GUINEA-CONAKRY

27% of Guinea's land is forested, although only 0.3% of the country is covered by primary forest. The rainforests have been destroyed by agriculture and fires and only scattered fragments remain among the grasslands. Biodiversity is seriously threatened by loss of habitats and poaching. Between 1990 and 2005, Guinea lost 9.2% of its forest cover, although the deforestation rate has slowed in recent years.

From the late 1990s, the government has encouraged conservation and sustainable development, including introducing a ban on the commercial exploitation and export of timber, but the measures were largely ineffective due to a lack of funds and other resources. 4% of Guinea's land is within reserves, but these are under-managed and under-funded and threatened by mining projects (Guinea has almost half the worlds bauxite reserves and mining accounts for 70% of exports) and subsistence agriculture.

USAID believes that there are about 10 companies exporting timber from the country, less than half of which have formal concessions. Much of this unregulated timber is being transported via Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire. However, there have been examples where communities, working with local forestry agents, have used the law to prosecute illegal loggers. USAID has supported this work.

Guinea is a signatory to the Accra Declaration which resulted from a FAO/ITTO workshop held in Accra, Ghana in July 2008, which explored the problems and possible solutions to the illegal extraction of forest resources in tropical West Africa.

DOCUMENTS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
20/10/2008	Cross-border flows of timber and wood products in West Africa Recognizing that regional and cross-border timber trade may have important implications for the FLEGT ...	European Commission
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01/12/2007	Guinea Biodiversity and Tropical Forests: 118/119 Assessment This report is an assessment of Guinea's forest resources and biodiversity, the threats posed to ...	USAID
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NEWS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
18/06/2008	Fish and timber in West Africa need more sustainable EU policies say MEPs Fish and timber are natural resources often not managed in a sustainable way in West Africa due to inadequate ...	European Parliament (EU)
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22/01/2006	Goodbye to West Africa's rainforests West Africa's once verdant and extensive rainforests are now a historical footnote. Gone to build ...	Mongabay.com
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EVENTS

DATE	TITLE
Tuesday 15th July 2008	FAO/ITTO Regional Workshop on Improving Forest Law Compliance and Governance in Tropical West Africa Over the past two years, FAO and ITTO have assisted countries in the Amazon region, Central Africa, Central ...
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