Finalization of the FLEGT REDD, FLEGT IP and FLEGT projects ATIBT certification

Over the past 40 years, numerous initiatives have been launched to improve forest management. The concept of sustainable forest management certification emerged in the early 1990s. Subsequently, in the 2000s, the FLEGT Action Plan, an institutional initiative, was published by the European Union. The action plan takes a unique approach and combines measures to be taken by wood-consuming and wood-producing countries, such as the FLEGT VPAs and the EUTR. At the end of this decade, the REDD+ process, an international and transnational initiative is launched to combat global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions from forest degradation, destruction and fragmentation.

Implemented for several years in the Congo Basin, the VPAs have fallen behind (negotiations and implementation slowed down), and certification, after a slump between 2004 and 2009, was running out of steam.

ATIBT, as the representative of logging companies, forest industries and stakeholders in the tropical timber sector, has been asked, in partnership with national professional associations, to implement three major projects aimed at involving the private sector in the FLEGT, REDD and certification processes :

"The integration of the tropical wood sector in Central and West Africa in the FLEGT and REDD+ mechanisms" financed by the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) since February 28, 2013
"Capacity building of the professional associations of the private forestry sector in Central and West Africa to allow a better integration of the latter in the FLEGT Action Plan" financed by the European Union since December 10, 2014.
"Improving the inclusion of the third party verified certifications in FLEGT processes" funded by PPECF since 5 July 2018.

The interventions took place in the following countries :

In the Ivory Coast in partnership with the SPIB (Syndicat des Producteurs Industriels du Bois)
In Cameroon in partnership with the GFBC (Groupement de la Filière Bois du Cameroun)
Gabon in partnership with UFIGA (Union des Forestiers et Industriels du Gabon)
DRC in partnership with the FIB (Federation of Wood Industrialists)
Congo where ATIBT has opened offices and collaborated with UNIBOIS and UNICONGO

This large "three in one" project, which also included a multitude of other sub-projects such as the FLEGT VPA support project in the Republic of Congo and FAO-EU-FLEGT projects in the target countries, enabled ATIBT to:

Promote responsible forest management and practices among forest operators and industrialists, mainly based in Africa, to strengthen sustainable management of tropical forests
Actively involve the forest sector in the FLEGT process and implementation
Raise awareness of third party certification among stakeholders
Standardize the implementation of the EUTR in tropical timber importing countries

Even if the end of the project was impacted by the health situation, the activities were carried out thanks to the FLEGT-certification referents set up within the professional associations, and many meetings were held by videoconference and through webinars. The majority of these projects ended on 31 December 2020.

Impacts and major achievements in a few figures :