First FSC logs from Central Africa arrive in Germany - September 19th, 2006

Nordenham, Germany: The break-bulk vessel ‘Glory’ landed Central Africa’s first ever consignment of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified logs to Europe. The 132 cubic meters of Sapeli, Sipo and Acajou originate from the largest FSC certified forest concession in tropical Africa. The Kabo forest concession lies in the Republic of Congo, deep in the Congo Basin. The buyers are traders and a door manufacturer in Switzerland.

Kabo is one of five major forest concessions managed by Congolaise Industrielle des Bois, also known as CIB, which together cover 1.3 million hectares of lowland tropical rainforest near the Congo-Cameroon-Central African Republic border.

German development cooperation supported the creation of a modern management plan incorporating ecological, social and economic considerations in equal measure. This was part of a Public Private Partnership Project. Karin Kortmann, Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Development Ministry commented: ‘With this successful cooperation we wish to send a signal to the private sector to live up to their role as engine for sustainable development, especially with respect to the thinly populated regions in Africa.’ The management plan provides trend setting recommendations for sustainable forest management, also for other forest areas in central Africa. This could be the beginning of a positive turnaround for the protection and nurturing use of the biodiversity rich natural forests of Africa which should above all benefit the people in these countries.

CIB is owned by the DLH/tt Timber Group. Over the last seven years CIB has worked closely with numerous institutions, experts and partners on sustainable management issues within its concessions and has invested its own funds heavily to raise standards. CIB is now also working towards FSC certification of its other four concessions.

Since March 2004, the Tropical Forest Trust, a private sector initiative for the advancement of sustainable management of tropical forests, has also worked with CIB to address difficult and complex social and environmental issues in the Kabo concession. Working with indigenous communities and local people to ensure their livelihoods and to support their meaningful participation in decision making, was among the most challenging tasks.

Through the implementation of the management plan Kabo became the first forest concession in the Republic of Congo and the largest anywhere in the Congo Basin to receive the FSC certificate for socially beneficial, environmentally appropriate and economically viable forest management.

Heiko Liedeker, FSC Executive Director, welcomed the arrival of Kabo’s logs in Germany, home of the FSC international secretariat: ‘This is as a milestone towards good forest management in Central Africa.’ Since the first FSC certificate in the region was issued in December 2005, interest in FSC certification has been steadily mounting in tropical Africa. ‘I am glad that more and more companies and governments in Central Africa are discovering FSC certification as an economically viable tool to initiate ecological change and contribute to social development,’ said Liedeker. ‘I hope CIB’s success and the sale of these first logs send a signal to other African timber producers that FSC works. Together with our partners, we are committed to continue our support to African companies in their efforts to become FSC certified and market their products.’

The Congo Basin, the Amazon and Borneo hold the world’s last large areas of tropical forest. Trade in sustainably produced timber is seen as an essential part of the effort to prevent their destruction by uncontrolled or illegal logging and clearance for conversion into agriculture. More FSC certified wood products from Kabo are due to arrive in Europe later this year, where FSC certified tropical wood from Africa is in great demand. -----------------------------------------------------------

Further Information:

FSC International Secretariat: Nina Haase, Tel. +49 228 367 66 29, Email: n.haase@fsc.org

Tropical Forest Trust: Björn Roberts, Tel. +44 (0) 7795972211, Email: b.roberts@tropicalforesttrust.com

Pictures are available at: www.tropicalforesttrust.com/galleries/congo or contact: b.roberts@tropicalforesttrust.com

< Back

Back to top