Photo: The Wattle Company Logo - Mutare
A historic moment was witnessed in the Zimbabwean forestry industry in mid-May 2022 when the CMO FSC Group Certificate for Zimbabwe commercial forestry companies including Border Timbers and Wattle Company was issued by the accreditation body SGS. FSC certification has been absent in the Zimbabwean forestry industry for the past fifteen years. The journey culminating to this point began about a year ago with feasibility studies and Risk assessments being conducted by the CMO group consultants.
According to CMO’s CEO Dr. Michal Brink “ we salute the hard work by all the staff involved from Border Timbers and the Wattle Company, who toiled tirelessly over the last year to make this a reality”
Photo: CMO Zimbabwe Team
CMO has set up an office in the Border Timbers Mutare premises which is manned with a full complement of technical and compliance foresters and a country manager. Further to the certification of Forest Management units in Zimbabwe, CMO is also exploring the possibility of FSC certification of forest restoration projects on old tobacco lands as well as the potential certification of about 100 000Ha of Chirara concession bordering on the Kariba dam. The objective is to verify FSC Ecosystem Services Claims regarding the restoration of natural forest characteristics in that landscape. The CMO Group is now running FSC Group Schemes in Uganda, Gabon, Namibia, South Africa, Thailand, and Zimbabwe totaling over 2 million hectares.
