Wood Exploitation: State loses more than FCFA 15 bln per year

The international day of corruption was on December 10, 2015 and CEFAID celebrated the day as part of an exchange visit of experience and skills development, along with several platforms of the African civil society.

According to Victor Amougou, the Cameroonian State loses about FCFA 15 billion per year because of the corruption in illegal logging.

For the coordinator of CEFAID, "this corruption from the allocation of shares to the same logging, through processing and export," as informed by Le Quotidien de l’Economie newspaper on Monday, December 14, 2015.

He said that this loss has a 70% impact on the living conditions of Cameroonians who derive their income from logging.

"Forests cover 30% of the area of the Cameroonian territory, 21 million hectares of which 5% is virgin forests. Furthermore, wood contributes to GDP by 4%. Forests are, according to the recent legislation of the 1990s, managed as protected areas, hunting areas etc," said Victor Amougou, who deplored the fact that the law of 1990 still does not contribute to the fight against illegal logging.

The CEFAID fears that Cameroon has reached the deficit in Ivory Coast. This country has lost more than 18 billion FCFA during the years of military and political crisis from 2001 to 2011.

"400 000 m3 of timber are exported illegally in Cote d'Ivoire. And 70% of manufactured wood is exported to the European Union. During independence (in 1960), Cote d'Ivoire has 16 million hectares of forests. Today, there are more than two million hectares of forests because of the wild and illegal exploitation of our forests, even if climate change is to be considered," said Youssouf Ndoumbia OI-REN in Ivory Coast.

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic are in deficit of FCFA million annually. Corruption in the forestry sector in Africa is worsening over time.

The organization of African civil society platform of exchange for the fight against this scourge is to gradually reduce this destructive practice.