Many projects and activities

FSC and PAFC certification audits for forestry management and for chain of custody (CoC) were carried out successfully at our two sites in Bambidie and Owendo. With this continued high level and our dual certification, we remain the pioneering company in sustainable forest management in the tropics.

In addition to our certification activities, our projects in the past year included the following:

At the beginning of the school year, we carried out another school supplies campaign. Educational resources procured in large quantities were given to the children of our employees at reduced prices, enabling them to start school successfully.
PW Gabon was once again very present in the media. An FSC media team visited us as part of a larger project to portray our activities. Following initial publications in trade journals, publications in major international media will follow starting in March 2024. Swiss Radio and Television produced a report on PW Gabon at the end of 2023, which was broadcast at the beginning of 2024 and received very positive feedback. The greatest success, however, was the broadcast of a report on “The Guardians of the Forest – Gabon” on ARTE, in which PW Gabon was portrayed as a role model.
The P3FAC-AFRITIMB research project was continued. The goal of this project is to study forest dynamics in the Congo Basin and to better understand the interrelationships in the context of sustainable forest management. In order to provide researchers with reliable reference data, we have excluded one zone from forest management especially for the purpose of gaining these insights. The data continues to be provided to the AfriTRON and RAINFOR global research projects. Other research projects of universities and NGOs from Gabon, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States, Germany, France, and Switzerland were also actively supported, including our research project for cultivating and planting rare tree species in our own tree nursery.
In addition to the existing measures to protect our employees, the focus in 2023 was on optimizing our equality and anti-discrimination measures. New contact points were appointed within the company, and whistleblowing platforms were established. These contact points and platforms guarantee anonymity and protection against reprisals. Training, awareness-raising measures, and poster campaigns were also carried out.

Precious Woods Gabon in brief

PW Gabon consists of two companies: CEB (Compagnie Equatoriale des Bois) and CPL (Compagnie des Placages de la Lowé) held by TGI. The purpose of the latter, which resulted from a merger in 2020, includes continuing the activities of the former company TGI (Tropical Gabon Industrie, veneer plant). Precious Woods now holds a 49 % stake in CPL.

Since 2007, Precious Woods has been managing a tropical forest in Eastern Gabon across a concession area of 596 800 hectares. In 2014, a protected area of 19 900 hectares was additionally separated out. CEB employs 658 persons and CPL about 200. Each year, depending on demand, approximately 180 000 to 240 000 cubic metres of logs are harvested. The company operates according to a sustainable forest management plan that ensures that no more timber is harvested per hectare than will grow back within a harvest cycle of 25 years. PW Gabon currently runs two sawmills and a small moulding plant in Bambidie, the centre base of our Gabonese forestry operation. The CPL rotary veneer factories for Okoumé veneer and selected hardwoods are located in Owendo, the port city neighbouring Libreville. The main export markets for PW Gabon’s manufactured timber products are Europe, South Africa, Latin America, and Asia. PW Gabon’s forestry operation has been FSC-certified since October 2008 and the veneer chain of custody since January 2010. The forestry operation has also been PAFC-certified since 2017, and both operations were PAFC-certified for CoC in 2018.