SOUTHERN AFRICA — USDA Forest Service Office of International Programs and the Chief Information Office’s mobile app team recently collaborated to develop a timber permit app that can help law enforcement officers in southern Africa identify illegal timber consignments. The app, released in May, provides guidance on timber permitting requirements in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, the largest terrestrial transfrontier conservation area in the world.  

The KAZA TFCA spans 520,000 square kilometers—nearly twice as large as the United Kingdom—and lies in the Kavango and Zambezi river basins, where Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe converge. It’s home to a wide range of ecosystems, biodiversity and human populations. It’s also home to illegal cross-border timber trade that threaten community livelihoods and the integrity of ecosystems in the region.  

In 2020, a KAZA Forestry Sub-working Group formed as a forestry specialist group to discuss issues of trans-boundary forestry management and conservation. The Forest Service has provided technical assistance and capacity building to the sub-working group since its inception. The group developed a management strategy for forestry conservation that maps out a program of work to address forestry priorities and interventions. One of the priorities was the development of a KAZA Timber Permit Guide app.

To develop the mobile app, Forest Service International Programs worked with Karen Nott, senior technical advisor and facilitator for the KAZA Forestry Working Group, who compiled guidance on timber permit requirements as well as examples of the permits for each country in the conservation area.

International Programs then worked closely with Jason Flaherty, Dawn Blanchard, Aaron Dick and Albert Ahr on the CIO mobile app team. They provided support creating the app’s layout, coding, editing and adding content, and making the app available for download to Android and iOS devices.  

“Officers working at border posts or check points are often overwhelmed by the pile of documentation they are presented with when inspecting a timber truck. The app helps them to identify the key documents that they need to ask for and review as well as giving them an example of what the permit should look like. Access to this app increases their confidence in approaching and inspecting a timber consignment to determine legality,” said Nott.

Users of the app can select the country they’re working in to view information on timber permitting requirements, timber transiting and CITES requirements. The app provides guidance in both English and Portuguese to accommodate a wide range of law enforcement users. It also includes scenario-based exercises and ongoing training events to help users practice and understand how to use the app more effectively.  

The project was co-funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs and Forest Service International Programs. It supports the interagency Lacey Act initiatives, which endeavors to combat illegal trafficking of wildlife, fish, and plants.