Timber sector in Ivory Coast : Study on the situation of the stakeholders

23.10.2020

As part of the implementation of the FLEGT-REDD and FLEGT IP projects implemented by ATIBT and financed by the FGEF and the European Union, the Syndicat des Producteurs Industriels du Bois en Côte d'Ivoire (SPIB) conducted a study on the state of play of stakeholders in the forest-wood sector.

The Government of Ivory Coast, given all the commitments made at the international and national levels, is showing its firm determination to improve its forest governance to reverse the accentuated trend of deforestation of its forest cover. A controlled forest management policy implies, among other criteria to be mastered, a perfect knowledge of the actors who impact forest management in various ways.

To strengthen the participation of the private sector in the VPA/FLEGT process, the Syndicat des Producteurs Industriels du Bois (SPIB) and the Association Technique Internationale des Bois Tropicaux (ATIBT) have obtained grants from the FFEM and the European Union. One of the objectives of the projects is to strengthen the capacities of professional associations in the private forestry sector in Ivory Coast to enable the latter and the private sector to be better integrated into the FLEGT Action Plan in general and into the VPA negotiations for their country in particular.

This study is part of the activities to be implemented in the framework of this collaboration agreement between the SPIB and the ATIBT.
The carrying out of a "detailed mapping of private sector stakeholders in the forest-wood sector" in Ivory Coast will enable a better knowledge of the Professional Associations (PAs), the individual formal and informal stakeholders impacting on the forestry issue.

This study was carried out to list and establish the representation, over the whole of the national territory, of private stakeholders in the wood sector in Ivory Coast. It emerges from our surveys that the west and south of the country constitute the epicentre of private activities in the forest-wood sector. These two zones alone account for more than 85% of wood industrialists and 90% of wood traders. One also finds there nearly 50 % of the craftsmen related to wood. These zones are characterized by their forest environment and their large urban centers which shelter important economic activities.

Read the study to learn more (French)