THE TRUE VALUE OF A
TREE
Interview with Benoit Ndameu, FoE
Cameroon
In Cameroon, does the local population
view forests as places with high cultural
and social value?
The lives of the people in forest areas
are deeply linked with the forests that
surround their villages. They gather
fruits, food, bush meat and honey there,
and their local medicine comes from the
forest. Some tree species have very high
local value. For example, the Moabi
(Baïllonela toxisperma) bears fruit that is
eaten by humans as well as by gorillas,
elephants and monkeys. Oil is extracted
from the seed of the fruit and used for
cooking and for making cosmetics. The bark
is used for medical purposes, for example
to treat backache. Pygmies use this tree’s
powder to make a camouflage potion that
they cover themselves with in order to
become invisible when they are hunting.
They also use the bark of some tree
species in the same way that we use onions,
to flavour their food.
Another example of an important tree is
the Bubinga. There are no other trees in
the area surrounding a Bubinga due to its
mystical powers. Villagers regard their
local Bubingas as sacred places, and
believe that the trees contain the spirits
of their ancestors. The Bantu people gather
under the Bubinga to judge someone
suspected of witchcraft, and they also sit
under the tree to solve problems. They
believe that those who cut down the Bubinga
will face troubles. For example, the tree
might fall upon you and kill you, or your
chainsaw will fail to start up. The species
is extremely slow growing, and some trees
are more than 100 years old. Bubinga is
highly appreciated by forest exploiters
because of its hard, red-coloured wood,
which is used to make furniture in Europe
and Asia.
These are only a few examples to give
you an idea of the major social and
cultural impacts that forest exploitation
in Cameroon has upon the local
population.
Is deforestation a major problem in
Cameroon?
The total area of Cameroon is an
estimated 475,000 square kilometers, and
some 17 million hectares of this is
forested. The deforestation rate in
Cameroon is more than 100,000 hectares per
year, and the major cause is logging
operations by both local and foreign
companies. Logging activities are focused
on few species such as Sapelli, Ayous,
Iroko, Azobe, Tali, Moabi, Movingui and
Ngollon. These species are being exported
overseas to Europe, Asia and the rest of
the world at a rapid rate. There will be no
primary forest left in Cameroon in ten
years if major changes are not made.
Illegal logging is an enormous problem,
and the government does not enforce its own
regulations. Of the 100,000 hectares logged
each year, at least 40 percent of them are
illegally deforested. Logging companies
regularly exceed their concessions and
export as much as they can with no
oversight from the authorities. Malpractice
has also occurred in some protected areas.
Logging companies are responsible for the
vast majority of deforestation in Cameroon:
slash-and-burn agriculture, for example, is
not a problem. In the east of the country,
where the worst deforestation is taking
place, there are only between one and three
people per square kilometre. These people
are farmers, and they stay in the same
place for many years. The logging
companies, on the other hand, have
five-year permits to exploit enormous
areas. After five years, nothing is
left.
Which foreign companies are active in
logging in Cameroon?
The foreign logging companies most
active in Cameroon include Bollor, Thanry,
Pallisco and Rougier from France, Wijma
from the Netherlands, Alpicam/Grumcam from
Italy and Sfil and Sotref from Belgium. It
would be too dangerous to target these
companies directly in our campaigns, so we
and other NGOs in Cameroon and the Congo
Basin work through international
networks.
The pharmaceutical industry is becoming
more interested in the medicinal value of
our trees. Pharmaceutical laboratories have
identified many species with potentially
high commercial value. This is the case of
the
Prunus africana
tree; the French
company Plantecam extracts an active
ingredient from its bark in order to treat
prostate cancer. Ongoing research has also
identified the
Ancystrocladus
korupensis
species as possibly having
an active principle that can be used to
treat AIDS.
How does FoE Cameroon campaign to
protect the country's forests?
Our major concern at the Centre for
Environment and Development, FoE Cameroon,
since we were founded in 1994 has been the
disappearance of forests in southern
Cameroon. After oil, trees were the
country's largest export during the 1990s.
We collected data from different sources
about logging companies, export levels, and
the areas being logged. For the past two
years we have put out an annual report on
the state of Cameroon's forests. One of our
major findings is that the profits made by
logging companies are extremely high in
comparison with the revenue received by the
state and local communities.
By focusing indirectly on seemingly
technical issues like illegal logging or
irregularity in the implementation of
forest laws rather than directly
confronting logging companies or the
government, we are able to avoid
potentially dangerous political
situations.
Our joint campaign with FoE France has
been quite successful so far. We have used
the fact that the French government's
development agency gives out loans to
French logging companies, and have
uncovered facts about illegal activities
being carried out by these companies in
Cameroon. The French government has so far
been very receptive to this information
about the companies it finances.
Do you also target international
financial institutions?
We do focus on international financial
institutions like the World Bank in our
campaigning. Many transnational companies
ask for loans from these institutions in
order to carry out their activities. We
feel that companies should not be granted
loans if they do not respect the rules of
forest exploitation and if they cannot
promote sustainable logging.
Pressure by local and international NGOs
has brought about some change in the
attitude of the government as well as other
international institutions. In 1997, one of
the World Bank’s conditions during
negotiations with the government of
Cameroon on structural adjustment was that
the government must revoke any illegal
forest concessions. However, these illegal
concessions were not withdrawn, and this
failure was pointed out to the World Bank.
A team of forestry officials from the
national Ministry of Environment and
Forests carried out field surveys in
logging areas in Cameroon last year. The
results were very poor, and the team
recommended that the government enforce its
forest laws. In March 2000, the government
sanctioned logging companies involved in
illegal activities, with some fines
reaching as high as US$15,000. Now the
process is on the move, and the government
has given the mandate for the independent
monitoring of logging activities in
Cameroon.
Ann Doherty, FoEI
