The Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forests in Guinea has banned the cutting and transport of wood throughout the country. This decision is applied since Monday 14 June, and this until further notice. Thus, the ministry has published on social networks that the issuance of cutting and transport permits is also prohibited.

The ministry has issued a statement suspending the cutting of timber. A measure that seems fair to the ministries in the face of abusive felling and illegal exploitation of forest resources in general.

The ministry said on its website that Guinea is among the countries with the fastest deforestation rates in the world. If in 1960, there were 14 million hectares of forest, since 2010 until now, there are only 700,000 hectares left. This gap shows that Guinea is devastated, making it one of the worst performers in forest conservation. Illegal logging in the prefectures of Farannah and Mamou was mentioned in the press release to explain.

The decision put a contradiction

Some people are against this idea. As for the Rénascedd (Réseau National de la Société Civile pour l'Environnement et le Développement Durable), the total ban on logging is completely illusory for them.

According to the head of the network, Moktar Bah, 85% of communities live off natural resources. People in this sector use them for their daily needs. The communities in rural areas, according to him, have the right of use for the construction of their houses.

According to Moktar Bah, the Ministry of Water and Forests should first consult the forestry operators before taking such a decision. But also, it should have informed its partners such as Rénascedd before making a decision. "We are partners of this ministry and, in principle, partners should be informed, associated with such decisions. "He continued.

Moktar also added, during his interview, the lack of precision on the modalities of application of this wood cutting ban. "The services in charge of enforcing this decision are sometimes non-existent, but also poorly equipped. "

Yet Rénascedd still protects sustainable forest management, but against a total ban.

For Ibrahima Balaya Diallo, president of the Guinean Civil Forum, however, a radical measure such as this total ban on logging is necessary. He is convinced that if the government does not implement this measure, Guinea will not even have 100,000 ha of forests in the future.

Santie

Photo Credit : ONF- Office national des forêts

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