This document discusses formalizing chainsaw milling in Central Africa. Chainsaw milling provides around 3% of tropical timber production and is an important source of revenue for rural economies. However, it faces many challenges including administrative hassles, technical harvesting problems, and abuses of power. The author proposes options to address these issues such as recognizing customary land rights, decentralizing logging title granting and management agreements, and supporting existing milling groups. Formalizing chainsaw milling could help integrate it into initiatives like FLEGT-VPAs-LASs while improving governance, livelihoods, and reforms.

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THINKING beyond the canopy
Formalisation of chainsaw milling in Central Africa
Opportunities and constraints
IASC 2013, June 3rd – 7th, Mt Fuji, Japan

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§ About 44 M ha
§ About 7-8 M m3/yr
§ 3% tropical timber
production
www.observatoire-­‐comifac.net

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www.observatoire-comifac.net

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Research questions
• What trade-offs to integrate chainsaw milling
and domestic markets into FLEGT-VPAs-LASs?
– What governance?
– What livelihoods?
– What reforms?

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Data collection (2008-present)
• Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, DRC (Indonesia, Ecuador)
• Weekly data (markets and fluxes, day/night on main entry
points, land/water)
• Detailed analysis of forestry operations (harvesting,
transport, delivery, recovery rates and costs/benefits)
• “Upstream” and “downstream”
≈50
≈100

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[Percent of national sawnwood production, m3]
Source: State of the Forest 2010, chapter 4 (www.observatoire-comifac.net)

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Substantial revenues to rural economies

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Source: State of the Forest 2010, chapter 4 (www.observatoire-comifac.net)
[Costs to chainsaw millers]

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The loggers’ problems…
Gabon Ranking (%) Cameroun Ranking (%)
Abuses of power by the
administration
64% Administrative hassles 75%
Technical problems of harvesting 41% Abus de confiance 25%
Road conditions 32% Negotiations with tree owners 18%
Dangerous activities in the forest 32% Cost of materials and transport 18%
Commercialisation in Libreville 21% Dangerous activities in the forest 17%
Relations with buyer ("patron") 18% Bad conditions of materials 13%
Lack of financial resources 12% Difficulties in finding "good" trees 10%
Lack of legal title 10% Difficulties in finding buyers 10%
Difficulties in finding "good" trees 7% Lack of financial resources 10%
Fees 8%
Lack of legal title 7%
Timber theft 7%

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A few consequences
• For operators
– Rule of law questioned
– Precariousness and indebtedness
– No investment
• For society at large
– Conflicts intra/inter institutions
– No optimisation (data and services)
– …
– Loss of confidence in state institutions
– A state with low legitimacy

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Options for a perfect world
• Constraint: Status of the resource (agro-forestry areas)
– Recognition of customary rights (“ownership”)
– Recognition of right to “commercial” use
• Constraint: Access to the resource
– Adopt logging titles “adapted” to needs
– Decentralise granting of titles
• Constraint: Rights of access to the profession
– Different agreements for different titles
– Decentralise and incentivise agreements
– Sustain existing groups and facilitate the creation of
others

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Options for a real world?

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THINKING beyond the canopy
The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
is one of the 15 centres supported by the Consultative
Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
Merci beaucoup www.cifor.org/pro-formal
p.cerutti@cgiar.org