Cameroon signs timber deal with EU

After 31 months of negotiations, Cameroon and the European Union have signed a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) aimed at ensuring that only legally harvested timber from the country enters the European market. When the VPA takes effect in 2012 it will apply to all wood products harvested or produced in Cameroon, one of Africa’s largest exporters of tropical hardwood.

Both government and civil society observers say that if implemented properly, the deal could end illegal logging in the heavily forested country. Cameroon has struggled with illegal and unsustainable logging for many years. From 1990-2005, 13.4 per cent (3.3 million hectares) of the country’s forest cover was lost.

Cameroon exported nearly $500 million worth of wood and wood products in 2006. Approximately 80 per cent of the country’s processed wood is exported to the EU, while 60 per cent of its raw logs are shipped to China.