Northern Mozambique possesses some of the highest quality hardwood in the world. As such, the area has been subject to irresponsible over-harvesting, which has almost depleted the natural forest. Sadly, the local population never prospered from the resource. Although locals carried out all of the manual labour to harvest the wood, the raw product was bought for a pittance and sold for a fortune in Europe and Asia, with the middleman reaping the profit.
Our goal for the project is to use this limited resource for the benefit of the local population. We want to create a facility that can process the wood and manufacture the final product. We will then establish a platform, where we can sell or export to the end-user, directly. This way, we can keep the profits in Mozambique, to the benefit of the local population.
Ant White started a sawmill on the Zambezi over 30 years ago. When we approached Ant about the project, we were inspired by his ethics and discovered that he plants more trees than he harvests. Our project will follow the same principles, and we will only harvest responsibly, ensuring that we do not deplete the supply. We will work closely with Ant to get an understanding of all the issues surrounding the industry in Mozambique.
Once we set up a workshop in Beira, the home of our FSC-registered partners, LevasFlor, we will enlist skilled carpenters and carvers to train members of the local community. We aim to produce bespoke furniture, that we can market through various digital platforms, while creating awareness around the inevitable extinction of the forest. Esteemed carpenter, Fritz van Zyl, will be supplying his expertise to our trainees, on the creation of the furniture and sculptures.
