Timber Source for Zambezi Floor:

At Zambezi Floor we pride ourselves in the fact that we are responsible for the preservation of one of Africa's great forests near the resort town of Victoria Falls. Through our community projects and careful management of this resource we guarantee the survival and growth of this wonderful African hardwood forest and that our timber comes from a fully sustainable source. Our policies and practices ensure optimum carbon fixation for this resource and therefore assist in reducing global warming.

There is a massive expanse of ancient sand (the largest expanse of sand in the world) in Central Africa known as the Kalahari Sand Veldt. It covers great areas of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. On this sand grows a most beautiful tree referred to as Zambezi Teak, since many of the greatest forests occur along the banks of that famous river. During the early months of the year each tree produces thousands of sprays of exquisite purple flowers, so that the vast green carpet of trees is covered in a blanket of purple.
It so happens that this marvelous tree also produces some of the finest timber in the world. Not only is it exceptionally beautiful, with a rich red brown colour and tight grain that polishes up like a mirror, it is also exceptionally hard. So hard in fact that it is impervious to attack from white ants or the moulds and micro organisms that cause lesser hardwoods to rot and disappear with time.

In one corner of this huge area, at the top end of Matabeleland, we are the custodians of a portion of this wonderful resource.

As human populations expand there is a seemingly inevitable conflict between people and the natural environment they inhabit. This is a particular problem in Africa, where people must sustain themselves from the land. If no alternative is available, they must grow crops. If there are trees in the way they will cut them down. However, if the communities have an alternative and benefit from the forests around them they will help to look after the forest. If this benefit to local communities is combined with the sustainable utilisation of the forest so that it actually improves in biomass and quality with time, then we have a win win situation all round. That is what we are achieving at Zambezi Floor. We have a policy of only employing people from the communities living near the forest, where we are the only employer within a 40 kilometer radius. This is essential to these communities as one employee will support an extended family of at least 10 people, and we employ over 250. We pay royalties on all timber cut into a trust for development projects in the communities living on the fringes of the forests. These projects include self sufficiency gardening projects, installation of boreholes, development of school and clinic infrastructure and so on. The communities also benefit directly from the forest with access to grazing for their cattle, collection of honey and access to firewood from felled trees or offcuts from the milling process. Together with the Forestry Commission we conduct an annual audit to calculate what timber can safely be removed to ensure that only sustainable volumes of timber are extracted. We construct and maintain fire breaks, remove undesirable or exotic species and dead wood that is blocking the growth of young trees and so on. Where copsing is too prolific, we thin out the saplings to ensure there is not too much competition, thus allowing the growth of strong, healthy trees. Each coup, or harvesting area, is re-visited only every 30 years. This program ensures strong, vigorous re - growth which in turn optimizes carbon fixation for the forest, assisting in the reduction of global warming.