Ensuring the sustainability of our forests for future generations is paramount. To achieve this goal, we adhere to a strict set of guidelines outlined below:
LevasFlor is a single contiguous Forest Management Unit (FMU) under one management plan. The FMU is divided into 20 management blocks, with a 20-year harvest cycle. The harvesting rotation provides time for medium size trees to mature until the next harvest cycle. Only a certain proportion of the mature trees are taken out in each cycle.
Forest inventories are carried out one year prior to harvest in the selected block. This is a 100% inventory, measuring and recording all commercial species with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 30 cm or more. The inventory also notes the commercial quality, defects, or trees with animal nestings and similar data points. Some of the absolute best trees are left behind to drop seeds and improve the genetic composition of the forest. Trees that are to be harvested are marked, but the final selection also depends on the chainsaw operator, who may leave trees with heart rot or those that could damage other trees if felled.
Several native hardwoods are harvested, but our main focus is on Brachystegia spiciformis (Msasa), accounting for more than 80% of the total volume harvested. Through low-intensity selective harvesting, we carefully handpick only a chosen few trees per hectare, ensuring minimal disturbance. After felling, the logs are crosscut and each is given a unique individual number which is stapled to the end of the log. This is done so that all logs from a particular tree can be identified.
The natural regeneration of the Miombo forest is excellent and research and expert opinion indicates that there is generally little need for artificial regeneration. To encourage natural regeneration, the most impactful thing is to put efforts into fire prevention. The forest floor is full of seeds and roots, waiting for a gap in the canopy where they can sprout. Many of the miombo species are excellent coppice trees, and their stumps are managed for coppicing. All stumps are marked and monitored.
Artificial regeneration is limited to the rehabilitation of extraction routes and loading points where some of the forest may have been cleared. For example, panga panga and chanfuta seedlings are planted, protected and monitored in these areas.
We are committed to restoring degraded areas that have suffered from shifting agriculture and recurring fires. These areas encompass old croplands and damaged forests that have been subjected to repeated burning. Our restoration efforts, currently at 200 hectares per year, are steadily increasing.
Illegal activities such as indiscriminate tree cutting, poaching and snaring is monitored on an ongoing basis by a team of 13 rangers (Fiscais). They are also responsible for monitoring any offtake of non-timber products and for fire surveillance. Animal distribution and movement is monitored by recording of sightings and by camera traps strategically placed and moved around the concession.
We have established 35 active Permanent Sample Plots (PSPs) in protected and commercial areas where growth and recruitment is monitored on an annual basis. Costs and productivity are routinely monitored, and post-harvest monitoring is ongoing. The PSPs in the protected areas record and monitor all plant species, not just trees.
The HVC area in Levasflor is a section of the Chinizua River. The area includes riverine forest and covers an area of approximately 100 ha. In order to protect this HVC area and its attributes, the entire section of the Chinizua River within the boundaries of the LF concession, from the catchment area in Block 19 to the concession boundary, an area of 2,187 ha, is set aside as a conservation area. These forests have a high biodiversity value, not only for woody species but also for ferns and tree orchids. Many of these areas are under regional threat from irresponsible timber exports and charcoal production.
