Part of Juba’s Rock City area initially gazetted in the 1940s as Equatoria teak plantation cleared for a road in January 2024. Photo Credit: Lou Nelson/Eye Radio.

Urban expansion and human encroachment have destroyed an estimated 44,743 hectares of teak plantation, with much of the damage recorded during decades of civil war in South Sudan.

The teak plantation initially covered more than 273,856 hectares, divided into 51 forest reserves and were first gazetted by the former colonial government between 1930s to 1940s.

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry said efforts are underway to restore the destroyed plantation reserves in Equatoria and Bahr el Ghazal regions.

The Minister of Environment and Forestry Josephine Napwon has been visiting different states to assess the extent of destruction of the National Reserve Teak Plantation and devise practical restoration means.

In one of the visits to Western Bahr el Ghazal in May, 2023, the minister noted that the damage to teak plantations was enormous and alarming.

South Sudan, the East African country with a population of about 12 million, has experienced years of civil war, including a 21-year struggle for independence which ended in 2005 with signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The landlocked country in 2013 and 2016, plunged into internal conflict, which, according to officials from the Ministry of Environment also made it difficult to protect the teak reserves from encroachment and illegal harvesting.

Officials from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry walking through one of the destroyed teak plantations in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal State, May 2023. Photo Credit: Mustaf Osman.

“The plantations are about 52 and we have lost about four or six of them due to urbanization,” said Timothy Thwol Onak, a forestry expert at the Ministry of Environment.

One of the common teak species grown in South Sudan is Tectona, found in the ironstone plateau of Bahr el Ghazal and the green belt of the Equatoria region.

It was first introduced to the country in 1948 by a German forester to provide South Sudan with future wood resources. Its wood is highly valued for furniture and and construction due to its resistance to water and pests.

Thwol explained that the continuous conflict in the country is one of the obstacles hindering the Ministry’s efforts to fully conserve and restore forests.

He believed there was need for the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to demarcate the gazetted areas to prevent future encroachment.

Charles Uguak, the Director of Forestry in Western Bahr el Ghazal said most of the people involved in teak harvesting are doing it illegally without authorization from the ministry.

Impact of Concessions on Teak Forest Reserves.

 Coppice growth at Yatta Teak plantation in Yambio after concession harvesting April 2024. Credit: Ziaziako Emmanuel.

As a result, the Western Bahr el Ghazal Minister  Environment and Forestry said South Sudan has lost most of its oldest teak plantations to the private sector.

In 2012, government extended the right to harvest teak to Central Equatoria Teak company for an area of 22,713 hectares in Loka. This accelerated the destruction of the forest.

Illegal harvesting and encroachment has left many teak plantations such as Mumory, Kajiko in Central Equatoria state, Nyin-Akok, Pakany in Bahr el Ghazal in poor condition.

Mr Thwol added that the licensed private companies diverted from the terms of the agreement they signed with government, and recommended that  all poor teak harvesting agreements be cancelled.

The Public Outcry

Joakino Samuel, a youth leader based in Wau said the available teak resources have not benefited to the local population.

He for example pointed to the fact that despite private companies harvesting teak in the area, most schools operated without furniture.

“Currently in Wau county and Jur River County where those Teak plantations are located, there are schools without benches, no desks and doors or furniture. The local population has not benefited at all,” Joakino explains.

Joakino, government must now intervene through mechanisms like enforcing agreement terms and supervising the concession process to minimize destruction of teak forests by private companies.

Meanwhile, a regional coordinator for the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization in Greater Bahr el Ghazal suggested that the government’s effort to concede the rights to harvest teak to private companies should be reviewed.

Stephen Robo Musa wonders how the country will restore the destroyed teak forests. “Now that the private companies are harvesting teak without even planting new trees, there is no guarantee that we shall have the next generation trees for the future,” Robo observes.

This story was produced in collaboration with InfoNile.