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WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Cameroon's
Forests are Mismanaged
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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org
http://forests.org/ -- Forest
Conservation Archives
http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest
Conservation
06/21/00
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY
"Cameroon's
forests contain some of the Congo Basin's most
biologically
diverse and most threatened forests."
Cameroon is
representative
of the predatory logging plague striking the World's
remaining
forests. The rapidly growing timber
industry is in mid-
boom,
generating income that will soon dry up, leaving the country
barren
and without sustainable development options provided by well-
managed
forests. The full report and maps can
be found at:
http://www.globalforestwatch.org/cameroon/en_products.html
g.b.
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Title: Report Calls for Proper Management of CAMEROON'S
Forests
Source: Copyright 1900 Panafrican News Agency.
Date: June 19, 2000
YAOUNDE,
Cameroon (PANA) (Panafrican News Agency, June 19, 2000) - A
new
report on Cameroon's forests has revealed that the country's
rapidly
expanding timber industry will continue to grow only if its
forests
are well-managed and monitored and its new forestry laws
consistently
implemented.
"The
stakes are high," says Henriette Biki, one of the authors of the
report
entitled, 'An Overview of Logging in Cameroon', released Monday
by the
World Resources Institute (WRI) as part of its new initiative,
Global
Forest Watch (GFW).
"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 60 million dollars in taxes," Biki
says.
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.
However,
Cameroon's timber industry depends mostly on five species of
trees.
With Asia rapidly surpassing Europe as the primary market for
Cameroon's
timber, the trend may be to more extensive harvesting
because
Asian buyers might be interested in a wider range of species
than
their European counterparts.
The
most intact forests in the country are in south- eastern 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 contain some
of the
Congo Basin's most biologically diverse and most threatened
forests.
The
Congo Basin's tropical forests, which covered more than 198
million
hectares in 1995, are the second largest contiguous rain
forests
in the world after those of the Amazon.
It runs
through six central African countries, including Cameroon.
About
76 percent or over 17 million hectares of Cameroon's forests -
totaling
some 22.8 million hectares -- have either been logged or are
allocated
as logging concessions. Less than a fifth of the country's
unprotected
forests, mostly in central and eastern Cameroon, remains
free
from logging.
Only
about 6 percent or 1.4 million hectares of Cameroon's forests are
protected
as national parks or reserves.
"However,
agricultural encroachment, poaching and illegal logging
threaten
all these areas," says Biki .
In
1994, Cameroon adopted a new forestry law that, if enforced, would
help
reduce the environmental and social costs of logging, while
generating
greater tax revenues.
The
Global Forest Watch report reveals that while it is still a long
way
from being implemented, it has already produced a 40 percent
increase
in tax revenues generated per cubic meter of wood produced.
However,
the new open auction system, which awards forest concessions
to the
highest bidder, has slowed down because of irregularities.
At
least five of the 23 new concessions granted under the new law in
1997
violates the law and 12 others may be questionable. More than
half of
existing licences, which are to be phased out in favour of the
new
concessions, operate in violation of the law.
Although
the number of violation reports issued for illegal logging
and
related activity declined dramatically from 1985-1999, enforcement
is
still lacking.
These
reports often languish in administrative files or are terminated
as a
result of the intervention of an influential person.
"Given
its economic and environmental implications, logging had to be
carefully
monitored if Cameroon wants to safeguard its forest
resources
for future generations," says Jonathan Lash, WRI president.
"If
managed properly, Cameroon's forests could offer long-term
revenues
without compromising the ecosystem's natural functions."
The
report and maps for Cameroon and similar ones for Gabon represent
the
first time that logging across the Congo Basin is being
systematically
documented and monitored.
Global
Forest Watch (www.globalforestwatch.org), launched early this
year,
combines on-the-ground knowledge with digital and satellite
technology
to provide accurate forest information to anyone with
access
to the Internet.
While
the first two reports for central Africa focused mostly on
logging,
Global Forest Watch will expand its monitoring scope to other
large-scale
human activities such as mining, oil extraction and
hunting.
Global
Forest Watch currently works with 75 partners in seven
countries.
In five
years, this international network will span 21 countries and
cover
80 percent of the world's remaining intact forests.
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