In 2018, Gabon’s President announced that all forest concessions must be certified by 2025—a landmark step to reduce emissions from forest degradation and ensure legal, traceable timber production. This project supports Gabon’s commitment to sustainable forest management by establishing a national certification system for logging concessions.
National Forest Certification
Countries:
Gabon
Topics:
Forest sector
Status:
Closed
Amount:
6,999,833 USD
Start Date:
09/08/2022
End Date:
03/08/2026
Implementing Organizations:
The Nature Conservancy
National Partners:
Ministry of Forests and WatersNational Parks Agency (ANPN)
Objectives
With the overall objective of reduce emissions from forest degradation through improved forest management practices, the project seeks to :
- Establish a national certification strategy and develop legal framework for enforcement across all concessions
- Develop and implement a national-scale forest certification framework
- Train at least 100 forestry operators and regulators across public and private forestry stakeholders.
Results to date
By 30 June 2026,
- A national Reduced-impact Logging for Climate protocol was developed to measure and reduce emissions from timber harvesting. Twenty-three agents from seven administrations were trained, including field practice in the Africa View forest management unit. The protocol addresses felling, timber extraction, roads and damage to remaining trees.
- Five forest-control missions were conducted across five provinces in 2025. Teams intercepted timber consignments involving fraudulent declarations and checked compliance with forest management plans.
- Two boats and four motorcycles were acquired in 2025 to strengthen surveillance. Analysis grids for seven types of forest management documents were updated to support compliance audits.