Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

188 Trading forest products in South-Eastern Zimbabwe

areas fall under the collective ownership of the local communities, the

underlying legislation for the communal land implies that ownership and use

of logs is the prerogative of the local Rural District Councils (RDCs), assisted

by the Natural Resources Board (NRB) and Forestry Commission (FC) in

overseeing the harvesting patterns. For resettlement land, the resettlement

officials, also assisted by the NRB and FC, are responsible. Logs in small-scale

commercial farms are ‘privately owned’, though the NRB and FC are entitled

to control their commercial use.

Available technology and infrastructure

The most important infrastructural feature in the study area is the well

maintained network of all-weather surface roads running from Beitbridge through

Masvingo town to Harare and the Eastern Highlands. The roads provide the

interface between traders and tourists. Fifty eight percent of the markets had

some form of shelter to protect carvings from bad weather conditions, 50% had

pit-latrine toilets, and 16% had piped water. Shelters ranged from pole and mud

walls with thatched roofs to brick walls with corrugated iron roofs.

The equipment used in the woodcarving enterprise ranges from rudimentary

to more sophisticated tools, but the latter are infrequent. Only one individual

owned a chainsaw and most people use axes to cut trees. The chisels used

vary from professional ones to those manufactured by local blacksmiths. It

was observed that even professional chisels were locally modified at the end

of their normal life to enhance their performance.

Photo 1. Primary processing of logs done adjacent to the market site (Photo

by Wavell Standa-Gunda)

11woodcarving.p65 188 22/12/2004, 11:05