By Leocadia Bongben
Field Legality Advisory Group (FLAG), in partnership with the World Resources Institute (WRI), has identified key achievements and is charting the way forward at the end of a four-year project dubbed ‘Strengthening cross-border collaboration to combat illegal logging in the Congo Basin’.
The project, funded by the INL Bureau of the US Department of State, attempted to address the fact that the Congo Basin remains vulnerable to illegal logging, particularly due to insufficient cooperation between officials during border checks and limited use of technological tools that could facilitate the prevention, detection, and enforcement against such acts, as well as the trafficking of protected species.
Against this backdrop, the project provided forestry law enforcement officers in Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo with specialised training and digital tools.
As the coordinator of the project, Horline Njike Bilogue Mvogo, FLAG Secretary General, said that during the implementation of the project, more than 140 administrative agents in charge of forestry law, notably the Forestry Administration, the Customs Administration, the Tax Administration, and the Judicial Administration, were trained and can now use technological tools such as the Open Timber Portal, Global Forest Watch, Atlas Forestier, and SIGIF II – a tool of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife – and also tools for identifying wood species exploited.
She clarified that after the training, coaching sessions—both online and in person—were held to ensure the participants had learned the relevant techniques. In addition to these agents, students from the Wildlife and Forestry School in Mbalmayo, the wood school CRESA Forêt-Bois (Centre Régional d’Enseignement Spécialisé en Agriculture Forêt-Bois Yaoundé), and the schools of Dschang and Ebolowa-Institut Supérieur d’Agriculture, du Bois, de l’Eau et de l’Environnement. ISABEE, as future administrators and staff responsible for combating illegal forestry exploitation, actively participated in the training, according to Bilogue Mvogo. “About 300 students have been trained and prepared to use these tools in the future. In the era of technological development, everything is digital, including artificial intelligence. We have to be prepared on all levels to be able to achieve our objectives,” she explained.
FLAG SG said inter-agency collaboration and the training settings stimulated more collaboration among participants from different administrations who worked together to examine suspected cases of illegal forestry exploitation.
“What makes this project unique is that it has not merely trained staff to use tools: it has created a genuine culture of collaboration between Water and Forests, Customs, and Tax and Justice. Seeing trained staff go on to train their peers themselves is proof that these skills are now firmly embedded within our government departments. This project demonstrates that, with the right tools and genuine collaboration between government departments, the fight against illegal logging can yield concrete and sustainable results. Over the past four years, more than 500 officials, students and teachers have been trained in the use of these technologies. The guidance document we are approving today ensures that these achievements will not end with the project but will continue to guide the day-to-day work of our partner government departments. Beyond the figures, what makes us most proud is seeing these tools integrated into the curriculum at ISABEE in Ebolowa and students choosing them as the subject of their final-year dissertations. This means that the next generation is well prepared. The guidance document presented today consolidates this legacy by embedding it permanently within Cameroon’s forest monitoring procedures,” she concluded.
Given that state agents were the project’s target, it was initially difficult to gain support from the various administrative actors. Despite the delay, the goal was accomplished, and cooperation was established. By signing Memoranda of Understanding, FLAG worked with training schools and provided students with internship opportunities. Another challenge was the leadership change in the US, which led to the project suspension in the third year. Consequently, actions on the ground were hampered by months of waiting for the suspension to be removed before activities resumed.
Way Forward
FLAG Sg expressed the hope that the momentum be maintained even after the end of the project. “We are already looking for mechanisms to continue the work, such that the tools proposed continue to be exploited for the good of our forests. And especially that we are also on alert with all these tools that can help to detect and fight against the fraud in forestry exploitation in Cameroon,” she said.
The project balance sheet was presented during a workshop that brought together focal points from the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (MINFOF), Customs, the Directorate-General of Taxation (DGI/PSRF) and the Ministry of Justice. On the occasion, participants approved the guidance document designed to embed these tools sustainably within forestry control procedures at Hotel Mansel in Yaoundé on September 9.