Central Africa is a region endowed with vast natural resources, including minerals, oil, and forests. The forests of the region are crucial to the livelihoods of millions of people, providing food, medicine, shelter, and fuel. However, the forests of Central Africa are under threat from deforestation, which is driven by demand for timber, agricultural land, and mining activities. This has severe implications for the region’s ecosystems, communities, and economy. Despite the challenges, there are efforts to balance economic development with the conservation of forest resources. In this article, we explore the complex dynamics of deforestation in Central Africa and the various initiatives aimed at achieving sustainable forest management in the region.
Experts have highlighted the social and economic consequences for Central African commodity-producing countries in the struggle to curb forest loss and degradation. In Chapter 8 of the Central Africa Forest Observatory (OFAC)’s Congo Basin Forests – State of the Forests 2021 report, ambiguities in the definition of the word “forest”, and consequently “deforestation”, are named as a major challenge. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the European Union, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), among others, have each defined the word differently, leading to confusion. Report co-author Louis Defo, a senior project manager at Proforest, argues that it is essential to make precise reference to the retained definition of forest and the method used to estimate its area in order to quantify deforestation accurately.
In Central Africa, four countries – Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, and Democratic Republic of the Congo – have established a national definition of forest. The other seven countries of the sub-region are in the process of doing so. The direct drivers of deforestation in Central Africa are the production and exploitation of commodities which involve land use change. The region’s national economies are heavily dependent on the export of agricultural commodities and mining products, with palm oil, cocoa, coffee, rubber, cotton, and timber being the major deforestation-heavy sectors. Timber is traded both domestically and internationally, while palm oil is driving deforestation for monocultural plantations in DR Congo, Cameroon, and Gabon, covering around 500,000 hectares of the region.
Cocoa, which has been cultivated in Central Africa since the 19th century, is being grown across the region on vast plantations on former woodlands. Cameroon has positioned itself as Central Africa’s main cocoa producer, but exports across the subregion have been variable in recent years. Coffee and cotton are also cultivated in the area, primarily for export while rubber production is driving deforestation in the sub-region, especially in the Congo Basin’s Cuvette Centrale.
Stakeholders in the production and export of these commodities have taken various measures to mitigate the impact of their activities. These measures include supporting initiatives against deforestation, promoting certification, sensitization, capacity building, and regulatory action. The states of the Congo Basin have signed up to several bilateral and/or multilateral initiatives aimed at stopping illegal deforestation linked to the production of agricultural and forestry products, such as the EU’s FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements, the Central African Forest Initiative, and the Tropical Forest Alliance.
In order to curb the negative economic impacts linked to the adoption and implementation of policies to combat imported deforestation, particularly in Europe, experts suggest promoting negotiation approaches within blocs such as the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). Harmonizing technical definitions of “forest” and the means of monitoring deforestation should also be a priority across the region, where the growing population has increasing need for agricultural land but which must be balanced with preserving the region’s forests.
The research in this report was supported by the European Commission through the RIOFAC project. It is hoped that policymakers and stakeholders take account of the complex economic and social issues at play when creating policies and strategies to tackle deforestation in Central Africa.
