The Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, MINFOF, intends to consolidate strides made in the protection of flora and fauna in 2011 and break new grounds in 2012 with special attention on wood processing and effective decentralisation. Speaking to reporters Tuesday night after defending the ministry’s 2012 budget to the tune of FCFA 16.321 billion before the Finance and Budget Committee of the National Assembly, MINFOF boss, Prof. Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, said the forestry sector constitutes one of the cornerstones of government’s 2035 growth vision, pledging to leave nothing to chance in the promotion of timber and non-timber resources so as to live up to the billing.
“We intend to develop a competitive productive sector with main activities like improving processing and development of first, second and third processing, the establishment of wood-clusters in Yaounde and Bertoua as well as the relaxation of constraints on operators/entrepreneurs with a view to improving the business climate,” he stated. “Further processing is a big priority for us given that it creates employment, adds value and strengthens our level of industrialisation. Given such importance, we have to work together with other ministries to find areas of common understanding to achieve results and avoid conflicts.”
Although the budget witnessed a significant drop from the FCFA 20.915 billion for 2011 to FCFA 16.321 billion next year, Prof. Ngolle Ngolle and his team also intend to ensure the promotion of secondary wood species, develop channels of Non-timber Forest Products (NTFP) and wood energy. “We would like that the number of forests in the country increase, reason why we have come out with the formula that everywhere, where possible, should become forest.”
With an investment package of FCFA 4 billion down from FCFA 9 billion in 2011, MINFOF will also create new protected areas as well as ensure their development and sustainable management. The continuation of ecological monitoring of wildlife in protected areas, effective involvement of councils in the management of protected areas within the framework of decentralisation and the formalising the MINFOF-MINTOUR collaboration platform for the development of eco-tourism in the country, are also targeted.
