WRITTEN QUESTION E-4152/00 by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Commission. Conservation of Great Apes.
Date: 2001-01-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: consumer information, cooperation policy, development aid, environmental impact, forestry holding, import (EU), import restriction, labelling, monkey, originating product, protection of animal life, tropical forest, tropical wood

21.8.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 235 E/81

(2001/C 235 E/086)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4152/00

by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Commission

(16 January 2001)

Subject: Conservation of Great Apes

Can the Commission confirm its awareness of the negative impact upon the conservation of great apes of
some European overseas development aid? Is it planning to take further action to ensure that, as far as
possible, European aid is not provided if it is likely to contribute to the development of the illegal
bushmeat industry?

Furthermore, has the Commission considered whether the import into the European Union of timber and
wood products that have not been harvested in an environmentally responsible manner,
including
unrestricted hunting in (cid:145)concession(cid:146) areas, might be phased out or at least whether timber-related products
might be labelled so as to provide increased information to the consumer on the origin of the products?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(15 March 2001)

The Community is aware of the possible negative impact of development co-operation projects on the
environment. To prevent this, all projects are screened to identify the need for a detailed environmental
impact assessment (EIA); and when necessary, a thorough EIA is carried out. This EIA determines the need
for measures to mitigate against any possible negative impact, and to consider the advisability of financing
the project. The Commission is not aware of any of its projects having negative impacts upon the
conservation of great apes.

Moreover, the Community is supporting numerous projects and programmes in Central Africa that
contribute specifically to the conservation and the sustainable use of tropical forests. Since 1992 a major
Community regional programme in Central Africa (Ecofac) is aiming at the conservation of biodiversity,
through the management and protection of several national parks hosting the largest populations of great
apes on the continent. By funding and supporting this programme, and other initiatives in the region
linked to it, the Commission is today by far the most important donor for the protection of great apes in
Central Africa (total funding of these initiatives is around € 70 million). The Community also supports the
development of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, which include hunting and
bushmeat issues. These criteria and indicators form a basis for forest certification and labeling of forest
products coming from certified sources.

The Commission cannot (cid:145)phase out(cid:146) import of timber which is not certified, as this is for all practical
purposes decisions made by the different importing companies. It is basically up to consumers to express
their preferences in the market place. Forest certification and associated product labeling may be helpful in
this regard.

Forest certification is a voluntary, market-driven process to support truly sustainable forest management, as
verified by a third independent party according to internationally recognized criteria. The Commission
supports development of such certification schemes and their mutual recognition.

The Community already promotes use of certain wood products from sustainably managed forests through
its Eco-label, for instance for copy papers, and by granting tariff preferences for other sustainably produced
wood products from developing countries. Moreover, the Commission is considering a possible validation
scheme for various existing and emerging forest certification systems, which might eventually include
a Community label.