Tanzania’s forest authority on Monday said it had invited tenders for logging in an area earmarked for a hydropower project within the Selous Game Reserve, where different kinds of animal species live.
Chief Executive of the Tanzania Forest Services (TFS) Agency, Dos Santos Silayo, said: “Our intention is to clear the project area before implementation of the project starts.”
TFS placed an advertisement on its website inviting tender applications for logging of standing trees with a total volume of 3,495,362.823 cubic meters in Rufiji district in Coast region.
“We opened the tenders for felling the trees so that they can be used for various purposes rather than destroying them,” Xinhua news agency quotes Silayo.
Silayo however said the successful tenderer will not be allowed to export the logs as per regulation 50 (1) of the Forest Regulations of 2004 unless otherwise permitted subject to applying for and being granted a permit for the same by the minister responsible for natural resources and tourism.
Clearance of the area will pave way for the commencement of the grand hydropower generation project at the Stiegler’s Gorge in the Selous Game Reserve scheduled to start in July this year.
Minister for Energy Medard Kalemani last month said the 2,100MW hydropower project would see the construction of the largest dam in Tanzania along the Rufiji River in the Selous Game Reserve.
