Study on French official development aid allocated to the forests of the Congo Basin Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon

Context of the service

Global Witness (GW) is an advocacy NGO specialising in issues of corruption, conflict, environmental degradation and human rights violations related to the exploitation of natural resources.

In 2012, in the context of the implementation of the European Union's (EU) Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) process and the signing of Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) between the timber-producing countries of the Congo Basin and the EU, GW decided to focus its research efforts on France's Official Development Aid (ODA). major partner in the implementation of these VPAs in the countries concerned:

- Who are the main actors of French ODA to the forests of the Congo Basin?

- What is the logic of French ODA's intervention in the forests of the Congo Basin?

- What are the real effects of the sustainable forest concession management model on environmental protection, the fight against illegal trade and the development of local populations?

Services provided

- Documentary analysis of the functioning and financing methods of French ODA, and in particular of the AFD group (AFD, FFEM, PROPARCO);

- Revision of the French ODA policy documents targeting the Congo Basin forestry sector;

- Quantification and characterization of financial volumes, and categorization of the main beneficiaries;

- Review of AFD's internal and external assessments, scientific literature and independent observation reports on sustainable forest management;

- Interviews with the corresponding authors and managers, internal and external to the group;

- Characterization of the risks associated with the forest concession model (illegal timber trafficking, land conflicts, degradation of natural environments, violation of human rights);

- Drafting of a synthesis report, including recommendations to better orient French ODA in the context of the implementation of FLEGT VPAs.

Summary of the service

Study on French official development aid allocated to the forests of the Congo Basin: Identification of the financial volumes and the main actors concerned; Review of the socio-economic and environmental impacts of forest management and certification mechanisms; Assessment of the economic viability of tropical forest certification and its penetration into international markets; Synthesis report and recommendations to better orient French ODA in the implementation of FLEGT VPAs.