Press Release

Contact:
 Adlai Amor, Media Director
 Tel: (+1-202) 729-7736 Email: aamor@wri.org

Report Shows Gabon’s Dependence on Exports of Okoumé for Logging Industry

LIBREVILLE, Gabon, June 15 – A new report released today reveals that Gabon’s forests are rapidly being conceded to a handful of logging companies who export primarily one species of trees to only a few countries around the world.

"Gabon has vast forest resources but the rapid growth of logging activity threatens it," said Bruno Mikissa, one of the authors of the report, A First Look at Logging in Gabon, released today by the World Resources Institute (WRI) as part of its new initiative, Global Forest Watch. Although the authors acknowledge that more information is needed, this is the first report to present up-to-date and peer-reviewed information on the logging industry in Gabon.

While at least two-thirds of Gabon’s original forest is estimated to remain, the actual extent of current forest cover is unknown. In 1995, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that it was around 18 million hectares, out of Gabon’s total land areas of 26.8 million hectares.

The report says that with declining oil revenues, the pressure to exploit the country’s forests will continue to grow. The FAO estimates that at the current rate of clearing, Gabon will lose half its forests over the next 100 years.

In 1957, fewer than 10 percent of Gabon’s forests were allocated as logging concessions. Today, more than half are allocated as logging concessions and these areas have more than doubled in the last five years.

In 1997, 221 companies and individuals held logging concessions, of which 13 companies held 50 percent of the total area or about 21 percent of Gabon’s total forest cover. The five largest concession holders are Rougier-Gabon, La Compagnie Forestière du Gabon (CFG), Leroy-Gabon, La Compagnie Equatoriale des Bois (CEB) and Lutexfo/Soforga. Although registered in Gabon, they are controlled by European companies.

The Global Forest Watch report states that Gabon’s logging industry is vulnerable to market swings because it is dependent on one species of tree, the Okoumé (Aucouméa kleineana). It is found only in Gabon, in parts of the Congo and in Equatorial Guinea. Although the tree has been used in the new National Library of Paris and in the Eurostar Train, it is primarily exported to make plywood.

More than 90 percent of Gabon’s log production is exported, about half of it to Asian countries. Of this volume, 73 percent are Okoumé. China has now replaced France as the primary export market of Gabonese wood. However, exports to Asia fell by 73 percent in 1998 due to the Asian economic crisis, while exports to Europe fell 38 percent.

"To maintain current Okoumé production levels, Gabon can no longer rely on establishing new concessions in previously unexploited regions," warns Omer Ntougou. Logging concessions already cover most of the forests that contain Okoumé.

The report states that the new Forestry Law, first proposed in 1997, provides an opportunity to help rectify the problems that face forestry by setting new standards for better natural resources management. "If enacted and implemented in its current form, this would represent a first step towards managing forests for long-term gain, rather than short-term profit," said Emmanuel Bayani, member of Global Forest Watch – Gabon. The report also highlights the limited resources available to the Ministry of Forests in relation to their responsibilities.

Gabon’s forests contains some of the Congo Basin’s most biologically diverse and most threatened forests. The Congo Basin’s tropical forests, which covered more than 198 million hectares in 1995, are the second largest contiguous rain forests in the world after those of the Amazon. It runs through six Central African countries, including Gabon.

The report and maps for Gabon and similar ones for Cameroon represent the first time that logging across the Congo Basin is being systematically documented and monitored. Global Forest Watch (www.globalforestwatch.org), launched early this year, combines on-the-ground knowledge with digital and satellite technology to provide accurate forest information to anyone with access to the Internet. While the first two reports for Central Africa focused mostly on logging, Global Forest Watch will expand its monitoring scope to other large-scale human activities such as mining, oil extraction and hunting.

Global Forest Watch currently works with 75 partners in 7 countries. In 5 years, this international network will span 21 countries and cover 80 percent of the world’s remaining intact forests. In Gabon, Global Forest Watch is composed of the following non governmental organizations: Amis de la Nature, Culture et Environnement, Amis du Pangolin, Aventures Sans Frontières, Centre d'Activité pour le Développement Durable et l'Environnement, Comité Inter-Associations Jeunesse et Environnement, Forêt et Développement, et Image Gabon Nature.