Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) has announced that the Norwegian government will provide Gabon with $150 million to fight deforestation. CAFI, established four years ago, includes six African nations (Cameroon, Central African Republic, RDC, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon & Congo-Brazzavilleand), a host of global development agencies and European partners committed to protecting rainforests. To be disbursed over 10 years the fund will be utilised to cut down greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation.
Gabon has around 12 percent of the Congo Basin forest, the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest. Almost 90 percent of Gabon is covered by forests and the country had enacted regulations to sets aside 10 percent as protected parks. However, despite these efforts, illegal logging had become a major menace for Gabon’s natural resources. One major reason of deforestation in Gabon that has been pointed out is demand for upscale furniture in China. When processed, the kevazingo tree — also known as bubinga, amazique, and African rosewood — can be passed on as the expensive hongmu furniture of China. This resulted in illegal loggers hunting down kevazingo trees, and similar looking trees, and smuggle them to Asia leading to extensive deforestation.
Norway’s assistance is expected to help curb climate change by cutting down emissions by more than 50 percent when compared with 2005, bringing it in line with a new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) commitment.
