international attention in recent years when a number of studies under the

People and Plants Initiative addressed concerns about lack of sustainability.

Some of the key recommendations from these initiatives regarding woodcarving

follow.

Supply dynamics of carving wood

• Inventories of available stocks of hardwoods and alternative species are
  needed for all the existing sources as a guide to planning, consumption
  projection, determination of off-take volumes and other aspects related to
  policy formulation on utilisation.


• A temporary ban on extraction of prime carving hardwoods from more
  affected natural forests is required until stocks recover.


• Use of alternative woods needs to be encouraged and aggressively promoted
  as a buffer against loss of earnings by carvers.


• Alternative woods need to be seasoned to maintain confidence of buyers
  and market share.


• Private investment in cultivation of fast growing alternative species should
  be encouraged.

Marketing of carving wood

• Better enforcement of extraction restrictions from natural forests and
  revision of royalty rates to reflect wood scarcity are needed. Royalty rates
  should be based on the market price of woodcarving products, not sawn
  timber. This shift would widen the revenue base and minimise competition
  for prime carving species by other sectors.


• Woodcarvers, and not agents, should be licensed to extract carving wood to
  minimise wood price distortion and resource mining and to increase income
  for carvers.


• Resource owners should consider starting associations to counter exploitation
  by agents and other wood dealers.


• There needs to be professional management of the woodcarving co-
  operatives for enhanced transparency in financial dealings with members
  and aggressive products marketing strategies.

Economic returns of carving

• There is need for improved wood recovery through use of better tools,
  improved designs of carvings and use of seasoned woods. Training on these
  aspects is essential.

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