CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CAR was one of the first countries to undertake forest inventories and to call for regulations and management plans as a prerequisite for harvesting permits. Today, over 3 million ha of forest are under concessions. Logging companies (who are mainly European) require a harvesting and management permit. Other than a few teak plantations established by FAO in the 1960s, plantations and reforestation programmes are still at an early stage in CAR but the government has put a good deal of effort into research into forest management and has enacted a number of laws on conservation and wildlife protection.

In 1994 the government decided to ban log exports to boost local processing of wood products, whilst reducing export taxes to help overcome the costs of products reaching exit ports in neighbouring countries. Currently, the development of the forest sector is based around good management requirements for harvesting permits, low levels of log exports to maintain local processing capacity, the involvement of the private sector, NGOs and local communities in forest management, and increasing the share of financial benefits from forest exploitation for local communities. Local people are given a say in the process of logging permit allocation and their needs and the benefits of logging to the local economy are key components of the sustainable management approach. CAR is currently negotiating a VPA (Voluntary Partnership Agreement) with the EU.

Deforestation is not a major concern in CAR, but degradation of forests is occurring mainly due to ineffective enforcement. Laws are often not applied, and monitoring is not comprehensive. FAO has identified institutional weaknesses and a lack of resources, both human and material, as key concerns. These management failures have led to uncontrolled timber poaching and brushfires.

CAR will be one of six central African countries to benefit from a £1 million satellite, funded by the UK, which will track illegal logging and enable governments, NGOs and local communities to prevent the loss of forest. In addition, the CAR government has expressed an interest in participating in the World Bank REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) capacity building projects.

For information about the EU FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the CAR, see the CAR VPA page.

DOCUMENTS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
01/09/2009	Statistics 2008 Timber trade statistics from a number of Central and West African countries for 2007-2008. ...	ATIBT (Association Technique Internationale des Bois Tropicaux)
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01/02/2008	Forest Products Trade between China and Africa: An Analysis of Imports and Exports Recent media coverage of China's efforts to secure access to natural resources in Africa suggests ...	Forest Trends (Kerstin Canby, James Hewitt, Luke Bailey, Eugenia Katsigris, Sun Xiufang)
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NEWS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
31/07/2008	Congo Basin sees progress on REDD preparations As discussed at the UNFCCC workshop on methodologies to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation ...	ITTO Tropical Timber Market Report (Japan)
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18/06/2008	Ex-PM takes Walden Pond to the Congo Paul Martin has a new constituency. This one is twice the size of France and home to 50 million people ...	Globe and Mail (Canada)
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17/06/2008	Spy satellite will monitor illegal logging across six African countries A spy satellite is to be trained on the vast rainforests of central Africa as part of a British project ...	Independent (UK)
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08/06/2007	Loggers threaten a third of rainforests in Congo Basin The rainforests of central Africa are being systematically plundered for their hardwood timber trees, ...	The Independent (UK)
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14/02/2007	Cameroun: Forest Concession Monitoring Project Takes Root The process for the implementation of the Forest concession Monitoring System in Central Africa (FORCOMS) ...	AllAfrica.com
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03/02/2004	Armed CAR to stop Illegal Logging The Central African Republic (CAR) has established an armed protection unit to guard against the exploitation ...	Jean-Luc Roux
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PRESENTATIONS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
18/06/2008	US efforts in Congo Basin Forest Partnership	U.S. Embassy Beijing (C Sherry Hong)
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01/11/2007	China-Africa Forest Product Trade: An overview	Forest Trends (Sun Xiufang)
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09/07/2007	SM Certification in the Congo Basin region	Interafrican Forest Industries Association (Herv Bourguignon)
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EVENTS

DATE	TITLE
Monday 6th December 2004	Commission For Africa ' Forest Programme Brainstorm A brainstorming session on illegal logging held in part to feed into the Commission for Africa Report, ...
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LINKS

TITLE	DESCRIPTION	REPORT
Congo Basin Forest Partnership	The Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) is an association of almost 50 governmental and nongovernmental organisations that works to promote sustainable management of Congo Basin forest ecosystems and wildlife, and improve the lives of people living in the region. It was originally agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002.	Broken link
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WWF Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN)	The GFTN - a WWF-led partnership - links more than 360 companies, communities, NGOs, and entrepreneurs in more than 30 countries around the world. The goal is to create a new market for environmentally responsible forest products. Since 1991, market-driven demands from GFTN participants have increased the economic incentives for responsible forest management. This is helping to ensure that millions of acres of forests are independently and credibly certified, a guarantee that the forests are well managed and that their products come from legal and sustainable timber harvests. Click here for GFTN's Guide to Legal and Responsible Sourcing, which includes details on national legality frameworks and guides to legal documentation.	Broken link
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