At dawn, a thick mist rises above the Gabonese canopy. Bird calls pierce the silence, while furtive silhouettes move between centuries-old okoumé trunks. Here, at the heart of one of Africa’s last great primary forests, a silent battle is being waged: to exploit without destroying, to develop without erasing. Gabon, rich with its 88% forest cover, is trying to prove that another path is possible.
A green treasure at the heart of Central Africa
Gabon is often described as an ecological sanctuary. Across its 267,000 km², more than 220,000 are covered by equatorial forests. These spaces are home to more than 11,000 plant and animal species, some of which, such as the plains gorilla and the forest elephant, are today threatened elsewhere on the continent.
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“When you enter the Gabonese forest, you feel you are in a world still intact,” confides Léon Moussavou, botanist at the Université Omar Bongo. “But this richness also attracts covetousness.”
Since the 2000s, the country has been banking on a sustainable development strategy to avoid the trap of blind exploitation. The government has classified 13 national parks covering 11% of the territory, while committing to reconciling the forestry economy with the preservation of biodiversity.
A timber industry in full transformation
Long dominated by the export of logs, the Gabonese timber industry has been at a turning point since the ban on raw exports in 2010. The objective: to process locally, create value, and control the environmental impacts.
“Before, the trucks left full of trunks, and that was it. Today, we have factories, jobs, a real value chain,” explains Jean-Claude Nguema, director of a sawmill in Port-Gentil. “But it also requires more rigour in forest management.”
Gabon is one of the few African countries to require that all forest concessions be FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified by 2025. This international standard guarantees exploitation that is respectful of ecosystems and local communities. In 2023, more than 2.8 million hectares of Gabonese forests were already certified.
Technologies in the service of conservation
Satellite surveillance, drones, acoustic sensors… Gabon does not hesitate to use the most modern tools to monitor its forests. The national biodiversity observation programme, launched in partnership with the Smithsonian Institute, makes it possible to track the evolution of species and habitats in real time.
“We can detect illegal logging or an intrusion in less than 24 hours,” affirms Marie Ndong, remote sensing engineer. “That completely changes our ability to respond.”
In parallel, genetic databases are being built to better understand ecological dynamics. Camera traps capture rare images of panthers, mandrills, and pangolins, discreet witnesses of a world still preserved.
Communities at the heart of the model
But preserving the forest cannot be done without those who live in it. More than 300,000 Gabonese people depend directly on forest resources for food, healthcare, or construction. Integrating local communities into development projects has become a priority.
In the village of Minvoul, near the Cameroonian border, an ecotourism project was launched in 2018. “We welcome visitors, we help them discover our forest, our medicinal plants, our traditional dances,” recounts Odette Mba, local guide. “It gives us a reason to protect, not to flee.”
Women’s cooperatives are also transforming non-timber forest products – honey, nuts, bark – into valuable goods. These initiatives, supported by NGOs and international donors, show that the forest can be a source of lasting wealth, without resorting to deforestation.
Carbon, Gabon’s new green gold
In 2021, Gabon became the first African country to receive an international payment for its efforts to reduce deforestation-related emissions. Thanks to a strict conservation policy, the country avoided the emission of 90 million tonnes of CO₂ over ten years, according to the United Nations.
“The world is beginning to understand that our forests have a value far beyond timber,” emphasises Lee White, Gabon’s Minister of the Environment. “They store carbon, regulate the climate, purify water. And that deserves financial recognition.”
Gabon is now betting on the carbon market to finance its environmental policies. A strategy that could generate up to 150 million dollars per year if carbon credits are well valorised on international markets.
A fragile balance, but one that carries hope
Nothing is won yet. Economic pressures, corruption, and private interests continue to threaten the fragile balance between exploitation and conservation. Illegal logging is still reported, sometimes in protected areas. And the challenge of transparency remains immense.
But Gabon is moving forward, step by step, in a direction that few countries have dared to take. It is showing that it is possible to make the forest an engine of development, without reducing it to ashes.
“What we are doing here is perhaps one of the greatest bets for the future of Africa,” breathes Léon Moussavou. “If we succeed, it could change the game for the entire continent.”
So, will the Gabonese forest become the model for a harmonious development between humanity and nature? Or will it yield to the sirens of short-term progress? The whisper of the trees, for its part, continues to watch over.
