SAVE AFRICA'S LAST RAINFORESTS - Logging in Gabon July 96
Almost all of central Africa's forests have been roped off by foreign logging companies, who are taking the timber - and the profits - overseas. Unless action is taken now, Africa's irreplaceable forests will soon be gone.
The onslaught is gathering speed. Proportionally, Africa has already lost twice as much of its original forest as South America, and a third more than Asia. The destruction is being driven by the demand for tropical timber from abroad. Hundreds of European and Asian timber companies - often unregulated and unaccountable - are moving deeper and deeper into the African rainforests.
On the west coast of central Africa lies the Republic of Gabon, a country which is becoming a test case for the entire region. Eighty-five percent of Gabon is swathed in some of the most diverse tropical forest in the world, ancient jungles which are thought to contain over 8,000 plant species, 600 different types of bird and 20 species of primate. These forests are home to many threatened or endangered species, including gorillas, chimpanzees and elephants.
But virtually all of Gabon's forests are now under threat from logging. The loggers - mostly European - harvest okoumé trees, which are exported to make plywood. Gabon and its people see few benefits from this trade - 93% of the timber leaves the country as raw logs, along with most of the profits.
There are five 'protected areas' in Gabon, covering 8% of the country's rainforests. The law states that these areas must not be disturbed except with the 'special permission' of the government. In reality, though, most are already being logged. Environmental groups in Gabon believe that some logging companies may be bribing the government to let them log unprotected areas.
Right now, one of Gabon's most important protected forests is under threat. The Lopé reserve, in central Gabon, contains huge expanses of untouched forest. Two logging firms are already operating on the edges of the area.
But now the Gabonese government is planning to grant permission for logging in the very heart of Lopé, despite its protected status. Environmental groups in Gabon are furious. They know that if this happens the reserve will be destroyed, and all of Gabon's protected areas will be threatened. They are appealing for international help, before it is too late.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Please write urgently to the Gabonese President. Urge him to:
* Refuse permission for any further logging in the Lope reserve.
* Ensure that Gabon's forest protection laws are strictly enforced throughout the country, and that no logging is allowed in any protected areas.
* Work with environmental groups, logging firms and local communities, to expand Gabon's network of protected areas, and to ensure that any logging which does take place in the country is sustainable according to recognised international standards.
Address your letters to:
President Omar Bongo
President de la Republique Gabonaise
BP 546
Libreville, Gabon
Fax: 241 - 741 417
If you can, please also send a letter to the French government. Many French logging firms work in Gabon with the financial and political support of the French government. Ask the government to ensure that no French company moves into any protected area in Gabon. Write to:
M. Jacques Godfrain
Minister Delegate with Responsibility for Corporations
20 Rue Monsieur
75700 Paris
Fax: 33 - 43 06 24 96
SAMPLE LETTERS YOU CAN WRITESAMPLE LETTER TO PRESIDENT BONGO
Dear President Bongo,
I am writing because I am extremely concerned about the future of central Africa's rainforests, and particularly those in Gabon.
As you know, Gabon's forests harbour unique, rare and endangered species of plants and animals. The survival of these forests is of enormous value not only to Gabon, but to the world.
I know that your government has created five legally protected areas within Gabon's forests, inside which no destructive activities may take place. While I applaud this, I am very concerned that these conservation laws are not being fully enforced.
I understand that your government is now considering granting a logging concession in the very heart of the Lope forest reserve. As you know, environmental groups in Gabon and throughout Africa believe it would be a tragedy if your government allowed logging in one of your country's finest reserves.
I urge you to refuse permission for any further logging in Lope, and to ensure that the reserve is fully protected. I also urge you to ensure that your forest protection laws are strictly enforced throughout all of Gabon's protected areas, and that this network of protected areas is expanded.
Local communities and environmental groups in Gabon are urging that you open up dialogue with them, with logging companies and with other interested parties, in order to ensure that any logging which does take place in Gabon is genuinely sustainable. I very much hope that your government will do this.
I look to you, as President of one of Africa's great forest nations, to guard and protect what is a priceless resource for your own country and for the whole world. I realise that this is not always easy, but if you succeed, future generations will thank you.
I look forward to your reply.
Yours sincerely,
SAMPLE LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor,
While many people may have heard about the destruction of the Amazon rainforests in South America, we hear little or nothing about the fate of the great forests of Africa. Yet they are equally endangered. Less than a hundred years ago, a dense band of undisturbed tropical rainforest spanned the width of central Africa, almost from sea to sea. But today, almost all of these forests have been roped off by foreign logging companies, who are taking the timber - and the profits - overseas. Unless action is taken now, Africa's irreplaceable forests will soon be gone forever.
On the west coast of central Africa, in the Republic of Gabon, environmental campaigners are fighting to preserve some of the most remarkable rainforests on the continent. Gabon's rainforests are home to many endangered species, including gorillas, chimpanzees and elephants.
But virtually all of these forests are now under threat from logging, mainly by European timber companies. And now, the Gabonese government is planning to grant permission for logging in the Lope reserve, one of the country's five legally protected areas. Environmental groups in Gabon are furious. They know that if this happens, the reserve will be destroyed, and all of Gabon's protected areas will be threatened. They are appealing for international help, before it is too late
It is imperative now that Gabon's president of 29 years, Omar Bongo, takes his responsibilities - and his own laws - seriously. He should publicly refuse permission for any further logging in the Lope reserve, and guarantee that the entire reserve will remain protected in perpetuity. He should also ensure that his own forest protection laws are strictly enforced throughout the country, that logging is prohibited in any protected areas, and that Gabon's network of forest reserves is expanded.
The destruction of the rainforests is one of the greatest threats to our global environment. The survival of Gabon's forests is of value to the entire world. President Bongo should make every effort to guard and protect this priceless resource for future generations.
Yours sincerely,
BACKGROUND
The Forests of Central Africa
THE FORESTS
Africa's rainforests originally stretched from Senegal, on the west coast, across the vast Congo basin and into Uganda and Kenya. Today, over 75% o fthe forests along the west coast have been destroyed or degraded. The bulk of the remaining forest - which still covers over a million square kilometres - is concentrated in Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guineau, Central African Republic, Zaire and Rwanda. These forests make up 20% of the entire planet's rainforest.
Central Africa's rainforests rank alongside those of the Amazon in South America as some of the most biologically diverse in the world. Theyharbour species such as elephants, chimpanzees, gorillas and bonobos (the primate genetically closest to humans), which are extinct or endangered elsewhere on the continent.
THE THREATS
The biggest threat to central Africa's rainforests is logging. The rainforests of Africa's west coast have almost been completely logged out over the last fifty years. Nigeria and Ivory Coast, for example – formerly major exporters of tropical timber - have lost over 90% of their original forest cover.
This logging is mostly carried out by large, foreign timber companies, often with the financial support of foreign governments and institutions like the World Bank. Only a tiny proportion of the logging companies operating in central Africa are actually African. Most are European, a legacy from the days when most ofthe countries in the region were European colonies. Most of the logs are exported 'raw' - in other words, without being processed in Africa - and most of the profits leave Africa too. Over85% of African timber is exported for sale to Europe.
most logging in Africa is 'selective' - meaning that only certain types of tree within any given area of forest are supposed to be logged. This is less devastating than the 'clearcut' logging practiced elsewhere, where whole areas of forest are leveled, but it is still damaging. Up to 30% of the forest canopy is destroyed by selective logging, and wildlife is often forced out permanently.
As in other parts of the world where large-scale logging takes place, the timber trade brings other problems in its wake. In central Africa, the opening up of the forests with logging roads and clearings has brought settlers and gold miners into previously undisturbed areas. Logging also brings hunting. The World Society for the Protection of Animals, in a recent investigation, found that endangered species, such as gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos, were being hunted illegally throughout the forests. The hunters travel into the heart of the forest on logging trucks,shoot as many apes as they can find, and then sell them as food, often tothe workers at logging camps.
GABON
Gabon is one of Africa's biggest oil producers. It is a wealthy country by African standards, and did not, until recently, need to exploit its forests. This, combined with its low population of just over a million people, means that Gabon's forests have remained uniquely intact.
However, the recent slump in oil prices has reduced the country's revenues sharply so that it now has the second largest debt in Africa. The government is thus allowing more and more logging, and has parcelled outmost of its forests to foreign loggers, who harvest okoume trees, of which Gabon is Africa's largest producer. Over fifty timber companies are known to beoperating in Gabon, logging 2,500 square kilometres of forest every year. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature recently reported that none of this logging could be said to be sustainable.
Gabon's president, Omar Bongo, has run the country since 1967. Thought he country is nominally a democracy, in reality there are no threats to Bongo's regime. His government owns all of Gabon's forests.
The forests themselves are some of the richest in the region. Animals which elsewhere are severely threatened survive in large numbers in Gabon, and new species are regularly discovered. In 1984, the sun tailed monkey was discovered in forests which are now scheduled for logging. Over 20% of the species so far discovered in Gabon's forests are found nowhere else on Earth.
Very little of Gabon's forest is protected. President Bongo signed a Decree in 1971 creating five protected areas, of which the Lope reserve is one. These cover just 8%of the total area of the country's forests, and most have already been logged to some degree, all with government consent or knowledge. The problem, as Gabonese environmental groups see it, is not just that the country's forest protection laws are inadequate, but that those which do exist are being blatantly flouted.
Gabon, a former French colony, has a special relationship with French logging firms, who now have access to most of the country's forests. The French government has a direct interest in this, providing much financial and technical support to its companies operating in Gabon. It is a French company, Isoroy, (known as Leroy in Gabon) which is likely to be awarded the concession in the heart of the Lope reserve if it is granted by the government.
FINDING SOLUTIONS
The measures needed to protect Gabon's forests are similar to those needed elsewhere in Africa. Firstly, Gabon's existing logging laws must been forced. This means that the political will to do this must be present, and this must be backed up by actions on the ground - effective policing and monitoring of protected areas to prevent illegal hunting and logging. It is also important that the Gabonese government opens dialogue with forest campaigners, logging firms and local people, to work towards expanding the area of protected forest, and to ensure that any logging is as 'sustainable' as possible.
The best way to ensure that logging does the minimum amount of damage is to ensure that all timber meets an accepted and recognized international standard. The best way to do this at present is to ensure that timber is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC is an international body which uses agreed standards to define whether or not wood is 'sustainably produced'. Any logging company can apply for FSC certification, and it will be given if its practices conform to these standards, which include respecting the land rights of indigenous peoples, conserving biological diversity and maintaining original forests. At present, no timber coming out of Africa is FSC certified.
Communities in Gabon, and elsewhere in Africa, also need to be given alternatives to logging. This could include responsible eco-tourism – which enriches local people as a direct result of preserving the forests and their species. It is also important that any overseas aid given to Gabon by foreign governments or international institutions is not tied, as it has been in the past, to 'development' projects which destroy the forests.