Overview of industrial forest concessions and concession-based industry in Central and West Africa and considerations of alternatives

Abstract

Concessions in Africa have a long history and mixed records. From the 1980-90¿s onwards, concessions were gradually requested to bear new responsibilities, previously carried out by governments, such as the management of production forests and the oversight of some parts of the territories where forest concessions are prominent. The concessions sector is still dominated by the Europeans, but with an increasing prominence of Asian companies, which are already dominant in Equatorial Guinea, CAR and South-Congo. There is, however, a room and a need for diversification of forest tenure models, which might be seen as complementary rather, at least for the foreseeable future, than alternatives competing with the current system