Samuel Nguiffo Yaoundé, June 22, 2015 Chinese links to forest governance issues in Africa: A view from Cameroon

Chinese presence in Cameroon  China, a « new » partner of Cameroon?  The encounter of two dreams : rapid economic growth (with China as a model) and economic expansion (to meet the needs of the biggest economy in the world)

Chinese influence on forest Governance  China, main destination of timber from Cameroon (for round logs, 500,000 cubic meters on a total export of 700,000)  China not (yet?) part of the ongoing Voluntary Partnership Agreement discussion aiming at production and trade of legal wood  China, main destination for timber with illegal or suspicious origin  « Chinese » companies involved in illegal or controversial logging

Chinese investments in other sectors and forestry  Increased presence of Chinese investments in the infrastructure sector in Cameroon…  … Resulting into unprecedented forest conversion…  In a context characterized by a poor system of timber rights allocation and monitoring

Are Chinese investments a problem to forests in Cameroon?  Chinese investments are not very well known  They are growing fast, but not as big as often announced (debt, investments, companies’ presence, etc.)  They are part of a partnership between well experienced firms/State and a weak State (weak norms, poor environmental and social standards, limited capacity of monitoring)  They reveal the weak capacity of the State

Impact on forest governance  No direct impact of large Chinese companies on forest governance in Cameroon  No major logging company holding title  Companies in the extractive or infrastructure sectors are indirectly responsible of intensive logging and forest conversion  Small « chinese » companies involved in logging with no permit, including of protected species  The major impact seems to be caused by the capacity of the Government to appropriately allocate and monitor timber rights (It never happened with this magnitude in such a short term)

Targeting Chinese Investments alone will not resolve the problem The main lesson learned from Chinese investments’ impact on the forestry sector is that there is a clear need to change the conditions of forest governance in the whole country, for all the actors, and not only for the Chinese

 167, Rue 1115 Etoa-Meki B.P Yaoundé, Cameroun Tél: (237) site Web: