Washington DC — Foreign logging companies operating in Cameroon and Gabon may leave the two countries financially and environmentally bankrupt if their activities are not checked, an international environmental group has warned.

Global Forest Watch said in country reports released here that the mostly European companies employ unsustainable logging methods and reinvest little in the central African countries. The reports said the companies routinely violate the countries environmental laws while their activities inadvertently encourage poaching.

"For example, some of them were logging in areas which were not allocated to them," said Henriette Bikie of Global Forest Watch Cameroon.

Bikie said the companies routinely violate the countries laws to log protected timber species, cut under-sized trees and mislabel logs to deceive the authorities.

"Many of these violations result from the low logistical capacity of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MINEF)," said Bikie.

"In 1992, MINEF stopped hiring staff due to lack of donor funds." Gabon is experiencing similar concession inspection problems.

"In 1997, only 100 agents were available to monitor and inspect 332 logging concessions covering 86 000 square kilometers, an area roughly the size of Australia," said the country report.

Moreover, the profits foreign logging firms made in the two countries remain a closely guarded secret.

"It is difficult to know how much profit these companies are making," said Jean-Gael Collomb, Global Forest Watch Central Africa project manager.

"Cameroon and Gabon do not have laws that require these companies to be audited, a situation that would expose their annual profits."

The leading logging companies in the two countries are predominantly European. Most are French-owned. Those operating in Cameroon include Thanry (CIBC, SAB, SEBC, CFC, Prenant), Bollore (La forestiere de Campo, SIBAF), Coron and Alpi (Alpicam, Grumcam). In Gabon, the largest concession holders are, Rougier-Gabon, La Compagnie Forestiere du Gabon (CFG), Leroy- Gabon, La Compagnie Equatoriale de Bois (CEB) and Lutexfo/Soforga. According to the country report, two-thirds of Cameroon's logging industry is foreign-owned and it is not clear that the remaining third is owned by real Cameroonians. About 76 percent of the country's forests have either been logged or allocated as logging concessions.

Meanwhile, more than half of Gabon's forests were allocated as logging concessions in 1997. Over 90 percent of its log production is exported. Declining oil revenues in the two countries is expected to increase pressure for the exploitation the world's second largest tract of tropical rain forests.

"The timber extraction has been increasing rapidly recently with little control mechanism in place. Little has been done to ensure that the logging industry will benefit these countries in the long term. What we see are short-term benefits to foreign companies and individuals," said Collomb, who co-authored the reports.

Bikie said Cameroonians with logging concessions or titles tend to subcontract established foreign companies to do the actual logging.

"This results in a situation whereby the concession-holder would ask for a very small amount compared to what the subcontracted company would make."

The reports said logging encourages poaching of wildlife such as elephants, gorillas and duikers in the two countries. "Logging is closely linked to bush meat hunting and commercialization, and the subsequent decimation of wildlife," said Ngoufo.

"The growth of the logging industry facilitates access to the resource, but what fuels the trade is urban demand and the relatively quick income that it can generate."

Hunting of wildlife can contribute up to 40 percent of a logging company employee's income. According to the GFW reports, Gabon's bush meat trade is worth at US$50 million per year. Despite the logistical weaknesses the two countries face, they have in recent years taken steps to reverse the losses they have suffered at the hands of unscrupulous logging firms.

"In Cameroon, the government recently made some of these companies pay heavy penalties because they violated logging regulations," said Bikie.

Earlier, in 1994, the government introduced new logging legislation to promote better stewardship of the country's forests in response to World Bank pressure. Similarly, Gabon initiated a Forestry Law Project in 1996 to regulate the industry following recommendations of a government commission and pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.