Illegal exploitation of Cameroon’s timber becomes international concern

Aloysius Agendia

The International Non-Governmental Organization, Green Peace International, recently indicted the government of Cameroon on the illegal and abusive exploitation of the country's forest reserves and resources. The NGO accused the government and many foreign forest exploiters of not respecting internationally laid out convention on the exploitation of timber and other forestry products. Green Peace considers the government of Cameroon and timber exploiters as accomplices, playing a great role in destroying the country's biodiversity.

That not withstanding, in one of the several media outings, the secretary general for the Ministry of Forest and Wildlife Madi Ali, dismissed the claims of Green Peace as false and an attempt to dirty the image of Cameroon. He claimed that the government of Cameroon respects the laws to the letter, and that the forest resources are being exploited for the benefit of all Cameroonians.
Green Peace, on the other hand, holds that the government is terribly and unsustainably exploiting the forests, and says that trees are wantonly cut down without any replacement, while workers of the forest exploitation companies are treated badly.
Green Peace lamented that most communities where timber is felled have little or nothing to benefit from these activities. The organization regretted that the exploitation of forest resources in Cameroon is aggravating the poverty of the population instead of alleviating it. These accusations levied on Cameroon come just shortly after timber allegedly smuggled from Cameroon, was discovered in the French market.
Reports from some forest guards at the Douala seaport indicate that on several occasions timber is smuggled to foreign countries through the Douala seaport. Some of such reports claim that many of the forest exploiters do not even possess operating licenses but rely on their relations with highly placed government officials who provide them with the coverage and protection to carry on their illegal activities unperturbed.
According to Tambeng John, another forest guard working in the South West Province, "all forest operators must have current and valid licenses from appropriate quarters" notably the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest with the recognition of the forestry board. He added that all legally exploited wood must carry the appropriate stamp authorized by the Ministry of Wildlife and Forestry before it can either be carried within the country or out of Cameroon. 
This ministry, in partnership with the National Forestry Board, ANAFOR, recently launched the COMCAM database in Douala. The database is a computer which aims at ensuring transparency in the commercialisation of Cameroon timber in and out of the country.
Green Peace International's worries did not only end at the level Cameroon's improper exploitation of forest resources but also the fact  that the benefits hardly ever reach the local masses. It is regrettable that most areas where timber is exploited in Cameroon are lagging far behind in infrastructural development, roads, educational and health facilities.
A visit to most of these areas such as Tinto, Mamfe, Muyenge etc in the Southwest province reveals a deplorable state of the roads and the almost total lack of any decent infrastructural developmental projects. But these are the areas that produce great quantities of timber yet have no roads worth talking about, and very little or no health facilities and schools.
This is the same situation in some villages in the East, South and Centre provinces.