The management of NWFPs in Gabon highlights the role of well-developed markets for forest products that contribute to the increased pressure on the natural environment. A strong rural exodus and high revenues have combined to increase the rate of harvesting of NWFPs, especially near urban centres, for high-value products such as rattan. The concept of resource management through the negotiation of contracts involving all user-groups is the main focus of the framework of the current Gabonese forestry legislation reform.
In Central Africa, the management of forest resources by local people has deeply altered during the past few decades. Gabon is a good example of this change in forest use. The country is 80% covered by forest and one of the most forested countries of the region (See Map 1). The majority of these forests are rich in okoumé (Aucoumea klaineana), a species prized in international markets for the manufacture of high quality plywood.
Gabon has been subject to intensive rural de-population and today, around 75% of the population live in urban areas, especially in the Libreville and Port-Gentil areas (See Map 2). This population drift from rural areas has also been accompanied by the grouping of villages along roads and rivers (see Map 3). The obvious consequences of this mass migration are the presence of an imbalance in population numbers between towns and the remaining rural regions.
With regard to NWFPs, it is common to distinguish two types of environmental management by local people. One is considered "traditional" and the other "modern". In addition to these forms of forest management, large commercial concerns apply "industrial" management of some forest products with the support of the state (See Figure 1).
The "traditional" management system is linked to the survival of individuals and communities in the equatorial forest environment which is considered innately hostile but is a regular and limitless supplier of plant and animals products. This system is characterised by mobile and diffuse harvesting, low impact on the environment and little exchange, either in terms of barter or monetary remuneration, with outside parties. This form of traditional management is practised by the majority of forest people for a wide range of forest products.
On the contrary, the "modern" management of forest resources is characterised by intensive harvesting and exploitation, with products being channelled through organised and well-established marketing routes. In general, the revenues from forest products are commonly low, badly distributed, with little control by the state. However, often such exploitation is the sole cash income of rural people and often the need for immediate cash means that destructive harvesting systems are often practised.
Map 1: a) Distribution of dense forest- and savannah forest areas in Central and West Africa, and wood exports of major exporting countries; b) Member states of the African Timber Organization (ATO, headquarter in Libreville); c) Ranking of countries with highest forest cover rate (forest area as percentage of country).
(R.Pourtier, 1995 - Atlas de la zone franc en Afrique sub-saharienne, Ministere de la Cooperation, La Documentation Francaise, Paris, 1995).
Map 2: Population migration of rural people towards Libreville and Port-Gentil, and their respective amount in the total number of habitants of these 2 cities. (in R. Pourtier, Le Gabon, L'Harmattan, Paris, 1989).
Map 3: Difference of population density and distribution in Gabon between 1940 and 1970. (in R. Pourtier, Le Gabon, L'Harmattan, Paris, 1989).
Map 4: Expanding harvesting areas for rattan around the city of Libreville along the following roads: I) Libreville - Cap Esterias; II) Ntoum - Cocobeach; III) Kougouleu - Medouneu.
Figure 1. Overview of the NWFP sector in Gabon.
Subsistence strategy |
Commercial strategy | |
"Traditional" management |
"Modern" management (simplified overview) | |
Individuals, communities |
decision maker (company) | |
harvesting |
harvesting done by employed labour | |
self-consumption |
surplus |
(volume accumlation) |
intermediate traders | ||
final market | ||
urban consumers | ||
Socio-economic results: - monitary incomes linked to periodical surpluses, - NWFP are essential for harvester's livelihood, - regulation of harvesting levels is strong and immediate. |
Socio-economic results: - income: low along the chain except for the decision maker (company), - NWFP not essential for harvester's subsistence, - harvesting is adjusted according to resource availability. | |
Species concerned: majority of known NWFP |
Species concerned: only "commercial" NWFP (rattan, Garcinia, leaves for wrapping,...) |
In the case of rattan, for example, many harvesters have begun to be displaced due to considerable over-exploitation along many of the country's main transport routes, especially the roads from Libreville to Cap Esterias, Ntoum to Cocobeach and, more recently, Kougouleu to Medouneu, the preferred areas for harvesting due to easy access to the raw material. Exploitation now has to take place deeper into the forest and the issues of resource management are rapidly changing in as much as many local people are now allowing harvesters access to the rattan on their forest lands and transporting it to the roadside for direct sale to rattan traders. Many communities are now able to make money from the access to their land and are also able to monitor levels of rattan exploitation and transportation (See Map 4).
"Industrial" forest management is practised by for-profit concerns, and is often supported by the state for which it ensures considerable revenues. It has had a deep impact in the exploitation of forest products and has increased the transition of local people from "traditional" to more "modern" management systems.
However, these classifications are limited as there is no general forest resource management by local people. There is a patchwork of behaviour and practices whose diversity is linked to the species and the product, to traditional property rights, to the country and local community history, and to the organisation of channels of commercialisation and marketing.
