Gabon - Strategy for transforming local wood

Improving productivity and diversifying the timber sector are priorities for Gabonese authorities as part of the Accelerated Transformation Plan (PAT). Gabon is Africa's leading exporter of plywood. The timber sector alone is projected to create 30,000 jobs within three years.

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The implementation of the Transformation Acceleration Plan (PAT) is expected to revitalize the timber industry in Gabon. The strategic ambition of this PAT for the sector rests on three major objectives: streamlining upstream forestry operations to promote sustainable resource management and implement a set of measures to support certification and eradicate illegal practices; developing 300,000 hectares of plantations of fast-growing tree species to increase and diversify timber production; and promoting secondary and tertiary wood processing from natural forests and plantations to increase the sector's added value and the number of jobs.

The optimization and streamlining of upstream forestry encompass a set of measures designed to ensure the performance of the Water and Forestry Administration. These measures include ongoing training for staff and efforts to combat illegal practices, strengthening legality in the forestry sector through inspections in the provinces and the withdrawal of permits from illegal operators. The program also aims for the sustainable management of natural forests. This is achieved, in particular, through streamlining the forestry permit system with a few major operators, certifying all forest concessions, and ensuring an effective administrative presence on the ground to verify compliance.

For Gabonese authorities, increasing timber production relies primarily on improving knowledge of the resource through a robust national forest inventory. This will allow them to increase the number of harvested species and promote the use of unharvested species, while also establishing a timber exchange to ensure optimal valuation of this sustainable resource. Furthermore, a series of measures will be implemented to guarantee a sustained planting rate of 70,000 hectares by identifying available and productive savanna land, acquiring appropriate seeds, and establishing nurseries. In addition, a medium-density fiberboard (MDF) sector is being developed. This sector aims to maximize resource utilization and integrate plantation wood products into finished products such as plywood, furniture, doors and windows, houses, and so on. The increase in timber production also requires upgrading logistics to ensure the transport of raw materials from the forest to processing and export areas.

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This objective requires modernizing forestry sector management through the implementation of a centralized information system to digitize management processes and ensure timber traceability, thereby reducing losses, curbing corruption, and optimizing yields. The goal is to increase secondary and tertiary processing within the sector by 301,000 tons through the development of MDF capacity, professional training for processing plant employees, and the promotion of the "Gabon Timber" label. This ambition also relies on improving the efficiency of processing traceability. This will be achieved through a system for tracking timber entering and leaving processing plants and implementing appropriate taxation to incentivize these processing levels and increase the sector's contribution to the state budget.

COMPETITIVENESS OF THE WOOD SECTOR
Gabon aims to become the world leader in processed tropical wood by 2023. The country plans to open furniture stores worldwide, starting in 2022, offering high-end products in Miami, Paris, China, London, and other locations. pretty much everywhere in the world.

Gabon Special Economic Zone (GSEZ), in which the State is the largest shareholder, will initially invest in these showrooms abroad, not only to promote Gabonese processed wood, but also to market products.

A project which, once realized, will show the world that Gabon has gone from a country that sold unprocessed timber to a country that now processes its raw material, and creates added value, thus allowing the country to earn much more in terms of profit.