Report

Illicit timber flows from Miombo woodlands: The Tanzania nexus

This report from UK think tank RUSI examines Tanzania’s role in illicit miombo timber flows, highlighting gaps and opportunities for effective action.

This paper examines Tanzania’s role as both a source and transit hub for high-value miombo hardwoods moving through regional and global supply chains. It finds that corruption, document fraud, weak traceability at the point of harvest and inconsistent cross-border controls allow illegally sourced timber to be laundered into legitimate trade. These flows can converge with wildlife trafficking, minerals crime and, in some contexts, arms, drugs and conflict financing.

Tanzania has strengthened its response through tougher economic-crime and anti-money laundering provisions, alongside the Timber Tracker system for domestic transport monitoring. Yet enforcement often remains focused on low-level harvesters and drivers rather than the transnational networks, facilitators and financial flows that enable large-scale timber crime. The paper argues that treating illicit timber as a serious organised economic crime is essential to protecting forests, public revenues and regional security.