Chainsaw logging in Guyana – in the commercial sense that is – is considered to have had its origins in the depressed bauxite communities during the early 1980s when the demise of mining left hundreds of people jobless (circa 1980-83). In Ituni, a mining community of several hundred people, all of the bauxite workers were retrenched. In 1983 a few enterprising individuals turned to the forest for a livelihood. They found that they could produce lumber at competitive prices – relative to what was being charged by sawmills for low-grade material – and commenced supplying markets in Linden and Georgetown.
The commencement of this economic activity also saw many of the workers who had been retained by the scaled-down bauxite industry resign their jobs to pursue what they considered to be more lucrative employment. Thus began an economic activity which, to this day, remains critical to the economy of that region.
The advent of chainsaw logging took place during a period when large timber/ sawmill operators were selling their second/third grade material at what was considered a high price of US$0.75c on the local market. This was period during which imports were restricted and local materials in high demand.
The chainsaw “ripping” industry grew in “fits and starts” due primarily to the scarcity of equipment as a result of import restrictions. By the end of the 1980s, however, with the removal of import restrictions, the industry grew steadily from year to year.
The expansion of chainsaw logging also coincided with a downturn in the market price of greenheart for marine construction in Europe. Millers, therefore, were compelled to pay closer attention to the local market. While their “sash gang” mills well suited to producing large long squares they were not suited to producing one and two-inch thick material for the new export (boards) and local markets. Inevitably, both productivity and recovery suffered leading to huge increases in costs of production.
“Sash gang” saws cut blind resulting in poor recovery of volume, a circumstance that has serious implications for wastage of high grade lumber. Gang saws allow for the opening of the face of logs to detect defects and “cut around” those defects. Wastage, therefore is minimized.
When the large millers begun to refocus their attention on the local market during the 1990s they found an ample supply of cheap lumber supplied by chainsaw operators. Confronted with their own economic pressures they immediately cried “foul,” complaining that the cheap supplies being offered by the chainsaw loggers was a function of the fact that they were operating illegally. The reality is different. Large operators have, over the years, been unmindful of the country’s poor forest resources and at any rate the reality is that the illegal aspect of the operations of chainsaw loggers represent only about 5%of their operational costs.
The large concessionaires point to what they say is the waste of wood and unsustainable practices that result from chainsaw logging. A DFID-funded FRP Chainsaw logging Conversion Study carried out in January / February, 2006 -using a majority of one -inch thick material and some two-inch thick material at three different geographical sites – found that the average “merchantable” recovery for chainsaws was 44.4% while the average “merchantable” recovery from some of the most modern sawmills was 35.5%. Who, then, is really wasting wood?
The real reason why chainsaws produce lumber at such a low cost is simple – It takes the means of production to the tree rather than the tree to the means of production.
It is the role of chainsaw logging in supporting rural communities in Guyana that is, however, the real story. While the conventional logging/milling sector has been the recipient of substantial concessionary financing over the years our intrepid chainsaw operators have been vilified, harassed and treated with contempt. The fact is, however, that chainsaw operators actually pay their way. A study conducted by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) in 2001/ 2002 found that chainsaw operators were paying almost half of the royalties being received by the GFC despite the fact that it occupies less than
