Some 26 logging firms in East Africa say they stand to lose more than $ 4.6 million as well as their markets in Europe, Asia and America, following the Tanzania government's decision to ban exports of logs and sandalwood. It is estimated that the country loses between 130,000 hectares and 500,000 hectares of forest a year. Of that, 91,000 hectares are illegally felled. Human activities, population growth and poverty also reduce forest coverage by hundreds of thousands of hectares every year.