Libreville, April 26
The United States Forest Service, in partnership with Gabon’s Ministry of Water and Forests and the Ministry of Justice, conducted a four-day workshop to strengthen the capacity of magistrates on law enforcement in the fight against illegal timber trade.
Deputy Chief of Mission Christopher Tremann presided over the workshop’s opening ceremony in the presence of Minister Delegate for Water and Forests Michel Stéphane Bonda.
This four-day training, financed by the International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement Bureau, focused not only on law enforcement in the area of illegal timber trade, but also on the procedure applicable in the framework of a litigation, the stakes and functionalities for monitoring, detecting and reporting illegalities in the Gabonese forestry sector, and the external laws and treaties applicable in the framework of international cooperation.
The Minister Delegate, for his part, thanked the U.S. government for this initiative and its contribution to the management of the 17 million hectares of forest conceded to logging.
