© afrol.com
November 7, 2000

afrol.com, 7 November - Cameroonian press confirms earlier reports by environmental organisations, that there is "a mafia network" of Cameroonians and International companies cutting Cameroon's unique and protected forests and exporting the timber illegally.

A journalist of the Cameroonian independent newspaper "Le Messager" documented how "French, Lebanese, Italians, Malaysians, the Spaniards, etc, organize the timber traffic." This "bottomless plundering" was made possible by the "general corruption, despite of the 1994 forest laws, considered a pioneering legislation protecting the environment in the Congo Basin.

Environmental organisations, headed by Greenpeace, earlier have disclosed the "illegal and destructive logging activities" in Cameroon and how large amounts of timber illegally has been transported to markets in Europe. 

As four Greenpeace activists entered the cargo vessel Ranger1 in a Spanish port in July this year, they found almost 6,000 tons of African rainforest timber coming from the sawmill of the Lebanese logging company Société Forestière Hazim (SFH). SFH is one of the largest logging companies in Cameroon, with a reputation for illegal and destructive logging activities. It has a history of violating forestry laws and of creating social conflicts. In late December 1999, SFH was fined 14,500 US$ for "anarchic logging outside the defined boundaries of the legally allowed license" as discovered during an inspection by Cameroon's Ministry of Environment and Forests (MINEF). 

Cameroon's forest legislation states that no company involved in criminal logging was to be given new parcels. But six years after its implementation, the Cameroonian press characterizes the forest legislation as "only a simple bit of paper that nobody in reality respects." 

- The most valuable forests are allotted to Army Staff, leaders of the governing RDPC party or the members of the family of president Biya, not to speak about the white foresters, reports go.

Thus, in reality, the strict forest legislation has not changed the way Cameroon's rich forest resources are managed. Reports by independent environmental observers in Cameroon confirm that the largest logging companies keep on ruining even protected areas in the southeast of the country. With the blessing of the economically involved high ranking Government and military officials, the company get protection from prosecution and international companies can organize the timber trafficking.

Cameroon ranks among the world's top five tropical log exporters. Timber generates more than a quarter of Cameroon's non-petroleum export revenues, along with some US$ 60 million in taxes. As the country's oil reserves dry up, timber exports are projected to constitute an increasing share of foreign exchange revenue in coming years. Timber production has increased by 35 percent since 1980. 

The most intact forests in the country are in southeastern Cameroon. It also has the highest logging rates and the most extensive concessions. Twenty-five logging companies and individuals control three-quarters of Cameroon's forest concessions. Beyond the economic value of timber, Cameroon's forests contains some of the Congo Basin's most biologically diverse and most threatened forests. 

Sources: Based on Le Messager, Greenpeace and WRI Error: Unable to read footer file.