U.S. Forest Service helps forestry enforcement efforts in Africa

The US Forest Service International Programs (IP) has been engaged in efforts to help combat illegal logging in Southern Africa for many years.  Over the winter of 2024, Okanogan-Wenatchee and Colville National Forests Law Enforcement Officer Andrew Larson joined an IP team on assignment to Zambia for this purpose. 

In 2021, Zambian Forestry Department staff identified technical skill gaps and training needs to establish a more robust illegal logging enforcement program.  These staff are alumni of the International Law Enforcement Academy in Botswana and used their contacts to request additional training from the USFS IP.   As a result, a series of multi-day virtual engagements was held in 2021 to address technical investigative and enforcement skills necessary to prosecute violations of the Zambian Forestry Act. 

Building on these prior sessions, a weeklong course was hosted in January 2024 in Lusaka, Zambia, with 23 participants from the Forestry Department and Department of Parks and Wildlife.  This group of individuals was carefully selected for their agency roles and duty stations near illegal logging or trafficking activity. 

This series of trainings was designed to establish a cadre of Zambian trainers who would travel the country instructing their colleagues in forestry enforcement skills.  The goal of these trainings was to reduce the practice of illegal logging across Zambia through strengthened law enforcement skills and increased community partnership and cross agency collaboration.  During the week-long training in Lusaka, current and retired U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations experts facilitated a curriculum intended to achieve this goal and be taught by Zambian trainers in the future. 

In March of 2024, this group and the IP team reunited in Livingstone, Zambia, to focus on the adult education skills necessary to effectively facilitate this course with their colleagues.  A professional educator on the IP team designed the curriculum so that Zambian cadre would learn facilitation techniques while practicing the delivery of the illegal logging enforcement curriculum.  The cadre was provided with course content, materials, and knowledge to implement this training program across Zambia in variable learning environments in concert with expert investigators from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife.  The cadre closed the week with enthusiasm, passion, and confidence to carry the training program forward to achieve the goal of combatting illegal logging in Zambia. 

Shortly after the IP team left Livingstone, Forestry Department Chief Forestry Officer Victor Chiba led a complex multi-agency operation to a remote protected area where a traditional tribal leader was working with a transnational criminal organization to illegally log a wildlife preserve.  The operation to arrest the traditional tribal leader and shut down the logging involved a great investment of resources and political courage.  News clip of the operation.

US Forest Service works abroad to promote sustainable forest management by leveraging agency expertise to address global issues of environmental conservation.  By training others to combat illegal logging, the international fair trade in forest products is ensured so that legitimate timber from American and international producers remain competitive.  Forest dependent communities around the world benefit from enhanced natural resource management skills and experience through this multicultural exchange. 

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Participants from the Zambia Forestry Department and Department of Parks and Wildlife attended workshops to combat illegal logging and learn forestry enforcement skills taught by USDA Forest Service International Programs officers in Lusaka, Zambia, in January 2024. Credit:  USDA Forest Service International Programs

A group of training cadre and USDA Forest Service International Programs officers gather for a group photo. These individuals participated in workshops in March 2024 in Livingstone, Zambia, to learn how to teach others to combat illegal logging.  Credit:  USDA Forest Service International Programs

Trainer cadre practicing facilitation of a crime scene investigation module in Livingstone, Zambia, in March 2024. Credit:  USDA Forest Service International Programs

Trainer cadre practicing facilitation of an evidence collection module in Livingstone, Zambia, March 2024. Credit:  USDA Forest Service International Programs