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The Timber Legality Risk Assessment contains an evaluation of the risk of illegality in Angola for 5 categories and 21 sub-categories of law. We found:

  • Specified risk for 19 sub-categories.
  • Low risk for 0 sub-categories.
  • No legal requirements for 2 sub-categories

This page provides an overview of the legality risks related to timber produced in Angola. 

Angola has abundant and extensive forest resources and biodiversity with considerable economic potential. The extent of forest and other wooded land is estimated at 58,480 million hectares, 47% of the country's 12,467 million hectares of land area.  According to the Ministry of Economic Planning, Angola's timber resources are largely underexploited. It is believed that the real size of forest in Angola is not known, as a national forest inventory has not been conducted.

Angola has recovered from a long period of civil conflicts (1975-2002), which affected the forest sector's development. The new era of stability and rapid development indicates a high-level commitment to sustainable forest management, improving livelihoods for the rural people who largely depend on forest resources

However, as the forest policy and related legislation have been established and implemented after the civil conflicts, Forestry Development Institute, which is the executive arm of the forestry sector, is challenged by inadequate capacity for its mandate in terms of technical knowledge, skills, experience, and the number of professional staff. Consequently, IDF cannot implement long-term forest concessions for forest management as established by law and instead depends on an Annual Forest Harvesting License, which awards timber harvesting rights based on specific species. This practice has the potential to deplete the forest of its high-valued timber species. 

Several legality risks are present in Angola's timber supply chains. The risks are wide-ranging and appear across all categories of law. If you are sourcing timber from Angola, you should take care to ensure the extensive risks identified are not present in your supply chains, or chains or have been sufficiently mitigated.

Corruption Perceptions Index

Score: 29 / 100 in 2021

Rank:  136 out of 180 countries in 2021

Bans and restrictions

Logging ban: Mussivi African Rosewood (Guibourtia Coleosperma)

Armed conflict

Global Conflict Tracker (2019) did not report any ongoing conflicts. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program reports that there were 98 deaths related to state-based violence in 2014-2020. However, those deaths seem not to be related to the forest sector.

CITES species

CITES appendix II: Diospyros spp.; Prunus africana

 

 

Certification

FSC Certified Forest Area: none 
PEFC Certified Forest Area: none
 

Timber sources

  • Find out the different sources of legal timber
  • Determine which source type your timber comes from
Timber source type Description of source type
Annual Forest Harvesting License

Annual Forest Harvesting Licences shall be issued only for one season of felling or harvesting of wood and Non-Timber Forest Products and for areas not exceeding 1,000 ha on land located in production forest, community forest areas, or on land from previous concessions or reserves. 

1) Natural forest in production forest/ public domain (State-owned property)
2) Natural forest - community forest. Mainly for subsistence and community use. It can be used for commercial harvesting under authorization when there is sufficient forest resource potential and only under the prior consent of the communities. This type of harvesting can be collective, individual, or collective in partnership with third parties.
3) Plantation Forest (public and private plantation). All existing plantation forests are state-owned. Private forest plantations are to be established on a case-by-case basis, and none currently exist for timber harvesting.
Forest Concession Contract

No forest concession contracts exist at the time of this assessment.

A Forest Concession Contract can be issued for the following:
1) Natural forest in production forest/ public domain (State-owned property)
2) Natural forest - community forest. Mainly for subsistence and community use. It can be used for commercial harvesting under authorization when there is sufficient forest resource potential and only under the prior consent of the communities. This type of harvesting can be collective, individual, or collective in partnership with third parties.
3) Plantation Forest (Public Plantation and private). All existing plantation forests are state-owned. Private forest plantations are to be established on a case-by-case basis, and none currently exist for timber harvesting.

 

Risk assessment summary

Legal rights to harvest

Legal rights to harvest, EUTR
  • Risk related to Land tenure and management rights based on a precautionary approach (1.1)
  • Risk related to Concession licensed based on a precautionary approach (1.2)
  • Risk related to Management and harvesting planning based on a precautionary approach (1.3)
  • Illegal transfer of Annual Forest Harvesting Licenses between national to foreign companies (1.4) 
  • Logging activities are carried out without  or with a fraudulent permit (1.4)

Taxes and fees

Taxes and fees, EUTR
  • Risk related to Payment of royalties and harvesting fees based on a precautionary approach (1.5)
  • Risk related to Value-added taxes and other sales taxes based on a precautionary approach (1.6)
  • Risk related to Income and profit taxes based on a precautionary approach (1.7)

Timber harvesting activities

timber harvesting activities, EUTR
  • Risk of harvesting below the minimum allowed felling diameter (1.8) 
  • Risk of harvesting beyond the boundaries (1.8) 
  • Risk of logging activities carried out without or with a fraudulent permit (1.8) 
  • Risk of illegal logging of protected species (1.9) 
  • Risk related to Environmental requirements based on a precautionary approach (1.10)
  • Risk related to Health and safety based on a precautionary approach (1.11)
  • Risk that Employment regulations are not respected (lack of compliant and registered employment contract, employer not paying social contributions, workers' pay below the minimum wage) (1.12) 

Third parties' rights

Third party rights, EUTR
  • Risk related to Customary rights based on a precautionary approach (1.13)
  • Risk related to Free prior and informed consent based on a precautionary approach (1.14)
  • Risk of false declarations are made regarding species and their volume on transport documents (1.16) 

Trade and transport

Trade and transport, EUTR
  • Risk related to Trade and Transport based on a precautionary approach (1.17)
  • Risk related to Offshore trading and transfer pricing based on a precautionary approach (1.18)
  • Risk related to Custom Regulations based on a precautionary approach (1.19)
  • Risk related to CITES based on a precautionary approach (1.20)

 

Mitigate the risks in your supply chain

Learn which detailed actions we recommended to mitigate the risks associated with the timber sourced from Angola by looking at our Risk Mitigation Guide.

Mitigation recommendations

There are five generally recommended actions to mitigate the risks associated with the timber sources from Angola:

1. Fully map your supply chain

2. Obtain and verify documents     

3. Consult with stakeholders    

4. Carry out on-site verification    

5. Conduct targeted timber testing

  • Conduct timber testing on samples of purchased material to verify the species or origin of timber, where appropriate
Profile Publication Date
2022-01-25