Chatham House criticizes the management of the 'wood' sector

In Cameroon, the actual production of wood could double official estimates. This is what emerges from the report on the State of the production of wood in the country published on Thursday, January 22 by the Non-governmental Organization Chatham House.

According to this study, management that has been going in this sector has been the bed of the illegal exploitation of the species in the country.

"Coordination within the Government is typically very inefficient: no formal process is in place for the high-level coordination of action against the illegal exploitation of forests.

"The systems of traceability of the wood in Cameroon are inappropriate, both at the level of operations on the ground for the management of information." revealed an excerpt from this document by the APA.

The NGO also stressed the inadequacy of the legal framework governing the wood sector. Indeed, the Government has not yet implemented the action plan on forest law enforcement, governance and trade (FLEGT), a voluntary partnership with the Union European agreement.

With regard to the marketing of the wood, the report highlights an increase in the volume of Cameroonian exports that went hand in hand with the decline in the proportion of shipments in Europe.

China has however emerged as a partner of choice in the industry with imports which increased from 50 000 m3 in 2001 to 397 000 m3 in 2012. Cameroon officially produces approximately 2 million m3 of wood annually.