The European Union and Cameroon have agreed to investigate illegal logging, which costs the central African country an estimated $100 million a year. Timber is big business in Cameroon's tropical forests, with 700 companies and individuals licensed to fell trees. 

But many more, often individuals working alone with a chain saw, cut wood illegally to sell locally as rough timber or cooking charcoal. 
Cameroon is in the early stages of discussions with Brussels on an agreement regulating timber exports to the European Union, aimed at curbing illegal logging.
Ghana and Liberia are also in talks on similar agreements. 
Illegal felling of protected species and trees smaller than the legal minimum diameter undermines sustainable forestry management, while some licensed operators deliberately underestimated the volume they logged.