Part of the vast tropical moist forest of the Congo basin, the forests of Gabon support some of the largest populations of lowland gorillas, chimpanzees and elephants in the world. With 60 per cent of the country’s national area allocated as logging concessions, compared with 11 per cent in protected areas, it is essential that wildlife is well managed within the productive forestry landscape.
A pilot study of the application of legal requirements and best practices for wildlife management and protection carried out by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Gabon shows that FSC certified forestry companies have significantly better wildlife management practices than uncertified companies. This brings direct benefits for the conservation of highly endangered wildlife species.
The threat from hunting
Hunting for bushmeat forms the major threat to wildlife living in and around the national parks. Employees of the forestry companies may have easy access to hunting areas through company roads and transport. Local people may also hunt extensively throughout the concessions. Most importantly, however, if the concession areas are not properly controlled, forestry roads can provide access for professional poachers who target threatened species like apes and elephants for the market value of their trophies.
“Commercial bushmeat hunting and ivory poaching (which often go together) are the biggest threats to Gabon’s biodiversity heritage. A recent overflight of a reserve in Gabon found 30 fresh elephant carcasses,” says Tim Rayden, of WCS Gabon. “Antipoaching efforts by the administration are scratching the surface of the problem. It is essential that forestry companies play their part in the fight against this illegal and unsustainable trade.”
“The FSC certification process is helping to raise the standard of wildlife protection in areas around Gabon’s national parks. The additional scrutiny on companies through the regular audits and the obligation to involve stakeholders help to ensure FSC certified companies make a positive contribution to managing the problem of illegal hunting.” Tim Rayden, WCS Gabon
Controlling road access, registering firearms among staff, monitoring vehicles for bushmeat, and providing domestic meat at a price competitive with bushmeat are just a few of the means of reducing the pressure of hunting. National legislation and international best practice offer many other methods.
FSC certified companies perform better
Using Gabonese legal requirements and international best practice guidelines, WCS compiled an assessment checklist with which to evaluate wildlife management practices among forest concessions surrounding the three national parks. Seven forest concessions with a total area of 1,606,024 hectares were evaluated. Two of these concessions, CEB Precious Woods and Rougier Gabon, have achieved FSC forest management certification. Some of the other companies had approved management plans but no certification and some were still in the process of management plan preparation.
The results showed a clear difference between FSC certified companies and those without certification. On average, the two certified companies complied with 94 per cent of the study’s indicators of legal compliance,compared with 52 per cent for the noncertified companies. In addition, the certified companies applied an average of 86 per cent of the best practice elements for wildlife management in forestry concessions, such as providing domestic meat to employees at an affordable price. By contrast, the noncertified companies applied an average of 29 per cent of these elements.
Conserving endangered species
The objective assessment of wildlife management among these companies clearly shows the high value of certification in promoting legal and responsible forest management in Gabon’s forestry concessions. The two certified companies performed better in all aspects of the evaluation than noncertified companies, demonstrating the important contribution of FSC certification to the conservation of endangered mammal species.
FSC Priority areas for conservation
Parts of Gabon have been identified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as priority areas for the conservation of the great apes. Three National Parks in central Gabon – Lopé, Waka and Ivindo – together cover 9,040 km2 and hold high densities of large mammals, hundreds of species of birds, as well as cultural associations with the people living traditionally in the area.
Surrounding the three parks are ten forestry concessions, all of which could be considered part of a priority zone for wildlife conservation. While the Gabonese Code Forestier and its associated documents cover many aspects of wildlife management and control over hunting, its application is variable.