Gabon commits to FSC certification
26 October 2018The Gabon government has requested forestry operators to become FSC certified by 2022. The move has been welcomed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
President Ali Bongo Ondimba said that Gabon has made tremendous strides in extracting value from its forests since November 2009 when it imposed a ban on log exports. However, he said, a lot more will need to be done for the country to increase its global market share and to be able to produce quality products.
“FSC certification offers many advantages which will improve the attractiveness of the timber sector to potential investors, stimulate local production, and respond to the growing demand for quality products in these markets.” said President Bongo.
Gabon has 15.9 million hectares of forest concessions, of which over 2 million are FSC-certified and, following this
announcement, has the potential to increase this area by around 13 million hectares. In order to carry this out, Gabonese authorities have indicated that they will take the necessary measures to accompany the operators towards FSC certification by developing an action plan in the next two months.
“We are very pleased with the commitment of Gabon to FSC certification, which is very much in line with our global ambition of increasing FSC-certified forests in the Congo Basin,” said Steve Ball, FSC Africa regional director.
