Forest Pricing and Concession Policies

The theme of this paper is that proper pricing supported by new concession policies can encourage and support sustainable management and conservation of the forests of West and Central Africa and finance forest management. Until the forestry departments, which are under-funded and under-equipped, can be strengthened, a simpler system of forest fees that emphasizes bidding and concession fees is recommended. The forest revenue and concession policies proposed involve the following components: annual concession rent, which should be the major revenue source, to replace the multiplicity of forest fees, that are often not collected; competitive bidding system; and replacement of logging concessions by forest management concessions.