Yaoundé (Cameroon), 23-24 November 2011 - Transparency International (TI) organized a two-day workshop on the integrity of forest governance in Central Africa. The workshop was jointly organized by the Africa & Middle East Departments of TI Secretariat, forest governance integrity programme and Cameroon national Section of TI. The workshop gathered representatives of governmental institutions and CSOs from most Central African countries: DRC, Congo Republic, CAR, Gabon and Cameroon. Members of staff of forest Programme and of TI Africa Department, TI forest Project in Vietnam, as well as technical experts, also attended the meeting.

Under the central theme of Governance integrity in Central Africa, the workshop objective was to serve as starting point for the design and the implementation of a large-scale programme based on the needs and opinions of stakeholders on forests in Sub-Saharan Africa and more particularly in the much wooded Sub-Saharan area.

The conclusions of TI workshop clearly showed the fact that participants support a fundamental approach for understanding and fighting corruption rooted in research, advocacy, the development of advocacy tools, capacity building, the collection and gathering of good practices, as well as corruption and wood processing issues within the framework of the REDD.  At the end of deliberations, participants identified the major problems which are potential sources of corruption-related risks, including among others: poor traceability of forest products and revenue, the poor compensation of state workers who cannot afford an acceptable living standard and political influence on the implementation of laws relating to the management of natural resources.

Following rich and intense deliberations, participants formulated 13 recommendations oriented towards all the stakeholders present at the workshop: Forest administrations, CSOs, development partners and the private sector.

The next step following this workshop lies with the FGI programme and Transparency International through her national sections which shall endeavour to turn the recommendations into concrete initiatives. It shall be about actively identifying partners, formulating fund raising proposals and working in close collaboration with participants at the workshop and others whose objective is to get forest management rid of corruption, increase integrity, transparency and liability in forest governance in the Central African region in particular and in the world in general.

For further information, please download:  

 ♦ Report: Conclusions and Recommendations of the Meeting  

 ♦ Illegality and Corruption in the Forest Sector -  Michel Gary  

 ♦ Illegal Logging & Corruption in the Forestry Sector - Manoj Nadkarni   

 ♦ REDD, a Challenge for Forest Governance in Central Africa “Case of the REDD+ Process in the DRC” - Adrien KAKULA DIASOTUKA   

 ♦ NATURAL RESOURCES: Opportunities and Risks - Jean Jacques Urbain MATHAMALE -  CAR    

 ♦ PAC REDD IMPLEMENATION  AND LESSONS LEARNT FROM VIETNAM - Cao Hai Thanh