Welcome to the website of the Congo Basin Voluntary Partnership Agreement implementation project.
The overall aim of this project is promote the rights and participation of forest communities, including indigenous people, in the implementation of legal and political reforms in the forestry sector linked to Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs). The project is for a duration of 2.5 years (January 2014 to June 2016) and is focused on two countries of the Congo Basin – Cameroon and Central African Republic (CAR).
EU-CFPR Project in Figures
Illegal logging and FLEGT
Illegal logging is an extremely important issue which is beginning to receive the attention it deserves. World Bank[1] estimates show that $10-15 billion annually are lost world wide due to illegal logging; with close to $5 billion lost due to uncollected taxes and royalties on legally sanctioned timber harvests due to corruption.
Such losses of state revenue prevent timber-rich Congo Basin governments from meeting development goals and public services of basic healthcare and education, as well as improvements in sustainable forest management.
Poor and disadvantaged communities suffer the most from poor governance of the forest sector, especially due to being denied a voice to actively participate in decision-making processes concerning their land and resources. Inequities in the ownership and management of land and resources are a major source of conflict which undermines prospects for development.
In order to tackle the problems associated with the illegal timber trade, the European Union has developed a Forest Law Enforcement and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan. There are four key components of this plan:
- Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs)
- Government procurement policies
- Financial due diligence
- Illegal timber regulations
Project News
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Further information
For more information on FLEGT, please visit these related sites:
