Competition and illegal logging are preventing Cameroon’s timber sector from making progress, a two-day forum has heard in Douala.
The event, which included members of the European Timber Trade Federation and the Inter-African Forestry Industries (GFBC), was told that illegal logging is being made worse by the auctioning of felling rights,
This has led to timber companies becoming targets for environment groups and consumers choosing other materials. The fact that neighbouring timber producing countries do not have the same regulations as Cameroon is also not helping.
The event, themed “Changing International Markets for Timber: What African Producers Can Do”, heard that GFBC timber producers do not have a code of conduct guiding wood producers or legal documents on timber exploitation and suffer from a lack of trained staff. Discussions focused on information exchange, plus constraints and incentives to trading with the European market.
