A First Look at Logging in Gabon

Central Africa’s forests have a long history of human use. Large-scale commercial logging, however, is a recent phenomenon.

This report addresses the following questions:

• How much forest has been logged and at what rate?
• What are the economic benefits of this activity and who are the beneficiaries?
• Is the market sufficiently diverse to weather fluctuations?
• What are the forest regulations and laws, and is the Gabonese government able to enforce them?
• What efforts are underway to promote longer term management of natural resources?

The key findings opf the report include:

• Gabon’s forests are rapidly being developed by the logging industry.
• Gabon’s forest industry may be vulnerable to market swings because of a lack of diversification.
• Current laws designed to manage and protect forests in Gabon have been poorly applied and enforced.
• The proposed reform of Gabon’s forestry policy provides an opportunity to help rectify these problems by setting new standards for better natural resources management.