This was one of the recommendations made on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 by experts meeting in Yaounde to promote the development of the wood industry in the Congo Basin

At the close of the second day of the workshop to promote the development of the wood industry in the Congo Basin organised by the Food and Agricultural Organisation, FAO, last Wednesday, the wood experts identified the extension of Cameroon’s railway network to the towns of Yokadouma and Maroua in the East and Far North regions respectively, as a priority to facilitate the transport of forest resources and wood products to sub-regional markets.

After brainstorming in four focus groups, the wood experts also recommended technical and financial assistance to small and medium wood enterprises, the formation of cluster wood production areas, the identification of used equipment markets, access to loans from banks, fiscal incentives on exports and the tarring of the Kribi-Ebolowa road. In addition, they saw the urgent need for the decentralisation of the award of logging licences, the involvement of the civil society in forestry governance and the harmonisation of customs policies between the Central African and West African economic unions as strategies to increase traceability and trade in wood products in local and regional markets.

The recommendations were warmly received by the representative from FAO’s Rome headquarters, Olman Serrano, as an important step in the process of putting in place strategies to create a vibrant wood industry in the Congo Basin