Assamela Viable Database Now Available

The National Technical Committee of the National Observatory met on May 28, 2014.

Members of the National Technical Committee for the putting in place of a national observatory to keep track of the exploitation, processing and export of endangered wood specie, assamela, have rounded off their work and forwarded the final report to the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife for action.

Going by the report presented by the project's assistant coordinator, Mbarga Narcisse Lambert, Cameroon now has a database on the production and processing of assamela wood as well as a dictionary of assamela wood in the country.

They held the fourth and last committee session in Yaounde on Wednesday May 28 to present the report as well as arm control agents comprising forestry and customs officials from the East and Littoral Regions respectively with necessary gadgets and procedures for efficient production and processing of the endangered wood specie.

The officials had been trained in the use of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES, tools to ensure proper follow up of the exploitation, processing and export of assamela.

Speaking during the session, the Director General of the National Forestry Development Agency, ANAFOR, Dr Bekolo Bekolo, said assamela is important wood specie for Cameroon and so must be jealously protected in the course of logging, processing and export. Found mostly in the East Region, the endangered wood specie is reportedly used for various high-quality construction and furniture-making purposes.

Sitting in for the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, the Inspector General, Jean Claude Abena, stressed on the need for transparency in managing forestry resources so as to have competitive products for the local and international markets. The project lasted 18 months and stakeholders say with the database now available, control could be facilitated.