VZCZCXRO5587
OO RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #3479/01 3050704
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 010704Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2676
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 003479 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ETRD PREL PK AF
SUBJECT: KUNAR: PROPER MANAGEMENT OF TIMBER SALES NEEDED TO 
AVERT CONFLICT 
 
REF: KABUL 2438 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The lifting of the timber sales ban in the 
eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan offers a 
long-awaited opportunity to reduce smuggling that funds 
insurgent activities and criminal networks.  Such gains could 
be undermined, however, if mismanagement of timber sales 
leads to conflict between state and non-state actors. 
Likewise, the sales process may fuel a rush to cut remaining 
stands, further damaging already degraded forests and 
watersheds and depriving Kunar and Nuristan of potential 
jobs.  Until a Forest Law is passed and forest and watershed 
management is staffed and resourced, illicit timber 
harvesting will continue, to the detriment of security and 
sustainability.  PRT Kunar will attempt to monitor illicit 
sales activity and will consult with Kunar Governor Wahidi on 
how best to manage future sales.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Ministry of Finance (MoF) Chief of Staff Mohammad 
Shah Safi informed Embassy Kabul on October 5 that MoF will 
allow sale of illicitly-cut timber stockpiles impounded and 
registered in Kunar and Nuristan provincial timber yards. 
This follows a September 28 Cabinet decision to lift the sale 
ban and designate the MoF as the lead to determine procedures 
for the sale.  The September 28 Cabinet decision also created 
a commission that includes the Ministries of Agriculture, 
Interior, and Environmental Protection, as well as Finance, 
to a draft plan within a month for the protection of 
remaining forests.  Additionally, the Forest Law, in draft 
since 2007, was recently submitted to Parliament; its 
adoption and implementation should provide a long-term 
framework for a sustainable community-based forest management 
process, an important step toward conserving and developing 
these resources. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Kunar,s Line Director for Finance, Abdul Ghafoor, 
explained that the sale process will include the creation of 
an MoF-run commission to oversee the sales in Kunar.  Ghafoor 
noted that the commission will be comprised of Afghan 
government officials from Kabul, but will operate out of 
Kunar at the start of the process.  Note: Ghafoor, along with 
Kunar Governor Wahidi, had submitted a timber sale proposal 
to MoF in late August, following on a timber shura hosted by 
Wahidi in Kunar on July 28 (reftel).  The governor's plan 
appears to have formed a basis for the initial MoF proposal. 
Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Kunar has not received 
any indications that the Cabinet decision has been publicly 
announced.  End Note. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The MoF plan does not include Kunar Governor 
Wahidi,s proposed timber sale cap, however.  A cap would 
limit the sale to a specified amount of timber stockpiles and 
help deter illegal logging efforts to add to existing 
stockpiles. Current estimates of the timber stockpiles in 
Kunar and Nuristan range from 5 to 8 million cubic board 
feet. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Monitoring the stockpiles to ensure that additional 
logs are not added will be a significant challenge.  MoF,s 
Mohammad Shah Safi indicated that the Afghan National Police 
(ANP) will likely lead any monitoring efforts and noted that 
&new cut wood will look different from the stored wood, so 
the police will be able to stop it.8  However, Kunar Deputy 
Chief of Police Brigadier General Saboor indicated on October 
7 that the ANP did not expect to increase its checkpoints to 
monitor illegal logging activity or activities at Asadabad,s 
timber yard.  In Kunar, the ANP are widely held to be key 
facilitators of illegal smuggling in the province. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Since the ban was lifted on October 5, the Kunar 
Chamber of Commerce reports that there has been no 
out-of-the-ordinary sales activity at the Asadabad timber 
yard.  The yard generally has limited legal sales and a 
regular stream of illegal sales under cover of darkness. 
During the ban, Kunaris could buy wood legally on a 
case-by-case basis, approved by the Kunar governor, as long 
as any finished products were only sold in Kunar.  PRT Kunar 
is mobilizing resources to begin an informal night time watch 
on the timber yards within the Asadabad area to monitor any 
infusions of new timber. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment:  Today Kunar and Nuristan retain only 35-40 
percent of their native forest cover.  The last accurate 
assessment in Kunar dates from the 1970s, and a professional 
assessment of the remaining resources (as well as of the 
timber stockpiles) is necessary for resource management 
planning.  Without a timber sales cap and adequate 
 
KABUL 00003479  002 OF 002 
 
 
monitoring, we anticipate additional illicit cutting to take 
advantage of the stockpile sales, along with possible 
conflict between state and non-state actors vying to take 
advantage of this opportunity to "launder" their timber.  At 
a minimum, well-publicized regular physical inventory 
reconciliations of the timber yards might help deter local 
officials and others from adding to the stockpiles.  The PRT 
will meet with Governor Wahidi to hear his assessment of how 
to manage this dwindling resource. Beyond environmental 
concerns, we will also be closely watching signs of illicit 
timber money finding its way to insurgents.  Since the timber 
trade was originally banned in part because of the corruption 
it was spawning (reportedly reaching to the level of a 
previous governor), we will remain alert to the possible 
negative impact of the new policy on good governance in Kunar. 
 
¶8.  (U)  This message was drafted jointly by PRT Kunar and 
Embassy Kabul. 
EIKENBERRY