Douala, Cameroon, 26 October 2017 - Improved transparency in Cameroon’s forest sector – a key requirement of a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union (EU) – is playing a critical role in the gradual establishment of a legal timber sector in the country, according to a new report by the FAO-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme.

Since signing the VPA in 2010, the Republic of Cameroon has been committed, along with its European partner, to implement this bilateral trade agreement, which aims to combat illegal exploitation of timber and improve governance within the sector. Although the system for verifying the legality of timber, as outlined in the agreement, is still under development, a growing number of important reforms in State management of the sector have been implemented, particularly making public information about the monitoring of logging operations.

“Recent progress in terms of transparency, as demonstrated by the national forestry administration’s online, public posting of important information documenting the regularity of activities of forest and sector operators, represents a significant improvement in forest governance,” said Marc Vandenhaute, Forestry Officer of the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme and co-author of the report released in late October in Cameroon.

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