On September 22, local time, the Central African Forestry Commission (Comifac) held a signing ceremony for the project description of the Tropical Timber Trade Fund (TTT) in Yaounde, the capital of the Republic of Cameroon. It is understood that the project, supported by cooperation with Germany, aims to promote the legal and sustainable trade of tropical timber in China and Africa and restrain the export of illegal timber in Africa. The German ambassador to Cameroon, Corinne Frick, signed the document.
It is understood that the project costs 4 billion CFA francs (about 6 million euros), and the specific plan goal is to prohibit the export of illegal timber to the international timber market. The Central African Forestry Commission (Comifac) and representatives of 11 countries on site signed the project.
As part of the terms of the project, the Central African Forestry Commission (Comifac) has oversight tasks to ensure the smooth progress of the project, and is responsible for the positioning, coordination and monitoring of forestry and environmental policies in Central Africa. The German Ministry of Technical Cooperation (GIZ), authorized by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), will assist the Central African Forestry Commission (Comifac) and timber production and supply countries to participate in the implementation of the project.
For a long time, illegal timber from China and Africa has accounted for a large share of the total timber exports, resulting in frequent illegal logging incidents, destruction of forest resources and deteriorating ecological environment. According to the International Tropical Timber Technology Association (ITTTA), only 18 percent of the 55 million hectares of registered forest concessions in Central Africa are verified as legal or certified. Despite the tightening of many forestry regulations on illegal timber exports, illegal timber can eventually easily flow into the international timber market.
The signing of the Tropical Timber Trade Fund (TTT) project has the countries of the Central African Forestry Commission (Comifac) seeing it as a major challenge. In their view, the effective implementation of this plan will bring about an increase in the production of legal timber and increase the tax revenue of Central African countries. Local people, especially those in remote rural areas, can benefit from legal employment, while illegal logging Incidents will also be reduced accordingly.
With countries such as the European Union and the United States restricting the import of timber from Russia, African timber producing countries have become the main source of supply, and even some European and American timber companies have set their sights on investing in the development of the African timber market. Since 60-80% of the timber imported by my country comes from Central African countries, in terms of timber trade, Central Africa has tightened forestry regulations for illegal timber, prohibiting the purchase, transportation and processing of illegal timber.
For my country, the European Union, the United States and other countries, the legal compliance requirements for timber supply sources are getting higher and higher. Therefore, the implementation of the Tropical Timber Trade Fund (TTT) project by the China-Africa Forestry Commission (Comifac) is imperative.