Republic of the Congo: Private sector joins government and civil society to restore trust in timber
10/05/2016
The Republic of the Congo harbors the largest tropical forest basin in the world after the Amazon. Timber comes in second after oil as the mainstay of the economy.
Almost 90 percent of the country’s lowland forest is open for logging. Yet it is estimated that at least 70 percent of this involves illegal forest activity. Breaches range from illicit allocation of logging permits, over-harvesting and non-payment of taxes by large licensed logging concessionaires to “informal”, small scale and artisanal logging activity. Illegal logging is especially rampant in the south of the country.
Compounding the challenge is a fast growing population and lack of alternative energy sources – particularly for nearly half of the population that still lives in poverty. Weak governance and a recent history of civil conflict have further undermined plans for sustainably managing forest resources.
With production in the country managed virtually entirely by the private sector – from large commercial operators to small and medium enterprises – getting the private sector to engage in processes such as FLEGT is vital to reaching zero illegal deforestation and providing other social, economic and environmental benefits.
A key part of the European Union’s VPA process is defining “legal” timber based on the laws and regulations of the respective timber-producing Partner Country. Legality indicators are effectively used to check compliance with the national legality definition setting out the legal and regulatory requirements that must be met before a FLEGT license can be issued.
Compounding the challenge is a fast growing population and lack of alternative energy sources – particularly for nearly half of the population that still lives in poverty. Weak governance and a recent history of civil conflict have further undermined plans for sustainably managing forest resources.
With production in the country managed virtually entirely by the private sector – from large commercial operators to small and medium enterprises – getting the private sector to engage in processes such as FLEGT is vital to reaching zero illegal deforestation and providing other social, economic and environmental benefits.
Online tool restoring consumer and trader trust
In 2014, a pilot initiative saw forest enterprises working alongside state and non-state actors in an unprecedented move to communicate their compliance practices to the public. Managed by civil society organizations Cercle d’Appui à la Gestion Durable des Forêts (CAGDF) and the World Resources Institute (WRI), the two partnered to develop an electronic database that allows the public to monitor Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) legality indicators online.A key part of the European Union’s VPA process is defining “legal” timber based on the laws and regulations of the respective timber-producing Partner Country. Legality indicators are effectively used to check compliance with the national legality definition setting out the legal and regulatory requirements that must be met before a FLEGT license can be issued.
“This portal acts as a tool for all businesses that adhered to the initiative to self-evaluate their legal practices,” explains Edouard Kibongui of CAGDF. CAGDF is also strengthening the capacity of the Department of Forest Economics of the Ministry of Forest Economy and Sustainable Development (MEFDD) to manage the online database.This exercise is a part of the Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS) being developed for the Congo-EU VPA. Thirteen forest enterprises were trained on how to use the portal in the pilot phase of the project. The enterprises involved see this as an opportunity to restore consumer and trader trust in timber. The portal also helps trade partners gather information for their due diligence systems, which is required by the EU Timber Regulation.
Levelling the playing field
“The tool contributes to create a level playing field in the forestry sector, incentivizing legal and sustainable timber through better access to information,” says Patrice Crochet, FTI Coordinator. “With increasing participation, more content will be available online, and new website functions are currently being prepared to facilitate comprehension.”The electronic database also makes independent monitoring data available. It will allow the data collected during the independent observer’s field missions to be accessible to businesses using the system. Independent monitoring is a function that is independent of a Partner Country’s government forest sector regulatory bodies; as such, it aims to provide credibility to the FLEGT licensing scheme. During the second phase of the project – currently ongoing with additional support from USAID – more forest enterprises are being trained to use the database and to contribute their information.
“We are currently working on a ‘Legal document determination tree’ for the Republic of Congo,” explains Crochet. “This scheme will allow any person – without any legal expertise – to generate specific lists of essential legal obligations for each forest operator. Once validated, this scheme will be turned into a user-friendly application that will give all users a simple and direct comprehension of each forest operators’ legal obligations and level of transparency. All this work is one hundred percent based on the Congolese Laws and will contribute to a more efficient EUTR and Lacey Act enforcement and support to the FLEGT action plan in general.”This work is part of WRI’s Forestry Transparency Initiative. The initiative is developing a searchable repository of information on the logging concessions and wood processing companies operating in Central Africa.