8. MARKETING OF CARVING WOOD IN KENyA
8.2 Round wood trnde in Kenya
8.2.1 Structure of the domesti c round wood trade
Wood is of critical importance for both subsistence and commercial purposes in Kenya, being one of the most important products derived from forests in the country. The trade network for wood and wood products within the country is complex and is presented in Figure 8.1. Round wood comes from three main sources; commercial plantations of alien species, natural forests and woodlands of native hardwood species, and importation. Ownership of these resources
Poles and posts
Carving
roundwood
Pulp
It~
Sawlogs PlywoodFigure 8.1 : Structure of round wood trade in Kenya
Fuelwood
is varied and includes the state, county councils or even private ownership. Major closed canopy natural forests and plantations in Kenya are owned and managed by the state through the Forest Department. The Department is in charge of developing, managing and controlling the utilization of the forests by local people for subsistence purposes and the commercial industrial sector.
Forest plantations largely produce fast growing exotic softwoods such as pine and cypress, which meet the vast majority of basic building and carpentry requirements in the country.
They were developed as a response to the very low capacity of indigenous forests to supply wood on a sustainable basis because of slow growth rates. The area under state forest plantations in Kenya is estimated at 170 000 hectares, while the area covered by private plantations is estimated at 70 000 hectares. The main species grown include Eucalyptus spp, (gum), Acc.cia mearnsii (wattle) and others. Owing to the intensive management of these plantations, the growing stock of wood biomass is estimated at 347m3lha (KIFCON, 1994).
These softwood plantations provide for approximately 80-90 % of Kenya's industrial timber needs with an annual sustainable supply volume estimated at 2 494 000 m3 (KIFCON, 1994).
None of the major softwoods in plantations has been significantly utilised in the woodcarving industry except for the limited use of Cupressus lusitanica in the carving of utilitarian articles such as spoons, salad servers and stools, observed at Nanyuki and Gikomba carving centers.
However, from a broader perspective, the softwood plantations have helped to reduce the potential utilization pressures on the woodcarving hardwoods, which would have otherwise been long exterminated.
Attempts have been made to diversify the choice of plantations using a variety of tree species, in order to address the changing end use objectives, relative susceptibility to insects and diseases and effectiveness of regeneration among other reasons. In this respect, Brachylaena h uillens is, Olea europaea, Azadirachta indica and a wide range of other indigenous species have been tried in plantations, but on a limited scale such that their contribution to the round wood market in Kenya is considered insignificant. Much of it has largely been for purposes of research or to promote conserv c:ltion.
Although the natural indigenous forest resources cover a large land area (1.22 million ha), their low growth rate, hence low growing stock (176m3/ha) is a limitation to their large-scale intensive utilization. The lack of proper co-ordination of their utilization together with the high off-take volumes over and above what appeared to be sustainable led to a Presidential ban on their continued use.
This national ban on felling of live indigenous hardwood trees except for fallen or dead trees was effected in the mid-1980s and still stands to this day. Other than the high off-take volumes as a reason for the ban, it was felt that the environmental services provided by the indigenous forests through their protective role of watersheds, as well as other non-extractive uses had a priority over all other uses. Despite the ban, illegal extraction of round wood from these forests has been rife and is estimated at over 50 000m3 annually (Marshall et aI., 1994). These indigenous forests are the major sources of the most desirable and expensive hardwoods that are in high demand mainly for high-class construction, furniture making, charcoal production and woodcarving. Overall, annual sustainable accessible round wood production from Kenya's indigenous forests is estimated at between 1 620 000m3 (Wass, 1995) and 1 905 000m3 (KIFCON, 1994).
Trees planted on private farmlands, in settlements and in urban areas, form an important source of round wood in Kenya. Tree planting on farmlands and settlements in Kenya has a long history. The practice was intensified as early as the 1970s through popular promotion by the statutory organs and various volunteer groups and organizations. The domcstic and rural round wood demand in many parts of Kenya today are being satisfied through this scheme.
The supply of Jacaranda mimosifolia, and Grevillea robusta to Gikomba (Nairobi) carving centers is largely through these farmland and urban tree planting efforts that were initiated three or so decades ago. If efforts to plant some of the prime carving species were started then, the industry would no doubt be more secure than it is today. Survey on wood resources in Kenya (JIeA, 1992) showed a high land area covered by farmland and urban tree resources (9.5 million ha) and a high volume of wood biomass (9.3m3/ha) that was estimated as exceeding that of closed canopy forests and plantations combined. The total annual accessible sustainable round wood supply from farmlands and settlements is estimated at 9 373 000m3 (KIFCON,1994).
The importation of wood is not new in Kenya as specialized hardwoods from many countries find their way into the country. These include Australia (Eucalyptus marginata), Tanzania (Pterocarpus angolensis, Milicia excelsa, Brachylaena huillensis), Uganda (Pterocarpus angolensis), Zaire, Zambia and lJK. Recent studies on wood imports to Kenya (Marshall and Jenkins, 1994) reported an annual fluctuation of imports of7 062 m3 (1984),7 128 m3 (1990) 3 926 m3 (1991) and 2 297 m3 (1992).
Woodlands and bushland are also important sources of round wood in Kenya. By virtue of the extensive area covered, the potential sustainable wood supplied from this source is estimated at 11 157000 m3 annually (KIFCON, 1994).