622 million FCFA allocated to support forest management sectors

A 622 million FCFA fund was awarded to municipalities, NGOs, craftsmen, studies and research offices Minister of Forestry and Wildlife (Minfof) on Wednesday.

Some 43 players in Forests and Environment Sector Programme (FESP) benefited from the state subsidies, for the second phase of the C2D- FESP 2 project titled 'development and monitoring of forests in Cameroon.’

Other beneficiaries were 16 forestry communes; Dimako, Messondo and Yokadouma, seven communes of reforestation including Tonga, Foumban, and Meïganga, 10 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) specialised in development, five associations of wood crafts, five offices of studies and a PhD student.

These grants were signed between the beneficiaries and the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife (Minfof), Ngole Philip Ngwese, yesterday in Yaoundé.

This was an opportunity to remember that the overall objective of this project is the strengthening of the actions of the FESP in favour of the sustainable management of forests production, the wood-processing sector and the implementation of a strategy for an increased contribution of industry to development and poverty alleviation.

Since the C2D- FESP project began in 2005, it had already received support from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to the tune of 10 million euros which is equivalent to 6.5 billion FCFA. For this second phase, which runs until 2017, AFD offered an additional sum of 7 billion FCFA for consolidating and finalizing planned activities.

This is to improve forest inventories of Cameroon, to analyze development plans in accordance with the criteria for an accurate evaluation grid and strengthen the capacity of the actors in the different phases of the management of forests production. In effect, a Forest, Wildlife and Forest Products Observatory (OFFPF) would be created.

Cameroon should have a better understanding of its wood sector and other derivatives, the reforested surfaces should be largely on the rise and a reference database should be available within the national observatory.