Maputo — Communities in Mossuril district, in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula, have demanded that no more logging licences be issued in order to save precious hardwoods in the district from extinction, reports Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".

The appeal came at a ceremony held in the administrative post of Lunga, at which certificates and bicycles were delivered to 18 community forest wardens, trained with the assistance of the NGO Kulima, and with funding from Canadian Cooperation.

Representatives of Mossuril communities took the opportunity to urge the government representatives present to take measures to halt indiscriminate logging of hardwoods, which threaten to wipe out some of the district's most valuable resources.

It is alleged that trees are illegally cut down by foreign timber operators, in league with Mozambicans who are based in the port of Nacala. The logs are taken out of Mossuril at night, in an apparent attempt to avoid wardens.

The communities want an immediate ban on any further logging, until the species concerned have recovered, and the trees develop a reasonable size. The prohibition, they argue, will allow government forestry and wild life staff, with community support, to make a proper assessment of the forestry resources in the district.

The interim head of the Lunga administrative post, Agostinho Carlos, confirmed that the communities' fears are justified, and that there is a real threat that massive logging will drive some species to extinction in Mossuril.