Please Download the Report of the 6^th Forum on Forest Governance in Africa

 

The city of Yaounde, Cameroon, hosted the 6^th Forum on Forest Governance in Africa, from 2 to 3 April 2013 at Mont Febe Hotel It was organized by the IDLgroup, in collaboration with FODER, with the EU and DFID funding.

 

Under the facilitation of Dr Timothée FOMETE, forest expert, the Forum gathered about 200 participants from public administrations of Central African countries involved in the APV FLEGT process, the private sector, the national, sub-regional and international civil society, local communities, universities and the press; it was aimed at making an appraisal of the APV FLEGT process in Africa.

 

The forum revolved around three major points:

 

1. The Opening Ceremony

 

It was marked by four speeches said by:

♦ Mr. Des MAHONY of CIDT for the SAFG project;

♦  Mr. Martin TADOUM, COMIFAC Deputy Executive Secretary;

♦  His Excellency, Mr. Raul Mateus Paula, Head of the EU Delegation in Cameroon;

♦ Mrs KOULSOUMI Boucar, Secretary of State at the MINFOF, representating Mr. NGOLLE NGWESE Philip, Cameroon’s Minister of Forestry and Wildlife.

 

These addresses helped to inform participants on the role of the SAFGT project and the Forum on Forest Governance in the APV FLEGT process, and the political commitment of the EU and partner countries of the Central Africa region, including Cameroon, to enhance good governance in the forestry sector.

 

2.    Plenary Sessions

 

Six sessions held on the following topics:

 

♦  FLEGT (APV and RBUE) progress report

♦  Corruption in the forestry sector

♦  FLEGT and RBUE implementation: Private sector prospects

♦  Information and communication in the APV

♦  Community forestry and forest royalties management

♦  Agriculture and forest conversion

 

During two days of deliberations marked by presentations made by experts and discussions on achievements, constraints and experiences followed by recommendations on the APV FLEGT and forest governance in general, participants reached the following conclusions:

 

♦  Close international cooperation involving governments, as well as the civil society, is required for the APV-FLEGT to succeed;

♦  The APV FLEGT process is currently a tool to fight corruption, which affects the forestry sector in Central African countries;

♦  The APV FLEGT provides the private sector with the capacity to improve its traceability internal systems;

♦  A national communication strategy should be implemented, taking into consideration specific cultural differences and needs of the various targets clearly identified.

♦  It shall be difficult for community forests to comply with rules and regulations and they might thus be excluded from the FLEGT process, if some regulatory and legal reforms are not performed.

♦  The development of mining and agro-industrial activities is a serious threat to the preservation of forests.

 

To learn more about the Forum, please, see all the presentations and the report on the website: http://forestgovernanceforum.com/forest-governance-conference-archive/yaounde-2013/.