In a statement made public on March 16, 2022, Greenpeace and its partners call on the Cameroonian government to cancel the December 2021 call for tenders of the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (Minfof).
On December 16, 2021, the Minfof launched a call for tenders for the award of five forest concessions. These represent about 400,000 ha in the Eastern and Central regions, four forest management units (AFUs) in the Eastern region and one in the Centre. In addition, to compensate for the losses suffered by timber operators operating in these regions due to the unstable security situation in recent years, the State has taken the decision to open four other UFAs only to "companies with UFAs in the North-West and South-West (NoSo) regions".
Greenpeace Africa (GPA) and its partners Green Development Advocates (GDA and Service d'appui aux initiatives locales de développement (Saild) having taken note of this decision, are fighting for its annulment. According to GPA, that "allocating this area of forest that takes as an argument the crisis in the NoSo is contradictory and paradoxical in a context where this measure poses threats to local residents and biodiversity".
For GDA, "it is unconcernishable to continue to exploit the forest in the name of development, when we know that these activities only benefit a very small circle of people. The forest is not an unlimited resource." Saild, pushes the nail: "The government's forestry policy violates all of Cameroon's international commitments in this area. The solution to development does not lie in the destruction of the forest. Cameroon can develop without destroying itself."
