Extractive Industries Programme

1. Extractive Industries and Infrastructures

WWF Gabon has invested in recent years in promoting more environmentally and socially sustainable mining practices. We have supported the national environment ministry by:

• Developing more appropriate regulations, including input to the new Mining Code and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) guidelines;
• Setting up a national EIA database;
• Participating in EIA analyses.

 

2. Small-scale mining

Small-scale or artisanal mining is a vital source of income for thousands of families in Central Africa. However, it can also have significant environmental and social impacts.

We are working with government agencies to continue to improve knowledge of the sector. We have begun a nationwide inventory of artisanal gold mining sites, recording their scope, techniques used and environmental impacts.

In collaboration with Equatorial Mining Company (SEM), the Gabonese park authorities (ANPN) and the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM), WWF organized two joint field missions on the development of a certification system for sustainable artisanal gold mining in Gabon. The missions were carried out in Lower Ogooué and in TRIDOM, with the following objectives:

• Assess the differences between current practices and the principles and criteria of certification systems of "sustainable gold mining" existing in Latin America;
• Assess stakeholders in their ability to participate in the development of a certification system of "sustainable gold mining" adapted to Gabon.

 

3. Palm Oil

 
Oil palm plantations are expanding in Central Africa. They can contribute significantly to the economy, employment and food security. However, they are causing serious environmental impacts, as natural ecosystems like forests are cleared to make way for plantations.
 
In Gabon, the government is committed to adopt the highest international standards for the cultivation of palm oil. In practice, this means the criteria for certified sustainable palm oil developed by the RSPO. As RSPO members, the two largest firms in Gabon are committed to adopt these principles.
 
WWF is participating in the process of national interpretation of the RSPO principles and criteria in Gabon through:

• Reviewing existing regulations in Gabon;
• Raising awareness of RSPO in Gabon, focusing on the ministries of environment and agriculture;
• Steering the participatory process on national interpretation, creating a national taskforce and conducting meetings of the working group.