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Signature of a declaration by UFIGA and UFIAG in Shanghai

31.10.2019

At the conference « Together towards global green supply chains » in Shanghai, UFIGA and UFIAG signed a declaration of commitment to forest certification on 23 October 2019. 

At the conference « Together towards global green supply chains » in Shanghai, the Gabonese professional associations UFIGA ((Mrs VAN DE VEN, General Delegate) and UFIAG (Mr ZHUANG, Founding President of UFIAG), under the supervision of the Minister of Water, Forests, Sea and Environment, in charge of the Climate Plan and Land Use Plan (Prof. Dr. ZHUANG), were invited to attend. WHITE), and the presidents of ATIBT (Mr. HUNINK), CWTPDA (Mr. NGENGWEN), ITTO Executive Director (Mr. DIETERLHE) and the Secretary General of the GGSC (Dr. XINJIANG), signed a statement on 23 October 2019 on the continuation of the « Global Green Forest Products Supply Chain Initiative (GGSC) ».

The Union of Industrial Foresters of Gabon and Planner (UFIGA) and the Union of Asian Industrial Foresters of Gabon (UFIAG) have reached a consensus on their joint participation in the implementation of the GGSC initiative, and their commitment, with the support of international donors and related international agencies, to finalize at least the certification of the traceability and legality of wood audited by a third party within the next three years.

They also undertook to promote further wood processing, increase the use of wood and its added value, increase the local employment rate and improve the living standards of the Gabonese people. This strong commitment by both associations will allow Gabon to significantly increase the area of certified forests and thus improve forest governance and increase the availability of legal timber products on the markets.