President Bongo Announces Forest Certification in Gabon

On September 26th, from the Mevang site in Gabon, belonging to the Rougier company, President Ali Bongo Ondimba made an important statement on the future of forest certification in Gabon.

The key points of the speech were as follows :

The ban of logs exportation on the 06^th of November 2009, despite its immediacy, has had positive impacts on national economy ;
Gabon is looking for high quality in its local productions, and in terms of timber industry, FSC is a key label which could offer a guarantee to Gabonese operators an access to reference markets;
FSC is the more demanding standard in terms of certification and offers number of advantages;
Certification will contribute to increase the attractivity of our timber value chains towards potential investors, thanks to the sustainability and the highest quality guaranteed;
This label will strengthen the policy on sustainable development, which is already a reference in the sub-region and in Africa;

It has been decided to fix 2022 as the deadline for all concessions to be certified in Gabon. The government of Gabon shall deliver an action plan within the next two months to reach this target successfully.

FSC made the following press release: https://ic.fsc.org/en/news-updates/id/2177