ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT

The illegal exploitation of forests; the lack of concern for long-term durable management and an adequate reforestation programme; the authorities’ refusal to take any action to improve the situation; the bitterness of those living near the forest areas

People living near the extended areas where deforestation is taking place, don’t know where to turn; Cameroonian law doesn’t afford them any redress. Rather than being discouraged like many others, seven villagers of Miatta, a village in the department of Dja and Lobo in the Southern province, have appealed to the French Courts. They are suing the Doumé Industrial and Forestry Company (SFID) which is strongly entrenched in Cameroon because of Jean Christophe Mitterand’s influence. He was formerly an advisor on African affairs in the Elysée during the presidency of his father, François Mitterand. The SFID is a subsidiary of the French Group, Rougier. This civil action taken by the Cameroonian farmers together with the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Friends of the Earth, was filed in the High Court of Paris by Lawyer William Boudon on 22 March 2002. The principal indictments were: Massive destruction of property (crops, fruit trees); forgery of documents and use of forged documents; corruption of Cameroonian officials.

The run-up to this affair goes back to May 1999, when workers began to fell trees in the peasants’ forests and plantations in the south. Needless to say, they lacked the necessary permits. Then followed the illegal felling of different species of rare trees causing great loss to the villagers. These could but stand by in despair as their fields became roads in spite of the fact that crops were growing there. In September 1999, a notarised report of the damage done was drawn up by a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, in the presence of those who had suffered losses and of a representative of the SFID company. The latter brushed aside a demand for compensation.

Faced with this refusal of compensation, the peasants registered a complaint with the Sub-Prefect of Djoum in the south. They were to be bitterly disappointed by the authorities’ refusal to take any action. Belmond Tchoumba is Programs’ Coordinator with the Centre for the Environment and Development, a Cameroonian NGO which helps wronged villagers. He says: «The local authorities, either directly or indirectly, have for a number of years received many “benefits” from the SFID, which explains their apathy to the villagers’ complaints». Their solicitor is now doing his best to convince the French Courts that they are competent to deal with this matter (in which a French company [the Rougier Group] and Cameroonian citizens are the litigants).

Illegal practices

Illegal felling accounts for 50% of forests destroyed in Cameroon. International NGOs know what’s happening and are doing their utmost to flush out the western multinationals who destroy forests.

A survey conducted recently in Cameroon by Forests Monitor and Greenpeace, points the finger at Wijma, a Dutch forestry and timber trading company which specialises in illegal exploitation in Cameroon. In the last twelve months, Wijma has been discovered carrying out illegal forestry activities, three times. In July 2002, investigators exposed what was going on. Wijma has a legally obtained permit (number VC-09-132) for operating in 2,500 hectares of forest. The permit is valid until March 2004, but the company has been engaged in illegal logging operations. Local witnesses testified that Wijma had unlawfully felled trees outside the official limits specified in its permit.

Both Forests Monitor and Greenpeace investigators found irrefutable proof of the existence of a network of illegal roads, stocking areas and abandoned logs, often more than five kilometres outside the legal limits of their approved felling area. Most of those logs are marked with Wijma’s legal permit number. According to the survey estimates, the area illegally exploited could be as much as 2,000 hectares and could have provided logs worth 1.4 billion CFA francs (some 213,000 euros). And on top of that, some of the logs were illegally felled in a forestry concession legally held by one of Wijma’s rivals, an Italian company.

Government takes action

These kind of activities forced the government to take action. In January 2002, Wijma was fined 1,836,415 CFA francs (2,800 euros) for unauthorised felling of protected species and young trees. According to an unpublished report of the Ministry of the Environment and Forests (MINEF), it was recommended that Mr. Bertin, Wijma’s local manager, should be fined 2,500,000 CFA francs (3,800 euros).

MINEF has the power to impose penalties and fines on companies involved in illegal timber operations. It can also impose other restrictions such as suspension of activities or withdrawal of permits. But the sanctions’ system doesn’t appear to be very convincing. As a ministry official explains: «It’s not easy to shed old habits. We need time to educate the foresters. Some are afraid of seeing the name of their business appear in the Press in connection with sanctions for illegal activities. Our long-term objective is to spread the notion of lasting management of forests».

In spite of sanctions and media coverage, exploiters of forests always give a negative impression. Take for example the case of the Forestry Company of Cameroon, a subsidiary of the Thanry Group (France). In 1996, it was given vast areas of forest for fifteen years by presidential decree without any other tenders being invited. Among other things, this company should have drawn up an inventory and worked out a five-year development and management plan within six months of signing the definitive agreement. But it has not yet done so and just cuts down trees. Likewise, the area conceded should not have exceeded 200,000 hectares. And yet the total area exploited by this French company is estimated at nearly 500,000 hectares, camouflaged by using any number of subsidiary companies.

Control or skulduggery

Corruption or just «couldn’t care less»? Officials in the Ministry of the Environment and Forests come up with any number of reasons! The fact that so many illegal operations are taking place and those responsible are getting away with it, is because most of those involved in the forestry industry are not professionals. They simply want to profit from the sale of timber and have no idea about development or long-term management of forests. It’s also clear that many of them don’t know much about wood processing; they are more interested in making profits from logging operations. And for many multinationals, managing a forest is merely a question of profitability.

It must be admitted that MINEF lacks both human and material means and has enormous difficulty in keeping a watching brief over the whole country, where some people fell and move trees during the night. To remedy the situation, a central control structure has been set up by the ministry. MINEF is helped by appropriate NGOs who are increasingly condemning the fact that because of the increasing deforestation, life for the peasants is getting harder and harder. Some endangered species such as the Sapelli or the Sipo, having bark used by herbalists, are heading for extinction.

The forestry industry is Cameroon’s second largest source of revenue after oil. Timber contributes as much as 100 billion CFA francs (more than 15 million euros) per year to the national exchequer by a 25,000 strong workforce. Unfortunately, those living near the forests don’t receive anything like the 10% of profits due to them, because of double-dealing between the exploiters and the central and local authorities. The only advantage they can reap from current forestry law is the possibility of establishing community-run forests. But, truth to say, for uninformed and illiterate peasants, the whole exercise is nothing better than an obstacle course in terms of cost and time. Hence the importance of the NGOs’ information campaigns.

• François-Xavier Eya, Cameroon, December 2002 — © Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment