A draft strategy for the forestry, timber, pulp and paper industry, which has been approved by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is expected to go to Cabinet for consideration within the next month, a DTI spokesperson told Engineering News Online, on Tuesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of a media briefing, DTI chief director of resource-based industries Masizakhe Zimela said that the draft strategy was aimed at simplifying and accelerating the forestry licensing process and reducing the cost of the process.

A survey by the DTI on the constraints affecting the forestry industry was completed in June, and was used to compile the draft strategy framework to accelerate the commercial forestry licensing process.

"The draft strategic framework outlines how industry constraints should be dealt with, especially forestry licence delays, and improving growth in the downstream industries, such as process industries from forestry."

Masizakhe explained that the draft strategy was looking to reduce the time taken to procure a forestry licence, which currently took about 22 months.

He explained that, while the process was needed for licensing commercial forestry applications, it took too long and cost a lot of money, especially for the environmental -impact assessments and licence fees.

"The process has now been reduced to nine months, but we are looking to reduce this even further," he said, explaining that procuring the licence involved interaction with numerous departments, including the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

"We need to make the process simpler for small, medium sized and microenterprises to apply for licences," he stressed.

The survey had identified land that was available for forestry and new plantations, which Masizakhe said was mostly on community owned land.

"Community participation is still a relatively small part of the forestry and processing industry."

However, he pointed out that there were numerous factors impacting commercial forestry farming by communities, such as funding mechanisms, proper skills, technology transfer, the right equipment and producing efficiently.

Masizakhe promised that once the strategy was approved by Cabinet, the DTI, would make sure that the services were provided to communities.

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