PAFC Gabon poised to contribute to Gabon’s commitment to sustainable forestry

1 November 2018 News

“We are ready and prepared to assist our country in achieving its objective to become the world leader in certified tropical timber,” said Rose Ondo, President of PAFC Gabon.

"We share this ambition, which will increase the competitiveness of Gabonese forest products while at the same time safeguarding our unique forest ecosystem and improving the life of people and communities who depend on forests for their livelihoods."

PAFC Gabon, as a grassroots organization that is governed and administered by local stakeholders, is well positioned to support its government’s goal of dramatically increasing both the uptake of certification and the expansion of sustainable forest management in the country.

“Our national forest management standard uniquely addresses the distinct needs of Gabon and the Gabonese forests. The fundamental advantage of our national standard is that it is specifically designed to respect the environmental, socio-economic, cultural and legal conditions of our country,” said Ms. Ondo.

“This is what makes the PAFC Gabon standard so special: It was written by Gabonese for Gabon, fully respecting our national sovereignty.”

PEFC, the world’s leading forest certification system, endorsed the PAFC Gabon forest certification system in 2009.

“In addition to demonstrating the high quality of the Gabonese standards, this endorsement by PEFC also means that we benefit from the market visibility of and demand for PEFC-certified product,” Ms. Ondo highlighted. More than 18,000 companies around the world are already PEFC-certified and can readily integrate PAFC-certified timber into their supply chains.

“Everyone in the PEFC alliance is very grateful for the excellent work of PAFC Gabon and all the Gabonese stakeholders that have contributed their time in making their national standard a reality,” said Peter Latham, Chairman of PEFC International.

“We believe that PAFC Gabon, with the tremendous support they are experiencing on the ground, can have a positive impact well beyond Gabon’s national borders and help the country demonstrate its leadership position on sustainable forest management in the Congo Basin,” Mr Latham added.

Both Peter Latham and Ben Gunneberg, CEO and Secretary General of PEFC International, will have the pleasure of participating in a workshop on forest certification in Libreville during the week of 19 - 23 November 2018.