ALEFI ANNUAL REPORT 2015
Summary
1
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 2
2
Results .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.1
Investigations ............................................................................................................... 3
2.2
Operations .................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.3
Legal .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.4
Trainings ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.5
Media ......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3
External relations .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
4
Conclusion .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
The ALEFI project is partly funded by the European Union and the KFW/COMIFAC.
The content of this document is the exclusive responsibility of Conservation Justice
Rapport 2015 - Projet ALEFI
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1
Introduction
The ALEFI project was launched in 2012 after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was
signed on the partnership agreement between the ministry in charge of forests and
Conservation Justice, aimed at fighting against illegal forestry exploitation, based on the
EAGLE Network model. In 2013, the Gabonese government had adopted the enactment of a
national plan against illegal forestry exploitation (PANEFI), which serves as a basis for the
project’s activities. ALEFI then had a fully operational year, in 2014. The following report
lists ALEFI’s activities between January and December 2015.
As a reminder, the project’s activities rely on the following five (5) departments:
 The investigation department, whose aim is to collect reliable information, to identify
illegal traffickers and to convey them to the authorities;
 The operation department, organizing the stops and searches and the arrests of illegal
traffickers, in collaboration with the water and forestry services, the law enforcement
officers and the authorities;
 The legal department, in charge of the follow up of the processes, in order to obtain
dissuasive convictions of the illegal traffickers in courts, and of the serving of their
sentences;
 The media department, publishing ALEFI’s results in local and international
newspapers, in the written press, on radio, on television or on the internet, in order to
raise public awareness concerning law enforcement, and to deter potential timber
traffickers
 The social department, aiming to rise awareness among the local and indigenous
populations of the villages concerning the illegal forestry exploitation plague; it also
reaches schools, environmental professionals and ultimately the general public.
After the official launching of PANEFI in 2014, the ALEFI project continued its development
in order to reach its targets. The project now disposes of a well-run team contributing to its
achievements. Large amounts of reliable information were gathered during organized
investigation missions. In this respect, the Ogooue-Ivindo province were the primary focus for
the local investigators and jurists of Conservation Justice’s satellite offices.
During the reporting period, the project conducted a two-phase execution of its activities: the
first phase that went from January to August saw an unfortunately slowing of ALEFI
activities, mainly of its arrest operations. This was because of a near-paralysis of ALEFI due
to external administrative and partnership burdens. The second phase, which began after the
authorities of the ministry in charge of forests were changed, marked a revitalization of the
ALEFI program. It is also important to point out the arrival of a new public prosecutor in
Makokou, whose installation served as a catalyst for an operation dynamic in this province
and beyond.
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2
Results
2.1 Investigations
The investigation department is in charge of collecting information aiming at producing solid
evidence against operators and forest loggers violating existing laws, and of their transmission
to the authorities in charge of the forests. The project carried out regular investigations across
the whole territory. Thanks to the information gathered, operations have been carried out in
the provinces of Woleu-Ntem, Ogooue-Invindo and in the Estuary.
Thanks to the investigation missions carried out, new information has been gathered, that lead
to the identification of new illegal loggers. By capitalizing on the information already
available, the project’s list of individuals involved in illegal forestry exploitation constitutes a
truly unique database on this issue.
The project engaged three investigators and put together an investigative team, which gathers
information among local communities, and maintains contact with informants. The
investigators dispose of information networks in the provinces of Woleu-Ntem, OgooueIvindo and Estuary.
Throughout the whole year, 16 missions have been carried out by 3 investigators, and led to 118
investigations.
Thanks to the information gathered, operations have been carried out, and illegal loggers have
been arrested. Nonetheless, the sentences remain mixed. Other information transmitted by
investigators should have logically led to arrests. This wasn’t the case, mainly because of the
slowness of some agents that were tasked on this matter.
During the investigation missions, contacts were established with some informants, mainly in
the villages of Woleu-Ntem and Ogooue-Ivindo. With this help, the information gathered at
the source have led to the arrest of some timber dealers.
2.2 Operations
The project supports the arrest operations of illegal loggers and helps the authorities in their
conveying of the action in courts. The project works in collaboration with the ministry in
charge of forests and the one in charge of justice, as well as the forces of law and order.
19 operations were initiated. 42 people were arrested on ALEFI’s initiative, or with its help;
one person ran away. In three other cases, the project’s participation was requested.
Overall, in 2015 the ALEFI project followed forty-five (45) cases.
During the operations, the project’s lawyers immediately provide their technical support for
the conduct of legal proceedings. The fate of the initiated procedures varies depending on the
provinces and jurisdictions.
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40 people were arrested on charges related to illegal forestry exploitation. At least 3 societies
(Rabi du Komo, Evasion 2000 and Peng Xin) are involved. A provincial director and four
water and forestry agents were arrested in Makokou. Other arrests took place in Oyem and
Libreville, without the support of the ALEFI project, but maybe thanks to the information
regularly transmitted to the authorities. The reported year saw many arrests. Some of the cases
were dealt by consent (mainly the cases related to artisanal sawing), and others were send to
courts (notably in Makokou).
Significant quantities of illegal timber have been seized, notably 43 logs of Kevazingo, 400
feet of various lumber, 61 m3 of artisanal timber in the Estuary during lightning operations in
the sawmills and warehouses of Ntoum and Libreville. A bull, a logging truck, a tray and two
cars have also been seized in Ogooue-Ivindo.
During the operations, the project’s jurists immediately provide their technical support for the
conduct of legal proceedings. The fate of the initiated procedures varies depending on the
provinces and jurisdictions.
It is also important to highlight the numerous arrests carried out by the special court within
the framework of its sovereign missions. It’s in the context of this action that the provincial
water and forestry director of Woleu-Ntem was arrested. Unfortunately, all the procedures
initiated by this jurisdiction were canceled because of legal difficulties and of the cancelling
of this special court by the constitutional court.
2.3 Legal
2.3.1 Global results
The legal department of the project ensures the follow-up of the operations and the conveying
of the procedures in court. Its work extends from the arrest to the enforcement of the penalty.
The project employs six (6) jurists including a coordination assistant on a permanent basis.
The project also collaborates with two student magistrates, former members of the project, as
consultants. 5 of the permanent jurists are based in provinces where we find antennas of the
project: Oyem, Makokou, Port-Gentil, Mouila and Franceville/Koula-Moutou. Their mission
is to:
- Transmission of evidence, elements of the files and aggravating circumstances;
- Support on minutes drafting;
- Case analysis;
- Monitoring of judicial processes and work with State lawyers;
- Permanent communication with authorities;
- Dissemination of legal books and training of magistrates and law enforcement
officials.
21 cases have been brought to trial, on a total of 42 people involved (1 on the run).
The results in terms of convictions obtained by the project are listed in the table hereafter:
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ALEFI cases 2015
Arrested
Fled
consent
not prosecuted
prosecuted
Convicted
General total
41
1
2
18
21
6
42
As in 2014, there were almost no conviction of illegal loggers in 2015, this is due to the
absence of court procedures. Nonetheless, over the end of the year, many cases have been
presented to the judges and the decisions should intervene during the year 2016.
In February, a well-known illegal logger (Andème Marie-Gisèle) and her accomplice were
convicted a second time thanks to ALEFI’s work, this time to one month of imprisonment and
to a 250 000 Fcfa penalty, a non-deterrent punishment. The convicts were involved in illegal
exploitation of Kevazingo, with the complicity of Asian operators. Those activities are
detailed in the rapport on illegal exploitation produced by the ALEFI project (annex 1).
In June, an artisanal recidivist logger from Koulamoutou was also convicted, also to a nondeterrent punishment: 500 000 Fcfa, with no jail time.
In October, an illegal logger with no valid permit was arrested in Woleu-Ntem. Almost 300
logs were seized, and a 5 000 000 Fcfa sentence was inflicted, which is also a non-deterrent
punishment. Nonetheless, the seizing of such a large quantity of wood constitutes a important
loss for the illegal loggers, and acts as a deterrent.
In November, a Gabonese, a Cameroonese and a Chinese were convicted in Makokou to 3
month of imprisonment, and a 10 million Fcfa penalty for a case of illegal exploitation of
Kevazingo.
In spite of the penalties being too weak and too rare, we’ve got to recognize the definitive
seizing of the wood, whose future is though uncertain, even though some measures aimed at
increasing the transparency were initiated, notably a more transparent system of auctioning.
Most of the other cases were not prosecuted.
2.3.2 Antennas
The project disposes of 5 antennas in the provincial capitals (Oyem, Makokou, Mouila,
Franceville and Port-Gentil), together with the central office in Libreville. 5 jurists led by a
coordination assistant are permanently occupying the antennas of the country.
Relying on the strong will of the new authorities from the ministry in charge of forestry, and
the one in charge of Justice, numerous actions were carried out, reaching a peak with the
arrest of the provincial officials responsible for the water and forestry of Ogooue-Ivindo and
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Woleu-Ntem. Many other authorities involved in the illegal exploitation of wood, including a
village chief, a head of a county council and many agents were arrested with the support of
the ALEFI project.
Thanks to these actions, a record number of almost thirty (30) people involved in the illegal
exploitation of the forests were arrested. This a first. Significant corruption systems were
uncovered and dismantled.
The legal department was very solicited in this end-of-year period in order to support the
actions carried out by Makokou’s prosecutor. The local jurist was supported by the dispatch
of a few backing missions. The central office in Libreville also collaborated with the Justice
authorities and made its information available to the special court’s authorities, as they
requested it. The other jurists fulfilled their missions all year long.
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2.4 Trainings
Conservation Justice has proven experience in terms of training magistrates, law and order
forces, custom officials and water and forestry.
The project organized 5 trainings during the year 2015, instructing almost 492 people. These
trainings have primarily been organized in Libreville and Port-Gentil. The beneficiaries were
the law and order forces (the police and the gendarmerie), the water and forestry agents, and
student magistrates.
We also need to point out that the project hosted 8 student magistrates during two months
(august and September), wishing to improve their training by having a practical experience in
the fields of wildlife protection and forestry exploitation.
The table hereafter is a summary of the training actions carried out:
Date
January 28,
2015 (1 day)
January 28,
2015 (1 day)
October 19 to
22, 2015 (4
days)
Trained
organism
The
Gendarmerie
Trainer
AALF-ALEFI,
ANPN,
the
president
of
the court and a
DPHO agent
The
/
AALFgendarmerie, ALEFI,
the
police, water prosecutor of
and forestry, the court and
ANPN
The National AALF-ALEFI
gendarmerie
school
Place
meeting room
of the DPHO
multifunctional
room (central
city hall of
Makokou)
multifunctional
room of the
gendarmerie
November 20, Water and
2015 (1 day)
forestry,
gendarmerie,
police
AALF-ALEFI, hearing room
The president of the Court of
of the court
First Instance
(Port-Gentil)
December 1516, 2015 (2
days)
Days : nine (9)
AALF-ALEFI, The
police
Water
and national school
forestry
The Police
TOTAL
Rapport 2015 - Projet ALEFI
Number
Type of agents
of
agents
22
- COSER,
- CB,
- officers
- non-commissioned
officers
40
- OPJ
and
APJ
(national
police,
gendarmerie, water
and forestry, DGR)
- Ecoguards
140
- Officers
- Student officers
- Non-commissioned
officers
50
- Student officers
- Non-commissioned
officers
- Gendarmes (CB,
officers and noncommissioned
officers)
240
- Student officers and
non-commissioned
officers
more
than
492
7
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2.5 Social
An outreach team, including two anthropologists, a journalist in charge of communication,
and a forestry expert, together with the local provincial jurist, has been created.
A ten-day mission has been carried out each month. 56 villages have been covered.
Globally, the people are responsive to this action and are asking for more, because they
realize the deceits from the corrupt timber operators stealing from them.
We note also an interest on behalf of the local populations toward community forestry. They
want to be accompanied in the implementation of their associations and in the acquisition of
forests, for the development of activities. Nonetheless, we need to point out that if this
approach is justified, it needs special attention, because the first cases of community forestry
seem to have favored a lawless exploitation of the resources. The populations are indeed
organizing with illegal loggers and their accomplices in order to uncontrollably exploit
community forests, which allows for the laundering of illegal wood.
The local populations continue to report the implication of some local officials and want to be
supported in order to implement strong actions. This is the subject of some complaints filed in
Woleu-Ntem against a logger named Nkoulou Emmanuel.
In Woleu-Ntem as well as in Ogooue-Ivingo, local people greatly appreciate Conservation
Justice’s initiative aiming at raising their awareness. The project has been able to publicize
many cases where the local people report illegal loggers.
Picture of an awareness campaign in the village of Okok,
December 2015
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2.6 Media
The project employs a journalist in charge of communication, managing contacts with the
press and public information. Numerous articles have thus been disseminated on the Internet,
on television and through the written press, in order to raise public awareness, but also in
order to deter those tempted by illegal activities.
The absence of actual convictions in courts made it difficult to produce articles about law
enforcement. Thus ALEFI focused on the production of news segments using the testimonies
of the local people victims of illegal forestry exploitation, condemning it.
Nonetheless, when the first operations took place in Makokou, media releases were
disseminated nationally and internationally.
In parallel, numerous video segments condemning the illegal exploitation of forests were
produced during investigation missions.
In total, 41 segments were produced and disseminated in the media, with the total number of
broadcasts reaching 125 media pieces worldwide. An overview is presented in the table
hereafter:
Media type
number of media pieces
Television
60
Written Press
15
Internet
50
Total
125
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3
External Relations
Meetings were regularly held with the Gabonese authorities at the central level, and
deconcentrated levels. Meetings were held with:
1. The authorities from the forests ministry, including the minister and his deputy
minister, the secretary general, the forests general director and his technical directors,
the provincial directors and the heads of departmental services. The collaboration with
these authorities is still relevant today, even though there is some reluctance as to
collaborating with Conservation Justice in some provinces:
2. The authorities from the justice ministry, notably the cabinet director, the secretary
general, the presidents of courts of first Instance, the Procurators General at the courts
of appeal, the public prosecutors and their collaborators ;
3. The national park system agency, including the executive secretary, the technical
director, the conservators and other collaborators, in order to reinforce the existing
collboration and notably the information exchange, the availability of their lawyer for
the follow-up of cases initiated by the project, the technical support, etc.
4. Law and ordre forces, including the national Gendarmerie, the national police, the
counter-interferences, the directorate of documentation and immigration. Conservation
Justice notably obtained a medal, awarded by the national police forces, due to its
collaboration with them;
5. The diplomatic missions, notably the European Union delegation and the United
States embassy, that take a particular interest in the implementation of a good
governance of forests in Gabon.
6. The national and international civil society NGOs in the framework of ordinary
exchanges and during the initial work for the draft text of the forestry code;
We need to point out that the ALEFI was reinforced by a protocol signed on November 24,
2015, between the forests ministry, the ANPN, AGEOS and Conservation Justice. This
protocol is about the implementation of inter-agency concerted actions against illegal forestry
exploitation. Notably, it advocates for the organization of joint missions and for the exchange
of information between the parties.
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4
Conclusion
The ministers in charge of forests (the minister and its deputy minister) clearly insisted that
they wanted to make of Conservation Justice an important player in the fight against illegal
forestry exploitation. Many work meetings were held and the communication is still regular.
This commitment favored the implementation of many actions and comforted Conservation
Justice in the implementation of the ALEFI project.
The collaboration with the provincial authorities of this ministry in Woleu-Ntem and in
Ogooue-Ivindo has long been suspended because of their complicity with illegal forestry
exploitation (a fact that has been confirmed by their arrest by the prosecution in Makoukou
and by the special court’s authorities). After the change in ministry of August, the contact has
been reestablished with the ministry’s highest authorities and with the various directions in
charge of the implementation of the PANEFI (Plan d’Actions National contre l’Exploitation
Forestière Illégale – National plan of actions against illegal forestry exploitation NPAIFE).
Concerted actions were initiated since then, that lead to many operations.
The local people continue to condemn the involvement of some administration agents and
want to be supported in order to implement strong actions. This is the subject of some
complaints filed in Woleu-Ntem against an illegal logger named Nkoulou Abaga Emmanuel.
The cases have not been brought to court during a large part of the year. In the province of
Ogooue-Ivindo, where procedures were transmitted to court, during the end-of-year period, a
jurist is following the daily evolution of the files, and providing regular information. Support
missions are also organized for that purpose.
The initiated procedures provided an opportunity to train water and forestry agents in charge
of their conduct. Trainings were also held in national schools of police and gendarmerie for
officers and student officers. These courses focused on the law and on existing procedures.
40 people were arrested for charges related to illegal forestry exploitation. At least 3 societies
(Rabi du Komo, Evasion 2000 and Peng Xin) are involved. A provincial director and four
water and forestry agents were arrested in Makokou. Other arrests took place in Oyem and
Libreville, without the support of the ALEFI project.
Relying on the strong will of the new authorities from the ministry in charge of forestry, and
the one in charge of Justice, numerous actions were carried out, reaching a peak with the
arrest of the provincial officials responsible for the water and forestry of Ogooue-Ivindo and
Woleu-Ntem. Many other authorities involved in the illegal exploitation of wood, including a
village chief, a head of a county council and many agents were arrested with the support of
the ALEFI project.
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Thanks to these actions, a record number of almost thirty (30) people involved in the illegal
exploitation of the forests were arrested. This a first in the history of Gabon. Significant
corruption systems were uncovered and dismantled.
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