IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Since that time the government has been developing the various VPA components.  In 2006 the government created a draft definition of legality, which is currently being reviewed and will be a topic on the agenda of VPA negotiations.  The resultant definition will cover the following areas of forest management: environment, property ownership, customary law, forest use, labour laws, health and security, relevant financial legislation and trade.  Some headway has been made with the development of a verification system, with guidelines created describing the system’s necessary components.  A study has also been published on the chain of custody of timber in January 2007 and this will feed into VPA negotiations.  

One of the challenges of developing a VPA in Cameroon is that current law requires that the primary processing of certain logs occur within the country.  This is not true for other timber exporting countries in the region.  As some of the logs from the Republic of Congo, and most from the Central African Republic pass through Cameroon, logs from legal sources are suspected to be frequently mixed with those from illegal sources, complicating efforts to ensure legality upon export.

The Government of Cameroon and the European Commission formally agreed to begin negotiations on a VPA with the signing of a “Joint Declaration” on 28 September 2007; both parties have committed to concluding negotiations before the end of 2008.  In November 2007 the government created a Technical Commission and Secretariat to oversee negotiations.  The first official negotiation session with the EU occurred in Yaoundé on 28-29 November 2007. 

IUCN has been involved in FLEGT - VPA issues in Cameroon since their inception.  The organization was one of two civil society groups who participated in the 2005 Yaoundé workshop to design a Cameroonian implementation strategy for the FLEGT Action Plan.  At the workshop IUCN shared its experiences in engaging civil society on FLEG processes. 

In order to clarify and formalize its role in Cameroon, IUCN signed a general partnership agreement with the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife outlining IUCN’s commitment to assist the Ministry with the implementation of its Forest and Environment Sector Programme.  As part of this programme, IUCN will assist the government with a host of forest management, conservation and capacity building activities.  Some activities of particular relevance to the development and implementation of the VPA include a commitment to support the introduction of a national wood tracking system; the establishment of multi-stakeholder partnerships to support forest and wildlife management and conservation; the organization of national and sub-regional fora to facilitate the exchange of information and experiences concerning natural resource management; and the creation of various platforms for communication and dialogue with decision makers, universities and NGOs.

The establishment of a VPA will contribute significantly to the implementation of the Forest and Environment Sector Programme by enhancing forest governance in the country.  Specifically, the VPA will assist Cameroon to secure access to foreign timber markets, promote legal timber and improve revenue collection from timber exploitation, which will create economic benefits for the country. 

The German aid agency, GTZ, is the official facilitator of the VPA process in Cameroon.  IUCN is working in close collaboration with this agency and the VPA Technical Commission to facilitate the multi-stakeholder dialogue required by the EU for the VPA’s development.  IUCN is a member of the VPA Technical Commission, serving mainly as a resource body to provide process-related advice.  Accordingly, IUCN maintains a neutral position on the Commission with respect to substantive matters.  IUCN has committed to assisting with multi-stakeholder engagement in FLEGT and VPA processes across the Congo basin.   DFID, the British development agency, is providing financial support to assist building multi-stakeholder coalitions and dialogue across west and central Africa, including Cameroon.

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During August and September 2007, IUCN organized a suite of consultative meetings with three stakeholder groups: civil society, large businesses, and small and medium businesses.  A fourth meeting with parliamentarians is scheduled for April 2008.  The intent of these meetings is to apprise the different groups of progress in the VPA’s development and solicit their opinions on its content.  The feedback obtained will inform the Technical Commission’s recommendations to government on its negotiating position.
 
IUCN has also supported civil society to lead initiatives related to the VPA’s development.  The IUCN partially funded a civil society workshop where the draft definition of legality was discussed and comments were generated.  This initiative was successful in that the updated definition of legality released by the Technical Commission incorporated some of civil society’s suggestions.  Supporting civil society engagement in Cameroon has been a critical element of IUCN’s intervention in the country as the majority of civil society and indigenous peoples’ groups were excluded from discussions on FLEGT and the VPA until quite recently.

In addition to assisting with multi-stakeholder dialogue, IUCN is organizing information sessions following each negotiation event with the EU.  The purpose of these meetings is to disseminate the results of the negotiations to stakeholders in order to update them of advances with the VPA.  This will facilitate the agreement’s implementation as parties will be informed of the VPA’s contents in a timely manner, which will enable them to prepare for any necessary behavioural changes in the future.

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