Illegal Logging: Over FCFA 7.5 Billion Lost Yearly

 Findings released last Thursday by TRAFFIC NGO shows the illicit trade robes the State treasury of colossal sums

Cameroon loses some FCFA 7.5 Billion annually to illegal logging, a recent finding by TRAFFIC; a renowned international non-governmental organization monitoring trade in wild fauna and flora, has shown. Going by the TRAFFIC report published last Thursday, “the illicit trade in timber is a real scourge for the national economy.”
The NGO estimates that about 7.5 per cent of revenue accruing from the country’s global income on forest exploitation do not get into the State treasury. However, the report notes that the sector still pumps in FCFA 4.5 Billion or 4% of Cameroon’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in export earnings.
According to the NGO whose goal is to reduce the pressure of illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade on biodiversity, the losses commonly occur through informal channels where controls and different taxes are non-existent or slacked. It points out that the results were generated after a “serious and meticulous investigation” carried out in the various areas of timber exploitation throughout the country.
Against the backdrop of the illegal exploitation of the country’s timber resources, government ...