FAO Forestry country profiles - harvesting practicies
History of Logging
There are large tropical wood resources in the Maiombe forest in Cabinda and the Dembos forest in Kwanza Norte, which have mahogany and other valuable species. Close to the major towns and in the provinces adjacent to Luanda, forests and shrublands have decreased drastically over the last decade as a consequence of continuous extraction of timber for fuelwood, which is the main source of energy used in both rural and urban areas, and other uses. By 1973 production of logs had reached over 500,000 m3, before the industry went into decline after 1975. By 1993 production of logs was only a percentage of the corresponding quantity twenty years earlier. The forestry subsector has been severely affected by the ongoing war. Practically all processing units have been destroyed, with the most severe damage having occurred during the most recent phase of the war (EIU 1997, MINADER&FAO 1996).