Europe and Globe, The podcast that explores today's world and changes the way we look at tomorrow's challenges

Forests: African realities - Episode 7: logs, wood products, charcoal and pulp & paper

20min | 06/19/2025|

95

Description

Wood is everywhere: we use it for the beams of our houses, to manufacture windows, chairs and paper. Even for the charcoal we use for a BBQ. It would be difficult to live without it. And it supports many sectors: forest concessions, sawmills, paper industries and many others.

Many of us believe that if we cut down trees, we are basically deforesting. But this is WRONG.

In this episode, we give you some information about the EU deforestation-free regulation and its implementation in Africa and we explain how forests can be sustainably managed. It is key to understand that the EU is generally not the main buyer of African timber/wood products, but Asia often accounts for 70% of African exports of logs or wood products.

We provide some elements on forests in Central Africa, where the Congo basin constitutes the 2nd green lung of the planet after the Amazon. Gabon and Congo Brazzaville are more advanced than other on sustainability commitments and the tropical forests face many challenges - corruption, conflicts, illegal logging etc.-

We also analyse the timber sector in West Africa, and later on, we see how South Africa is really unique : most of the forests are plantations (eucalyptus, pine, etc.) and the country has a solid pulp & paper industry. And finally Namibia faces a huge ecological challenge with the "bush encroachment" phenomenon, and succeeds to be the main African exporter of charcoal to the EU.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Europe and Globe, The podcast that explores today's world and changes the way we look at tomorrow's challenges

Welcome to Europe and Globe.

The podcast that explores today's world and changes the way we look at tomorrow's challenges

Just imagine. You're savouring a piece of chocolate, drinking your morning coffee, writing on a paper or using beauty products to look after yourself. Have you ever wondered what these everyday products have in common? We don't always ask ourselves questions about what we consume and yet, yes, all these products can have an impact on deforestation.

On May 31, 2023, the European Parliament and the Council adopted the Deforestation-free Regulation (the EUDR). We're going to look at the different sectors concerned, and in particular the products we import from Africa that may be affected by the new European regulation.

This European Union deforestation-free regulation covers a multitude of everyday products. Cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, rubber, beef, wood... But also, derived products that may not be obvious at first glance such as chocolate, leather, paper and car tires.

This Deforestation-free Regulation is sparking both enthusiasm and concerns. Its aim is to ensure that the operators who grow, process or buy these products comply with the laws of the producing countries, while guaranteeing that companies and smallholders are not the big losers under this new legislation.

How can we act on global deforestation while considering the realities and constraints of smallholder farmers, in Africa and elsewhere? Could this regulation really change something? We'll be talking about this in the next few episodes. We'll take a look at a number of sectors to give you a better understanding of the issues at stake and the state of readiness of the value chains. We'll talk about the different commodities affected by the EU deforestation-free regulation. And we'll travel here and there, to Côte d'Ivoire, Uganda, Namibia, South Africa, Liberia, Congo Brazzaville, Togo, Cameroon, DRC and elsewhere on the African continent.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Europe and Globe, The podcast that explores today's world and changes the way we look at tomorrow's challenges

Welcome to Europe and Globe.

The podcast that explores today's world and changes the way we look at tomorrow's challenges

Just imagine. You're savouring a piece of chocolate, drinking your morning coffee, writing on a paper or using beauty products to look after yourself. Have you ever wondered what these everyday products have in common? We don't always ask ourselves questions about what we consume and yet, yes, all these products can have an impact on deforestation.

On May 31, 2023, the European Parliament and the Council adopted the Deforestation-free Regulation (the EUDR). We're going to look at the different sectors concerned, and in particular the products we import from Africa that may be affected by the new European regulation.

This European Union deforestation-free regulation covers a multitude of everyday products. Cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, rubber, beef, wood... But also, derived products that may not be obvious at first glance such as chocolate, leather, paper and car tires.

This Deforestation-free Regulation is sparking both enthusiasm and concerns. Its aim is to ensure that the operators who grow, process or buy these products comply with the laws of the producing countries, while guaranteeing that companies and smallholders are not the big losers under this new legislation.

How can we act on global deforestation while considering the realities and constraints of smallholder farmers, in Africa and elsewhere? Could this regulation really change something? We'll be talking about this in the next few episodes. We'll take a look at a number of sectors to give you a better understanding of the issues at stake and the state of readiness of the value chains. We'll talk about the different commodities affected by the EU deforestation-free regulation. And we'll travel here and there, to Côte d'Ivoire, Uganda, Namibia, South Africa, Liberia, Congo Brazzaville, Togo, Cameroon, DRC and elsewhere on the African continent.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Description

Wood is everywhere: we use it for the beams of our houses, to manufacture windows, chairs and paper. Even for the charcoal we use for a BBQ. It would be difficult to live without it. And it supports many sectors: forest concessions, sawmills, paper industries and many others.

Many of us believe that if we cut down trees, we are basically deforesting. But this is WRONG.

In this episode, we give you some information about the EU deforestation-free regulation and its implementation in Africa and we explain how forests can be sustainably managed. It is key to understand that the EU is generally not the main buyer of African timber/wood products, but Asia often accounts for 70% of African exports of logs or wood products.

We provide some elements on forests in Central Africa, where the Congo basin constitutes the 2nd green lung of the planet after the Amazon. Gabon and Congo Brazzaville are more advanced than other on sustainability commitments and the tropical forests face many challenges - corruption, conflicts, illegal logging etc.-

We also analyse the timber sector in West Africa, and later on, we see how South Africa is really unique : most of the forests are plantations (eucalyptus, pine, etc.) and the country has a solid pulp & paper industry. And finally Namibia faces a huge ecological challenge with the "bush encroachment" phenomenon, and succeeds to be the main African exporter of charcoal to the EU.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Europe and Globe, The podcast that explores today's world and changes the way we look at tomorrow's challenges

Welcome to Europe and Globe.

The podcast that explores today's world and changes the way we look at tomorrow's challenges

Just imagine. You're savouring a piece of chocolate, drinking your morning coffee, writing on a paper or using beauty products to look after yourself. Have you ever wondered what these everyday products have in common? We don't always ask ourselves questions about what we consume and yet, yes, all these products can have an impact on deforestation.

On May 31, 2023, the European Parliament and the Council adopted the Deforestation-free Regulation (the EUDR). We're going to look at the different sectors concerned, and in particular the products we import from Africa that may be affected by the new European regulation.

This European Union deforestation-free regulation covers a multitude of everyday products. Cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, rubber, beef, wood... But also, derived products that may not be obvious at first glance such as chocolate, leather, paper and car tires.

This Deforestation-free Regulation is sparking both enthusiasm and concerns. Its aim is to ensure that the operators who grow, process or buy these products comply with the laws of the producing countries, while guaranteeing that companies and smallholders are not the big losers under this new legislation.

How can we act on global deforestation while considering the realities and constraints of smallholder farmers, in Africa and elsewhere? Could this regulation really change something? We'll be talking about this in the next few episodes. We'll take a look at a number of sectors to give you a better understanding of the issues at stake and the state of readiness of the value chains. We'll talk about the different commodities affected by the EU deforestation-free regulation. And we'll travel here and there, to Côte d'Ivoire, Uganda, Namibia, South Africa, Liberia, Congo Brazzaville, Togo, Cameroon, DRC and elsewhere on the African continent.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Europe and Globe, The podcast that explores today's world and changes the way we look at tomorrow's challenges

Welcome to Europe and Globe.

The podcast that explores today's world and changes the way we look at tomorrow's challenges

Just imagine. You're savouring a piece of chocolate, drinking your morning coffee, writing on a paper or using beauty products to look after yourself. Have you ever wondered what these everyday products have in common? We don't always ask ourselves questions about what we consume and yet, yes, all these products can have an impact on deforestation.

On May 31, 2023, the European Parliament and the Council adopted the Deforestation-free Regulation (the EUDR). We're going to look at the different sectors concerned, and in particular the products we import from Africa that may be affected by the new European regulation.

This European Union deforestation-free regulation covers a multitude of everyday products. Cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, rubber, beef, wood... But also, derived products that may not be obvious at first glance such as chocolate, leather, paper and car tires.

This Deforestation-free Regulation is sparking both enthusiasm and concerns. Its aim is to ensure that the operators who grow, process or buy these products comply with the laws of the producing countries, while guaranteeing that companies and smallholders are not the big losers under this new legislation.

How can we act on global deforestation while considering the realities and constraints of smallholder farmers, in Africa and elsewhere? Could this regulation really change something? We'll be talking about this in the next few episodes. We'll take a look at a number of sectors to give you a better understanding of the issues at stake and the state of readiness of the value chains. We'll talk about the different commodities affected by the EU deforestation-free regulation. And we'll travel here and there, to Côte d'Ivoire, Uganda, Namibia, South Africa, Liberia, Congo Brazzaville, Togo, Cameroon, DRC and elsewhere on the African continent.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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