The ‘Standardised External Independent Monitoring System (SNOIE)’, certified ISO 9001-2015, has been recognised at the 11th Forest Governance Forum (FGF) as a structured Independent Monitoring (IM) approach, generating information required by timber buyers in order to respect the EUTR. This recognition is documented in a study on IM in the Congo Basin carried out by the Field Legality Advisory Group (FLAG) Cameroon and presented to the Forum by Dr Hiol, the Consultant in charge of reporting the study. From the FGF, it can also be noted that the experiences of FODER with this standardised IM approach, as well as those of Conservation Justice (Gabonese CSO) in the fight against illegal wildlife trafficking are likely to inspire synergies between IFM and IM of wildlife exploitation.
SNOIE is a set of monitoring processes for the exploitation of natural resources based on an international standard (ISO 9001: 2015). It consists of documenting and denouncing violations linked to the exploitation of natural resources, monitoring and disseminating the decisions of the relevant authorities. Since April 2015, SNOIE has officially obtained its Certificate of Conformity to the ISO 9001:2015 Standard. By obtaining this certificate, it becomes the very first approach to monitoring natural resources by civil society certified in Cameroon. This certification has been awarded by the certification body Interface-NRM Ltd. The certificate covers three years. It was obtained with the financial and technical support of the Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) and the University of Wolverhampton as part of ‘Citizens Voices for Change: Congo Basin Forest Monitoring project’ (CV4C).
SNOIE has been developed in order to make External Independent Monitoring (EIM) activities more effective, to increase the credibility of denunciations emerging from them and, above all, to better guide these denunciations to the appropriate recipients (competent authorities, technical and financial partners, sector operators etc.). By aligning the development of SNOIE on the ISO 9001: 2015 standard, the coordination of this system has succeeded to this day: “a real mechanism to have reliable information on external independent monitoring in Cameroon”, said Dr. Gavin Jordan Director, Interface NRM Ltd. Moreover, at the level of the administration in charge of forests, the SNOIE is now part of the network of informants of the administration.
As suggested by the Head of the National Control Brigade in MINFOF, Rodrigue Ella, during a multi-stakeholder meeting organised during the deployment of the SNOIE in 2016, “an illegal timber operator is a thief who has to be tracked down, and to be given reliable information is crucial. Therefore, SNOIE which is part of the network of informants is a system that enables to have these denunciations.”
Download the presentation on SNOIE made at the FGF 2018.