Posted for Anjali Nayar

The EU signed a deal with the Republic of Congo last week to help fight illegal logging.

Starting in 2011, any timber or timber product entering the EU from Congo will need a licence showing it has been legally harvested, maintains the health of the forests and provides benefits to local forest communities. The agreement, called the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), is the second of its kind in Africa.

Ghana signed a similar deal with the EU in September 2008 and several other countries are in VPA negotiations, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Cameroon and Gabon and recently, Liberia.

Congo exports about USD $330 million of timber and timber products every year, about half of which is purchased by EU countries. Some estimates suggest that poor regulation costs the country millions in lost revenue though.

“With a total of 4,674,320 acres of certified forests as of March 2009, Congo has reached the highest echelon of tropical wood producing countries and is becoming a laboratory for sustainable forest management,” says Henri Djombo, Congo’s Minister of Forest Economy (press release).

Although the VPA is relatively new, some environmentalists are already concerned that the agreement won’t be able to prevent illegal harvest from being sold to non-EU countries, processed, and re-sold to the EU.

Image: timber in the Republic of Congo / Mr. Moussoki