Africa sets its sights on sustainability

Rachel Butler: What is the Interafrican Forest Industries Association (IFIA)?
Hervé Bourguignon: We represent all the timber associations in the Congo Basin. Our mission is to promote tropical woods, promote sustainable management through certification, foster local processing with high added value, and provide timber company training.

RB: What is the aim of Racewood?
HB: It’s to bring together all the African exporters, including small national producers that IFIA had sponsored, with European importers and distributors. For the Europeans it offers the possibility to meet all their suppliers in only two days, saving a lot of money if they had to visit them all in the different countries. We also organised visits to certified concessions so that importers and distributors could see with their own eyes what certification means on the ground and what it brings to local populations.

RB: Tell me about the 2010 workshop programme.

HB: In our first workshop experts talked about the initiatives shaping the trade regulations landscape of wood products and also the progress of sustainable management in the Congo Basin: the progress in Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) between the EU and suppliers, EU due diligence [legislation] and other initiatives, such as the US Lacey Act. It was important to show how private policies of large corporations and initiatives of timber trade federations are instrumental to improving practices. The UK Timber Trade Federation presented the British market as an example of one fostering certification.

The second workshop was devoted to processing with high added value. A representative of the Cameroonian administration presented the government’s policy on this. An entrepreneur in Cameroon explained the conditions to be fulfilled to motivate investments, and presentations from Malaysian and Brazilian industries highlighted successful policies in building a strong and competitive wood sector.

The third workshop presented what is needed following the Copenhagen summit and how the industry should adapt and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

RB: What has been the most important outcome of this year’s Racewood?
HB: We have reached 300 participants, exceeding the last Racewood in Accra in 2006. It’s becoming the event for African tropical wood for all the different stakeholders. The interest shown by the participants to visit the FSC concessions is, for me, the most important achievement.

RB: What is the current state of play with the EU’s Voluntary Partnership Agreements [to improve forestry practice] with African producers?
HB: Three countries have signed a VPA with the EU – Ghana, Congo and Cameroon. Gabon has entered into negotiations and all the other countries in the Congo Basin have shown an interest in signing. Côte d’Ivoire has also asked for more information. I think it is very important to have a strong base of countries committed to improving the enforcement of legality. It is a precondition for robust certifications. If the legal playing field is even, then it is easier to obtain certification.

RB: Great progress has been made in the Congo Basin with regard to certifying forests. Has this been a good investment?
HB: FSC certification has reached 4.5 million ha in Congo, Gabon and Cameroon, which represents more than 10% of the area allocated to industrial logging. Congo Basin (more particularly Cameroon, Congo, Gabon) has taken a clear leadership in FSC certification in comparison with other forested zones such as the Amazon Basin or South-east Asia. Through FSC certification, companies have found there is a distinct competitive advantage in the market. Public procurement policies should show the way.

RB: Producers in Africa are reporting greater demand from China. How might this impact the progress of certification?
HB: The Chinese market is expanding at a high speed and there is no doubt that its share of the production in the Congo Basin will skyrocket in the next years. China’s role in the sustainable management of forests will be vital. The Chinese administration has issued recommendations on sustainable forest management to the overseas Chinese logging companies. It’s an interesting initiative and shows the commitment of the Chinese administration. However, the improvement of forest companies in the Congo Basin has mainly been due to the pressure of civil society and the market. This Chinese initiative might prove to be insufficient.

RB: How do you view the possible introduction of an EU due diligence regulation? How is this and the US Lacey Act being viewed in Africa?
HB: The African industry considers these regulations as absolutely essential to the success of certification for reasons already mentioned. A level playing field is key for good players.

RB: How has the recession affected Africa’s timber industry and what is your vision for the sector going forward? HB: The impact of the downturn has been very painful. Most companies have drastically reduced activities and cut costs. But we can see some light at the end of the tunnel and sales are slowly picking up. The good news is that companies haven’t reduced their certification efforts and those that had included certification in their strategic plan have not cancelled it.

The industry has been working on certification for five years. The next five will be devoted to improving high added-value processing – producing more value with less and putting less pressure on the forests.

At the end of the workshops, ITTO/OIBT and IFIA all agreed that focus would also be put on the development of local and interregional markets. The Congolese minister of sustainable development, forestry economy and environment, Henri Djombo, confirmed that he would like the next Racewood, which will take place in Pointe Noire in Congo in September 2011, to be aimed at timber processing and construction as Congo is currently implementing a programme of social housing construction, which could be carried out by the use of wood.