EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Niger is one of the poorest countries in the World and is faced with many difficulties including desertification, poor infrastructure, low life expectancy and a high level of foreign debt. Politically, Niger has also suffered from many upheavals, although the situation is improving with decentralisation and a return to democracy. The forestry sector in Niger accounts for about 4% of Gross Domestic Product and has been identified as important because of the role of forests in energy supply and the control of desertification.

Niger collects revenue from roundwood production and conveyance/commercialisation, based on the size and species of trees. For the purpose of collecting charges, roundwood is divided into three types: bois d’œuvre; bois de service; and wood fuel. The charges collected also vary according to whether the roundwood is harvested in a controlled, uncontrolled or guided harvesting area (exploitation contrôlée, incontrôlée or orientée). Forests are placed into one of these three categories, based on whether they have a development plan or not. The charges collected from conveyance/commercialisation are also reduced in areas that are far from towns, in order to encourage roundwood producers to go into more remote areas where forest resources are more abundant.

The charges that are collected are distributed between the state treasury, local management structures (structures locales de gestion), communities and the Water and Forest Service, with the shares given to each depending on the type of harvesting. Some of the money retained by local management structures and communities must be used for forestry activities, but the rest can be used for general development purposes. Some of the money sent to the state treasury must also be put into a forest monitoring fund. Water and Forest Service personnel may also keep a share of the penalties collected from illegal activities as an incentive to encourage them to monitor forestry activities.

There are no charges on the production of non-wood forest products, but charges are collected for the issuing of hunting permits, guide’s licences and for the capture or harvesting of animals. These charges vary by species and type of hunter. Again, the revenue collected from these charges is distributed amongst different stakeholders and some of it is put into a monitoring fund. Revenue is also collected from visitor permits for recreation and gîte permits. Import and export levies are collected from international trade in forest products, but these levies are not administered the forestry administration.

Both the Water and Forest Service and local management structures are involved in forest revenue collection, depending on the type of harvesting. Coloured coupons are issued to hauliers to indicate that charges have been paid. Many different levels of government (national, district, community) are involved in monitoring forest operations and revenue collection.

Total forest revenue collected by the state since 1992 has remained constant at about 163 million FCFA. In addition, about 16 million FCFA (on average) has been retained each year by local management structures and communities under the arrangements for revenue sharing in rural wood markets. The collection of revenue in rural wood markets has increased significantly since 1992 as more rural wood markets have been developed. It is expected that this upward trend will continue and that more revenue will be collected in total and more will be retained by local management structures and communities in the future.

The state budget for operating expenses in the water and environment sectors was about 1 billion FCFA in 2000. This expenditure accounts for just less than one percent of the total state budget for operating expenses. It should also be noted that the ministry includes other activities and that only a proportion of this money was spent on forestry and wildlife.

The average level of funds allocated to investment in the forestry and wildlife sectors since 1991 has been 3.6 billion FCFA, although only 64% of this (2.2 billion FCFA) has been spent on average. International assistance for investment in forestry during the period 1999 - 2004 should amount to about 6 billion FCFA per year.

On average, about 42 million FCFA has been spent each year from the two monitoring funds for forestry and wildlife. A considerable amount of revenue has been retained by local management structures and communities for forestry purposes. However, very little of this money has been spent, due to problems in obtaining the release of funds and other administrative and institutional problems.

The government has an ambitious plan to invest about 40 billion FCFA in the forestry sector each year over the period 2000 - 2004. There are also plans to increase the levels of charges and total forest revenue collection and to improve the efficiency of monitoring. A number of measures will be taken to improve the management of forest revenues, including improving the transfer of funds to and from the state, involving local communities more in forestry development and increasing consultation with stakeholders. The reform of forest finances will also contribute to the development of the National Fund for the Environment.