Mozambique has seen a huge rise in the volume of its timber exports to China in recent years. Meanwhile, reports of illegality and unsustainable logging have steadily grown. The governments of both Mozambique and China are currently reconsidering how to address this reality – to maintain their important bilateral relationship, and to improve the practices of Chinese timber traders and concession holders and their Mozambican partners. This report contributes by exploring what options exist for incentives that can put in place more sustainable forestry. It identifies six main areas of concern and outlines for each area possible incentives that might be developed to improve practice. Then it reports on the results of a prioritisation process with Chinese and Mozambican forest operators, the Mozambican government and civil society organisations – which has the ambition to identify a set of complementary and prioritised incentives that can be implemented as part of a carefully thought-through sectoral reform process.
