Filiere bois au Cameroun: Vers une gestion durable des forets et une transformation industrielle performanteThe timber sector in Cameroon: Towards sustainable forest management and efficient industrial processing?

摘要

The reform of the timber and forest sector launched in Cameroon in the 1990s aimed to introduce sustainable forest management systems and to develop an efficient timber industry. Two fundamental measures were adopted, one bringing in the obligation, as from 1997, to set up one timber processing industry for each forest management unit (FMU) logged, and one introducing a ban, as from June 1999, on exports of most traditional species in the form of raw logs. Changes in the structure of the industrial sector are now reflecting the considerable impact of these measures, in terms of the increase in processing plants and processing capacity in Cameroon (85 plants and 3 million m3/year, in 2000). However, because these new processing plants are small, they may be vulnerable to downward pressure on timber prices and may not have sufficient financial stability to make the investments they need to improve their competitiveness. Furthermore, a comparative analysis between timber volumes currently felled and potential forest sustainability has shown that there is a risk of imbalance between supply and demand. Demand is growing rapidly as a result of planned development in the industrial sector and observed development in the informal sector (where consumption is estimated at about one million m3 of raw logs per year). Finally, several avenues for further action are suggested to adapt Cameroon's sectoral policy and contribute to the initial objectives of the forest sector reform.