20 Jun
2006 - Yaoundé, Cameroon – Three major
logging companies have joined WWF’s Central Africa
Forest & Trade Network (CAFTN), agreeing to
sustainably manage up to 700,000ha of natural
forest in the Congo Basin.
Under an agreement signed with
WWF, the three new CAFTN members — Groupe Decolvenaere,
Pallisco and Transformation Reef Cameroun — have
committed their companies to responsible forest
management and to obtaining Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC) certification for their operations
and supplies.
“We are well engaged and aim
at attaining the highest possible level of good
forest management,” said Michel Rougeron, Director
of Pallisco. “The prospect of a credible certification
of our forest management and our products helps
us to move ahead with this engagement."
These key timber producers are
the first in the region to join the newly launched
CAFTN, a branch of WWF’s Global Forest & Trade
Network (GFTN). By becoming members, the companies
receive technical assistance from WWF and partners
to help them achieve certification for their forestry
practices. The network monitors their progress
and provides market links to purchasers of legally-produced
and certified products.
“In The Netherlands as well
as in other European countries, the timber market
demands more and more FSC certified products,"
said Paul Reef, Director General of Transformaton
Reef Cameroun. "With WWF support within the
framework of CAFTN, we are hoping to be able to
supply FSC certified wood not long from now."
The commitment of these companies
to work toward certified forestry is a significant
milestone in the socio-economic development of
Cameroon and the well-being of the local population.
By embracing sustainable forest management, these
companies will also be contributing to the conservation
of Congo Basin forests, the second largest tropical
forest in the world.
One of the world’s largest remaining
areas of intact rainforests, Congo Basin forests
are a haven for indigenous peoples, provide habitat
for endangered species like elephants and gorillas,
sequester carbon, and safeguard water quality.
“WWF is convinced that the adoption
of sustainable forest management schemes by these
companies will contribute greatly to the conservation
of the Congo Basin forests for the benefit of
the people and also the wildlife,” said Laurent
Somé, Regional Representative of WWF in
Central Africa.
WWF recognizes that responsible
forest management and sustainable commercialization
of wood plays an important role in the economic
growth of tropical countries and poverty reduction
strategies for people dependent on the forest
for their livelihoods.
“The development of markets
for credibly certified tropical wood will contribute
to improving the national economy and also improve
livelihoods of local communities,” added Elie
Hakizumwami, WWF's CAFTN coordinator.
“The international timber market
is increasingly asking for certified wood, and
we are lucky to be able to work with the support
of WWF in the framework of CAFTN,” said Guy Decolvenaere,
Director General of Groupe Decolvenaere. “We hope
to supply FSC certified products in the market
from the Congo basin not long from now.”
END NOTES:
• The Global Forest & Trade
Network or GFTN is WWF’s initiative to eliminate
illegal logging, improve the management of the
world's valuable and threatened forests, and promote
credible forest certification. By providing support
to and facilitating trade links between progressive
forest industry companies, the GFTN seeks to create
market conditions that will help conserve the
world’s forests while providing economic and social
benefits for the businesses and people that depend
on them.
• The Congo Basin forests contain
more than half of Africa's animal species, including
most of the forest elephants left in the continent
and the entire world population of lowland gorilla.
They also provide food, materials and shelter
to some 20 million people. Estimates indicate
that the region loses 1.5 million hectares of
forests each year due mainly to illegal and destructive
logging. Other threats include poaching and smuggling
of wildlife, and the illicit bushmeat trade. If
present trends continue, two-thirds of the Congo
Basin forests could be lost within fifty years.
• Pallisco-CIFM, a French-owned
company operating in Cameroon since 1972, is managing
five forest concessions totalling about 300,000ha
in the eastern part of the country. It exports
timber to Spain and France, as well as to GFTN
members in the UK.
• Decolvenaere Cameroon, daughter
company of Belgium-based Decolvenaere – a member
of the Belgian Forest & Trade Network – is
operating two forest concessions totaling about
138,000ha in the south-east of Cameroon. It mainly
sells timber to Belgium and the Netherlands, where
its customers include a GFTN member company.
• Transformation Reef Cameroon
(TRC) is a subsidiary of Dutch company Reef Hout,
a founding member of the Netherlands Forest &
Trade Network. Tranformation Reef Cameroon is
managing four logging concessions totalling about
270,000ha in the Coastal and Central Provinces
of Cameroon, and sells timber to several GFTN
members in The Netherlands.
