PPD 15/98 Rev. 2 (I) 

Joint ATO/ITTO Conference on Further Processing of African Tropical Timber

Gabon

The objective of this pre-project was to organize and convene a joint ATO/ITTO conference on the further processing of African tropical timber. The Pre-project was approved during the Twenty-fifth Session of the Council in November 1999 in Yokohama, Japan. This activity was organized in two stages and resulted in fact in the organization of two Conferences, one in Libreville from 26 to 28 September 2001, and the other one also in Libreville from 26 to 27 March 2003.

Implementing agency  

Direction Générale des Eaux et Forêts du Gabon en collaboration avec le secrétariat de l'OIBT à Libreville
Budget  

Total: USD 223'615
Planned duration   3 months
Starting date   January 1999
Status   completed
Topics    
Contact   jgasana(a)intercooperation.ch

 

Summary of activities

The first ATO/ITTO Joint Conference – Libreville, 26-28 September 2001

Prior to the Conference, a background document was prepared by an international consultant and circulated among African ATO and ITTO member countries and other potential participants. The document included a review of current market and industrialization trends related to tropical timbers and analyzed past and present experiences in Africa, vis à vis the experiences in South-East Asia and Latin America. The document also included optional strategies to enhance industrialization in Africa.

The Conference was attended by about 80 experts coming from ATO/ITTO Central African member countries and regional and international organizations. The activities were punctuated by two keynote addresses delivered by the chairperson of the ATO Ministerial Conference and by the Executive Director of ITTO, and by papers presented by well known international experts and covering such aspects as:

  • Markets and marketing of African further processed wood products;
  • Policy and legislation to promote further processing of African timber;
  • Infrastructures, supply and sustainability of timber resources; and
  • Training, research and development and transfer of technology.

Further discussions were pursued in three technical working groups. The Conference made seven recommendations, including the formulation by each member state of an industrialization strategy for timber processing, which takes into consideration available resources.

 

The second ATO/ITTO Joint Conference – Libreville, 26-27 March 2003

At the Thirty-first ITTC Session, and further to the request presented by H.E. Henry Djombo, Minister of Forest Economy of the Republic of Congo and Chairman of the ATO Ministerial Conference, on the need to follow up the first Conference with a high-level Conference involving Central African Ministers in charge of Forestry and heads of funding institutions and timber companies in order to secure a strong commitment at the highest level to promote further timber processing, the Government of Japan pledged US$100,000 for the organization by ITTO in cooperation with ATO and the Government of Gabon of a follow-up Conference.

In order to prepare for this Conference, a more participatory approach was adopted. Nine national consultants were selected in the African ATO/ITTO member countries in order to develop a country report with the view to presenting the status of further processing in the country, highlighting impediments, constraints and opportunity and outlining strategies to improve further processing of tropical timber in the country. National workshops were convened in 7 of the 9 countries in order to discuss and adopt the country reports. A regional consultant was contracted and worked under the supervision of an international consultant in order to support the national consultants in their work, synthesize the information included in the national reports and prepare a background document for the Conference. The document also included a regional strategic framework (Regional Plan) for the promotion of further processing of tropical timber in Africa.

The Conference took place in Libreville on 26-27 March 2003 and was attended by over 180 participants, including six Ministers from ATO member countries, representatives from forest administrations, the private sector, regional and international NGOs and regional and international institutions, including ITTO which was represented by the Executive Director. The activities were punctuated by three keynote addresses delivered by the chairperson of the ATO Ministerial Conference, the Executive Director of ITTO and the Gabonese Minister in Charge of Forests, and by papers presented by well known international experts covering the following aspects:

  • Development of the Wood-Based Industry in Malaysia (Dr Roszehan MOHD IDRUS);
  • Requirements for the Promotion of Further Processing of African Tropical Timber (Dr. Markku Simula);
  • A strategic Framework for the Development of Further Processing of Tropical Timber in ATO member Countries (Dr. Timothée Fomete);
  • The views of the Private Sector (Mr Paul Emmanuel HUET of IFIA); and
  • Views from a Member of the African Private Sector (Hon. Roger NKODO).

Further discussions were pursued in four technical working groups. The Conference was a great success in terms of participation and outcomes. Of notice is a solemn Declaration signed by Ministers and Heads of Delegations in which they formally approved a regional strategic plan for the promotion of further processing of timber in Africa and called for the support of the international community towards that end. Apart from the proceedings, which are now available, the main outputs of the Conference include the Regional Plan for the development of further processing in Africa adopted during the Conference and the Ministerial Declaration signed by Ministers and Heads of Delegations.