Ted Case Studies

Africa Timber Ban

          CASE NUMBER:           1 
          CASE MNEMONIC:      AFRICA
          CASE NAME:          Africa Timber Ban

A.        IDENTIFICATION

1.        The Issue

     The eleven member countries of the African Timber Organization
(ATO) are aware not only of the economic potential of forest
resources but also of the danger of their uncontrolled depletion. 
About 7.5 million hectares of closed forest and 3.8 million
hectares of African forests are cleared each year for a variety of
purposes and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO),
estimates that 13,000 square kilometers of African forest disappear
every year through forest clearing.  The West African rain forests
are especially being depleted.  FAO predicts that if the present
trends continue, the tropical rainforests of the Ivory Coast,
Nigeria and some other West African rainforests could completely
disappear by the year 2020.  For this reason, ATO countries have
amended their forest laws since independence in order to obtain a
practical and consistent regulation for the protection of their
rainforests, including trade in wood.

2.        Description

     West African rain forests include tropical moist forests
including semi-deciduous varieties distributed across nine West
African countries -- Benin, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Ivory
Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo.  Population growth
exerts enormous pressure on these forests.  One impact is that the
rain forests are being destroyed for the economic benefits of
logging and the need for arable land.  In many respects the loss of
African trees is not surprising given the increasing demand for
fuel wood and forest products added to these other factors.

     One reason for the forest clearing is to plant cash crops. 
Many West African countries depend on cash crop exports.  Products
such as gum copal, rubber, cola nuts, and palm oil provide a
somewhat steady income revenue for the West African countries. 
Land use change, however, destroys entire habitats along with the
forests.  FAO estimates that agriculture coupled with overgrazing
and slash and burn cultivation, practiced by over 250 million
African peasants, is 70 per cent responsible for deforestation. 
Exports account for the remainder.  This is also true for
deforestation in Brazil (see BRAZIL case), but not in Malaysia (see
MALAY case).

     Exploitation of forests for timber production is another
considerable factor in deforestation.  For decades, the primary
forest product was commercial timber.  Developed countries account
for a large percentage of the world's wood consumption, which
increased enormously between 1950 and 1980.  Over the same period,
conservation measures were strengthened to protect European and
American forests.  With economic growth and growing environmental
protection in industrialized European countries, demand for
tropical hardwood became concentrated on West Africa.  By the first
half of the 1980s, an annual forest loss of 7,200 square kilometers
was recorded along the Gulf of Guinea, a figure corresponding to 4-
5 percent of the total remaining rain forest area.  By 1985, 72
percent of West Africa's rainforests had been transformed into
fallow lands and an additional 9 percent had been opened up by
timber exploitation. 

     Tropical timber became a viable alternative to European wood
after World War II, when trade with East European countries ceased
and timber became noticeably scarce in western and southern Europe. 
Not all types of felled timber were sought.  An undisturbed area of
rain forest in West Africa harbors about 180 larger tree species. 
Fewer than one quarter of these species are of economic value
(under one definition) and only 10 to 15 are actually marketable
timber.  In spite of efforts to encourage the use of lesser known
timber species, the market continued to concentrate on a fraction
of the usable timber available.  Thus, West Africa was prone to
selective harvesting practices.

     While conservationists blame the timber industry and the
farmers for felling trees, others believe rain forest destruction
is connected to the problem of fuel wood.  The contribution of fuel
wood consumption to tree stock decline in Africa is believed to be
significant.  Fuel wood induced deforestation occurs as a result of
overpopulation and the demand for wood as an energy source.  It is
generally believed that firewood provides 75 per cent of the energy
used in sub-Sahara Africa.  With such high demand, the consumption
of wood as a fuel outstrips the regeneration of forest cover. 

     The rain forests which remain in West Africa today are only a
pale reflection of what they were barely 30 years ago.  In Guinea,
Liberia and the Ivory Coast, there is practically no primary forest
cover left untouched; in Ghana the situation is even worse, and
virtually all the rain forest have been cut down.  Guinea-Bissau
loses 20,000 to 35,000 hectares of forest annually, Senegal 50,000
hectares of wooded savannah, and Nigeria 250,000 of both.  Liberia
exploits 80,000 hectares of forests each year.   Extrapolating from
present rates of loss, botanist Peter Raven estimates that most of
the world's moderate and smaller rain forests, such as in Africa,
could be destroyed within forty years.  

     The African Timber Organization member countries (ATO)
eventually acknowledged the interdependence between rural people
and their forest environment.  Customary law gives locals the right
to use trees for firewood, fell trees for construction, and collect
of forest products.  It also gives rights for hunting or fishing
and grazing or clearing of forests for subsistence agriculture. 
All other areas are called "protected forests."  The term
"protected" means that uncontrolled clearings and unauthorized
logging are forbidden.  Nonetheless, this distinction did not
prevent the local population from exploiting forest land.

     Following World War Two, commercial exploitation increased to
such an extent that no West African forestry department was capable
of enforcing the law.  In comparison with rain forests in other
parts of the world in 1973, Africa showed the greatest encroachment
although in total volume terms African timber production measured
only one third compared to that of Asia.  The difference was due
to the varieties of trees in Africa forests and the demand for
specific wood types in Europe.

     Forestry regulations in West Africa were first implemented by
colonial administrations, but they were not stringent enough to
deter forest exploitation.  The law of local customary usage rights
equally hindered any effective implementation of forestry laws.  It
was not until the 1970s that the inadequate implementation of
forest regulations appeared as it did elsewhere in the world.  

     Some help has been provided by other organizations.  The
Tropical Forestry Action Plan was conceived in 1987 by the World
Resources Institute in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture
Organization, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the
World Bank with hopes of halting tropical forest destruction.  In
its bid to stress forest conservation and development, the World
Bank gave $103 million to developing countries, especially in
Africa, to assist in developing long range forest conservation and
management programs aimed at ending deforestation.

     The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) is
actively involved in forest conservation measures but they have yet
to develop programs that actually result in forest conservation. 
Some efforts of the ITTO aim at financing forest conservation
projects under article 1(H) of the 1984 International Tropical
Timber Agreement.               

3.        Related Cases

     USWOOD case
     VIETNAM case
     GHANA case
     BRAZIL case
     MALAY case

     Keyword Clusters         

     (1): Trade Product            = WOOD
     (2): Bio-geography            = TROPical
     (3): Environmental Problem    = DEFORestation

4.        Author:  Jennifer Douglas and Shehu Ibrahim

B.        LEGAL Clusters

5.        Discourse and Status:  AGReement and COMPlete

     In tropical Africa forest ownership and conditions of usage
are at times fairly complicated.  Locals view customary usage
rights as an important contribution for securing part of the
livelihood of farmers and villagers.  Thus, it is not always easy
to determine what is encompassed in usage rights and who can
exercise them; especially because of the super-imposition of
written laws introduced by the colonial administration.  Colonial
law set aside certain forest areas for conservation.  Customary
rights law is generally related to hunting, gathering of vegetable
or animal products, utilization of fuelwood, and wood material for
building, shifting cultivation and grazing.  Timber harvesting is
regulated by local authorities or "headmen" who see the
implementation of forestry laws as limiting the rights of locals to
resources within the forests.  Increasing foreign demand for timber
and forest products compelled the forestry ministries of the
various countries to take action, thus bring them into conflict
with the "headmen."

6.        Forum and Scope:  ATO and REGION

     Many African countries are in political and economic
transition, and are plagued by conflict, making any movement from
an era of forest exploitation to one of sustainable forest
management and production more difficult.  In other cases,
countries require permits for harvesting, but these are often
judged not to cover the actual administrative and managerial costs
of the host countries in maintaining their forest stocks. 

7.        Decision Breadth:  11

8.        Legal Standing:  TREATY

     Forest legislation of ATO member countries seeks to promote
the rational utilization of the forest domain and of wildlife and
fishery in order to increase the contribution of the forest sector
to the economic, social, cultural and scientific development of the
country.  

C.        GEOGRAPHIC Clusters

9.        Geographic Locations

     a.   Geographic Domain : AFRICA
     b.   Geographic Site   : Western Africa [WAFR]
     c.   Geographic Impact : NIGERia

     Semi-deciduous rainforests in West Africa start from the
fringed coastline of Guinea Bissau (via Guinea) and run through the
coasts of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast to Ghana, continuing
through Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon, and ending at the Congo
Basin.  Rain forests such as this are the richest, oldest, most
productive, and most complex ecosystems on earth, are disappearing,
and in turn are upsetting the delicate ecological balance.  This
may disrupt global hydrological cycles, release vast amounts of
green house gases into the atmosphere, and reduce the planet's
ability to store excess carbon.

10.       Sub-National Factors:  NO

11.       Type of Habitat:  TROPical

     The tropical habitat is rich in bio-diversity and another
value in the forest is the varied life that exists there.  Some of
these have economic value to the chemical and pharmaceutical
industries (see MERCK case).

D.        TRADE Clusters

12.       Type of Measure:  Import Standard [IMSTD]

     During colonial rule, administrations devised several means to
promote conservation.  In Nigeria for instance, the government
instituted forest protection regulatory measures through
classification of some forest areas, licensing requirements, and
the arrest and prosecution of offenders.  Ghana issued logging
permits to firms and implemented log export restrictions.  The
Ivory Coast and Cameroon introduced log supply quotas, as did
Liberia.  

13.       Direct vs. Indirect Impacts:  DIRect

14.       Relation of Measure to Environmental Impact

     a.  Directly Related     : YES  WOOD
     b.  Indirectly Related   : NO
     c.  Not Related:         : NO
     d.  Process Related      : YES  DEFORestation

15.       Trade Product Identification:  WOOD

     This trade product is "raw" lumber.  Trees native to the West
African rainforest from which timber is exported include limba,
emeri, obeche and opepe as well as the exotic species gmelina,
teak, and pinus.

16.       Economic Data

     The World Bank gave $103 million to developing countries to
assist in promoting long range forest conservation and management
programs aimed at ending deforestation.  

17.       Impact of Measure on Trade Competitiveness:  MEDium

     Preserving the remaining undisturbed forests has become the
focus of the nine rain forests countries in the ATO.  For example,
the Nigerian Council of Ministers upon the recommendation of Word
Wildlife Fund (WWF) approved two important rain forest areas in
Southeast Nigeria as a national Park area.

18.       Industry Sector:  WOOD

19.       Exporter and Importer:  Nigeria [NIGER] and EUROPE

E.        ENVIRONMENT Clusters

20.       Environmental Problem Type:  DEFORestation

     The fauna of African rainforest is rich in smaller mammal
species seldom seen by humans.  New species are constantly being
discovered and as late as 1988 an unknown shrub species was found
on the shores of the Ndian River in Western Cameroon.  Ironically,
given the current situation many species may become extinct before
they are discovered.  No other habitat on earth is as rich in
animal species as an undisturbed rainforest, but large undisturbed
forest areas have become rare in West Africa today.  Timber
extraction not only alters the structure of the forest, it
influences the tree species spectrum by removing economically
valuable species and destroys other species in the process.

21.       Name, Type, and Diversity of Species 

     Name:          Tropical Hardwoods
     Type:          Plant/Angiospermae/Dicots
     Diversity:     1,059 higher plant
                    species per 10,000 km/sq
                    (Nigeria)

     In western Africa 8,500 plant species have been listed and 403
species of orchids recorded.  The pygmy hippopotamus, the giant
forest hog, the water chevortain and a number of insectivores,
rodents and bats, tree frogs, bird species inhabit the area.  These
species, combined with a diversity of fruits and insects, create a
unique habitat.  Top canopy monkey species, the red colobus, among
others, have already disappeared from much of West Africa's forest.

22.       Resource Impact and Effect:  MEDium and SCALE

     The opening of the forest can kill certain species that are
very sensitive to changes or disturbances in forest structure. 
With the opening of the forest by timber companies and the
resulting invasion of farmers, increased hunting pressure will lead
to the local disappearance of many species.  

23.       Urgency and Lifetime:  MEDium and 100s of years

     Tropical rainforests are the home of nearly half of the
world's animals and plant species.  The rain forests provide
potential economic resource for over-populated developing
countries.  Despite the avowed need to save the West African
forests, there are disagreements in how to proceed.  In April, 1992
countries with some of the largest surviving tropical rain forests
vetoed a rainforest protection scheme proposed by the British
government.  It aimed at identifying endangered species of tropical
trees in order to curb trade in them.  Experts estimate that the
rainforest of West Africa, at the present trend of deforestation,
will disappear by the year 2020.

24.       Substitutes:  RECYCling

VI.       OTHER Factors

25.       Culture:  YES

     Africa's forests, similar to many others in the developing
world, have a special meaning to the indigenous cultures who have
inhabited them for millennia (see ECUADOR, THAILOG, MALAY, INDONES,
and NICARAG cases).

26.       Trans-Border:  YES

     The trans-border nature of West Africa's forests necessitated
coordinated action within the ATO.

27.       Rights:  YES

     Loss of forest resources without adequate compensation has
been one rights concern at issue in the case.

28.       Relevant Literature

Allen, J. and Barnes, D.F.  "The Causes of Deforestation in 
     Developing Countries."  Journal of American Geographers
     75/2 (1985).
Anderson, Dennis.  The Economics of Afforestation: A Case
     Study in  Africa."  Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins
     University Press, 1987.
Brock, Robert. "Coming Soon: Mass Extinction." International 
     Wildlife (Jan./Feb. 1985): 16-17.
Cline-Cole, R. A.; Main, H.A.C.; and Nichol, J.E.  "On Fuelwood 
     Consumption, Population Dynamics and Deforestation in
     Africa."  World Development 18/4 (1990).
"Declining Tree Stocks in African Countries." World 
     Development 14/7 (1986): 856-63.   
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), "The Tropical Forestry 
     Action Plan." Rome: FAO, 1985. 
"Forest Legislation in Selected African Countries."   
     Rome: FAO, 1986.
"Forests: The Lungs of Our Planets."  UN Chronicle 29 (1992).
"Forest Policies and Misuse of Forest Resources."  BioScience  
     40 (January, 1990): 53-4
Guppy, Nicholas. "Tropical Deforestation: a Global View." 
     Foreign Affairs 62 (Spring 1984): 928-65.
Hayes, Randy. "The Rainforests Last Stand."  Ad Astra 4 
     (May\June, 1992): 24-7.
Martin, Claude, and Tickell, Oliver.  "The Rainforests of West 
     Africa: Ecology, Threats, Conservation."  Basel; Boston:
     Birkhauser Verlag, 1990.
Niang, Cheikh Ibrahima.  "From Ecological Crisis in the West 
     to the Energy Problem in African."  International Social
     Science Journal 42 (May 1990): 225-39.
Pearce, Fred. "Tropical Countries Veto Rainforest Protection 
     Schemes." New Scientist 138 (April 3, 1993): 11.
Raven, Peter. "Coming Soon: Mass Extinction."  International
     Wildlife 15 (January/February 1985).
"Saving Tropical Forest." Wilson Quarterly 17 (Winter 1993).
"The Vanishing Jungle."  The Economist 248 (September 4, 1982):
     87-8.
Timberlake, Lloyd.  "Africa in Crisis: The Causes and Cures of 
     Environmental Bankruptcy."  London: IIED-Earthscan, 1985.
"Trade in Tropical Timber: For the Chop."  The Economist 326 
     (January 30, 1993): 61.
"Tropical Countries Veto Rainforest Protection Scheme."
     New Scientist 138 (April 1993): 11.
Whitmore, T.C.  "Tropical Deforestation and Species Extinction." 
     1st ed. London; New York: Chapman & Hall, 1992.
"World Bank Launches Action Program to Combat Deforestation in 
     Africa."  UN Chronicle 23 (August 1986): 112.

                           References