Transnational Loggers Threaten Africa's Forests

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

9/10/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

The WWF provides continued coverage of the large increase in industrial

forestry practices in the world's remaining rainforests. The threat to

Africa's remaining forests from Asian logging companies is highlighted.

This item comes from WWF's forests list server.

g.b.

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Transnational loggers threaten Africa's forests

By Claude Martin*

September, 1996

The recent entry of Asian logging companies, hot on the heels of their

European counterparts, signals a very serious threat to Africa's remaining

forests - given that as little as a million hectares are claimed to be

'sustainably managed' against 60 million hectares currently exploited

Gland, Switzerland: I have commented before on the crucial role played by

European logging companies in the destruction of West African rainforests,

and I noted recently that during the past few years the loggers have moved

on to the forests of Central Africa, principally in Cameroon, Gabon and

Za<re. Such is the threat from these operations that I make no apology for

returning to the subject, with a view to placing the logging problem in a

more general framework.

While it is true that the main cause of deforestation is the developing

pattern of cultivation - with the conversion of woodland into plantations

of oil palm, cacao and coffee - it is the loggers who lead the way by being

the first to open up primary forests. And they do so for very limited

reasons.

The traditional European companies - I am talking about groups such as

Rougier, Thanry Bollore of France, Danzer of Germany and Wijma from the

Netherlands - are highly selective in their exploitation. They concentrate

on a small number of commercial species, such as the African mahogany,

sipo, sapele, obeche, okoume, iroko and azobe. Frequently only one stem per

hectare is harvested, which means that vast areas of primary forest are

opened up for relatively small volumes of timber.

The loggers have permits to exploit their chosen species in areas ranging

from 10,000 to 500,000 hectares. Once they have taken the timber they want,

they move on to new areas, many of them holding concessions in several

African countries. Theoretically the companies have to follow the forest

legislation in the countries where they operate, but African governments

have tended to treat their forest lands merely as a source of revenue and

foreign currency.

In most cases, forest legislation is not applied and protected and

protection is not enforced even where it exists. Few of the concession

areas in Africa have been classified as "permanent production forest" and

there are even cases of logging permits being granted in legally protected

forest reserves. A study last year for the French Ministry of Co-operation

and the European Commission concluded that less than a million hectares of

African forest is currently "under any form of sustainable management".

Compare that with the 60 million hectares that have felt the impact of the

loggers during the past four decades.

This general lack of control is bad enough, but now a disturbing new trend

has emerged in Africa with an influx of Asian-based logging companies

which, on the pretext of developing local economies, both buy up logs on

the open market and seek to negotiate large forest concessions from

governments. Since the forest resources of the Asia Pacific region --

Indonesia, Sabah, Sarawak - have been badly hit by over-exploitation and

poor management, these companies must find new sources of abundant and

cheap raw materials to meet the increasing timber demands of the rapidly

growing Asian economies.

Last year, Asian intervention in the timber market caused such instability

that Ghana was forced to introduce a temporary ban on the export of logs.

In Gabon, a Chinese company has recently negotiated the purchase of the

country's entire export quota of logs, between one and two million cubic

metres. Meanwhile in Cameroon a Malaysian timber firm is alleged to be

involved in the illegal export of more than 30,000 cubic metres of logs a

month - bypassing official export controls by sending the wood out from a

specially constructed harbour.

What is particularly worrying about this new development is that the Asian

market is less demanding than others in respect of the species, quality and

diameters of tropical timber. Whereas the European companies cause problems

by the "creaming" of valuable species from the forests, the Asians are

undertaking something closer to a clearcutting operation, which obviously

increases the rate of destruction considerably.

So far, no one has been prepared to take responsibility for changing this

appalling situation. The loggers - with concessions lasting only perhaps

five or ten years - blame governments for failing to put in place clear,

long-term forest policies and argue that fierce price competition in the

market prevents them from paying higher taxes. For their part, the

governments are more concerned with the short term financial benefits from

their forest resources. Both sides are guilty of short-termism that in

the end will be good for neither.

Finally, however, there are signs that change is on the way. Some African

governments have at last begun to plan for the conservation and managed

exploitation of their forests, with laws being framed to regulate land use

and control operations in the field. At the same time, some logging

companies have come to realise that it is in their commercial interest to

co-operate in establishing long-term strategies for sustainable forest

management. One large French group in Gabon is exploring the possibility of

certification based on the Principles and Criteria of the Forest

Stewardship Council, and it is likely that its example will be followed by

European concessionaires in Congo, Cameroon and Za<re as well.

Certification is by no means a complete answer, but as consumer demand for

certified timber grows, it will put all those involved under greater

pressure to demonstrate clear policies and the creation of the minimum

conditions required for sustainable forest management.

Recognising the value of this approach in Central Africa, the European

Commission has contracted WWF to undertake a one-year pilot designed to

produce a framework for certification in the region, to stimulate the

formation of committed buyers' groups in Europe and to promote consumer

demand for certified timber. The project has already begun to produce

results.

A national seminar on timber certification was held in Cameroon in April

and afterwards all those involved - government officials, logging

companies, NGOs and local community groups - decided to form a national

working group to define Cameroon's standards and develop criteria and

indicators of good forest management. A similar process is under way in

Gabon and Ghana.

We must hope that the appearance of the first certified timber from Africa

will signal the start of a new era in forest management. The prize will

certainly be worth the effort, for while only about 12 per cent of West

Africa's forest cover remains, in Central Africa there are large areas of

relatively undisturbed forest. What better testing ground for the strategic

planning that will marry conservation and economic development in the

tropical timber industry.

*Dr Claude Martin is Director General of WWF-World Wide Fund for Nature in

Gland

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