Key findings
  • The June 2000 round of concession allocations was far more transparent than those of 1997, when allocation guidelines were first implemented in Cameroon. Although the 1997 allocations were fraught with irregularities, the new allocations appear to be in compliance with government guidelines, which have recently been clarified. This change attests to Cameroon’s commitment to develop a complex market-based auction aimed at increasing transparency and rents captured from logging.
  • The June 2000 allocations raise several unanswered questions about Cameroonian concession allocation policy, particularly regarding bids offered by companies sanctioned for illegal logging.
  • 6 percent of Cameroon's 22.8 million hectares of forests were allocated for logging in 1999-2000, including:
    • Forty-seven ventes de coupe, a covering 117,500 hectares, awarded in October 1999. Approximately one half of this area went to Cameroonian companies.
    • Twenty-one UFAs, covering almost 1.7 million hectares, were awarded through a June 2000 auction that drew bids from 48 companies.
  • The French group, Rougier, received more concession area, almost 329,000 hectares, than any other group in June 2000.
  • The top three concession owners in Cameroon are now Thanry (792,000 hectares), Rougier (400,000 hectares), and Bolloré (354,000 hectares). Holdings by these three predominantly French companies total almost 40 percent of Cameroon’s concession area.
  • The government of Cameroon is expected to receive more than 5.1 billion CFA francs (US$6.5 million) per year from the winning bids following the June 2000 UFA auction. This revenue increase per hectare is three times that from the 1997 auction.
  • After granting the first 2 community forests in 1997, the Ministry of the Environment and Forests granted an additional 5 in 2000, covering 16,532 hectares and has received proposals for an additional 74.