Does Regulation of Chainsaws Curb Illegal Logging?
By Nick Pasiecznik, Agroforestry Enterprises, Villebeuf 71550 Cussy-en-Morvan, France, tel: 00 33 3 85 54 68 26; npasiecznik at wanadoo.fr.

Chainsaws are highly portable, relatively cheap to hire or buy, very efficient, and can be used by a single man to fell, crosscut and mill a large tree in under a day. There are, however, increasing concerns about illegal logging and deforestation in tropical forests where there are still high volumes of valuable timber. Inadequate laws or enforcement benefit illicit cutting and over-exploitation, especially in remote locations. Whereas it is true that chainsaws are involved in most illegal logging, they are clearly not the prime cause, merely a tool in the operation.

While there are significant negative environmental effects of illegal chainsaw logging and milling, such crime also allows more money to feed back to poorer people in forest-dependent communities as compared to legal harvesting, which is usually run by large overseas companies.

Restrictions on the ownership and/or use of chainsaws have been tried, but with mixed effects. In Ghana, 80% of the timber in local markets is milled freehand even though the practice is illegal. In Uganda, by contrast, it is illegal to mill timber freehand, and due to such timber being easy to identify thanks to the “trademark” chainsaw marks, enforcement is relatively easy with many truck loads of timber and chainsaws apparently confiscated.

However, it is very possible to produce chainsaw milled timber without the “trademark” chainsaw marks by using guidance systems. Clearly then, regulating or banning the use of chainsaws in the context of inadequate forest laws or enforcement is unlikely to succeed and may just change the tools used. There is no single right answer, each situation being quite different, though there is some consensus on issues to consider.

Characteristics that make chainsaws suitable for illicit activities can also aid forest conservation. Certainly, processing trees where they fall has environmental benefits over whole log extraction, and promoting the use of low capital cost processing equipment allows opportunities for more of the local community to engage in forest operations. In addition, chainsaws are being increasingly seen as suitable for milling scattered trees on farms, drylands, and in towns, thus reducing the pressure on forests as the main suppliers of timber.

Chainsaw milling is economically viable in certain situations, increasing revenues for the very poor. However, it is likely to have negative impacts, on the environment in particular, if allowed to be used without any control of tree felling. As existing regulations and their enforcement are clearly inadequate, alternatives are required, involving governments, local people and businesses commercially involved in timber, chainsaws and milling attachments.

The following are suggested policy and regulatory changes to improve the use of chainsaws in timber processing:

• National forest departments should take the lead in making necessary changes to policy, law, regulation, enforcement and penalties for tree felling and wood product sales.
• Clarify any ambiguities in existing laws pertaining to chainsaw and sawmill ownership and use.
• Reduce import taxes or tariffs on chainsaw milling attachments that improve safety, efficiency and recovery, to encourage their greater availability.
• Collect details of all importers and dealers of chainsaws, milling equipment, spares and accessories, to be included in a national register.
• Insist that dealers provide records on numbers imported and sold, including buyers’ names and addresses.
• License chainsaws and mills nationally, in which owners must state the purpose and where used, and require chainsaw operators to obtain a permit, both renewable annually.
• Issue tree felling permits lodged in a central or regional database (including species and likely sawn volume) that accompany sawn timber that is then enforced and checked in transit or at point of sale.
• Institute a national policy on developing and promoting training courses on chainsaw safety, use, maintenance and milling, also timber drying.
• Eventually, make the issuing of chainsaw licenses and permits dependent on whether a training course has been attended.
• Eventually, make the milling or transport of freehand chainsaw milled timber illegal, irrespective of origin (country or forest type), readily enforced due to the presence of the tell-tale markings.

This publication is an output from a research project funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID.