ATIBT welcomes George Akwah Neba who is the new FSC Coordinator for the Congo Basin, and Esteban Toja Bilbao, Forest Certification Advisor for FSC.
These 2 new recruits, in post from January 2021, will be based in Libreville, Gabon.
Mr. Akwah was trained as an environmental anthropologist and has extensive professional experience throughout French-speaking Africa in the management of natural resources and sustainable development. He has 18 years of experience and has worked in leading organizations such as IUCN, WWF, CIFOR and IITA, where he has managed complex, multinational and multicontinental initiatives.
Mr. Toja holds a master's degree in forestry and a master's degree in international trade. He also has extensive professional experience in the Congo Basin. Having worked for Danzer and Rougier among others, he has a solid knowledge of forest companies in the Congo Basin and has developed relationships with the main players in these companies.
As a first step, they will work mainly with the government of Gabon, forest concessionaires and other partners in Gabon to develop and co-execute a support program for concessionaires with certification prospects. Their appointment will strengthen the government's capacity to implement and achieve the Gabonese government's political objective.
ATIBT had an online meeting on Wednesday 13/01 with its SFM certified members, in which the two newcomers from the FSC team participated, which allowed them to introduce themselves. During this meeting, ATIBT told them that they were at their disposal for anything that would be useful.
For more details, you will find here the press release of Harrison O Kojwang, Africa Regional Director of FSC.
