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4.58. In the central area of the country, there are also dry forests and forest galleries rich in exploitable species. Owing to the fragility of these forest ecosystems, only small scale exploitation is permitted. In these areas, small scale logging permits are granted only to natural persons who are nationals of the Central African Republic and have lived for more than ten years in the area, and to locally organized and registered groups

4.59. Since 2000, forest management in the Central African Republic has been supported by the PARPAF project, which is funded by the French Development Agency (AFD). Amongst other things, this project has led to the development of operating standards, including a certificate of origin that ensures the traceability of exported logs

4.65. Most of the energy currently being consumed comes from wood. Other resources include wood based fuels, the numerous hydroelectric sites throughout the territory (whose potential total power is estimated by the authorities at 2000 GW), promising signs of oil reserves, and uranium and lignite deposits (estimated at 2.9 million m3) in the town of Bakouma.

4.66. Energy and mining activities fall under the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Hydraulic Resources (MMEH). The Government's activities aim to improve the energy supply throughout the country at a competitive cost, to ensure the independence and security of the country's energy supply, to ensure the protection of people, property and the environment against the risks associated with activities in the field of energy and to strengthen subregional, regional and international energy integration.

4.83. As regards uranium, a special regulatory framework was adopted at the end of 2006 to facilitate exploitation of the Bakouma deposit by URANIM, a privately owned company. This framework also includes the requirement to process radioactive minerals in the country before export, as well as to manage waste and to market radioactive substances in keeping with international standards. In addition to the provisions of the Mining Code, the possession, holding, transport, processing, handling and marketing of mineral substances or radioactive products and all operations relating to them are subject to prior authorization. The relevant procedures are laid down in laws and regulations, in particular the law on radioactive minerals. Such activities are also subject to international rules on radioactive substances.

4.99. The authorities have indicated that several projects have been under way since 2011 with the assistance of foreign partners:
• a project for the transfer of water from the Oubangui River to Lake Chad, whose energy components as pertains to Palambo and the Kotto River is very important for the CAR; the Central African Republic has expressed many reservations about the impact of the proposal, which involves taking water from the Kotto River and transferring it to Lake Chad. The Kotto and the Ouaka flow into the Oubangui River, which is an international waterway shared by three countries, namely the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. Transferring the waters of the Oubangui by canals would mean a loss of flow at its crest line. The plan is to divert and transfer water from the Kotto and Ouaka. The draft feasibility study has been validated and there have been calls for an environmental study of the project and all its potential social and economic impacts on the areas watered downstream by the Oubangui once the transfer has begun;

4.99. The authorities have indicated that several projects have been under way since 2011 with the assistance of foreign partners:
(…)
• the emergency project in response to the energy crisis (PURCE). Some 45,000 energy saving lamps have been distributed to about 19,500 households. An invitation for tenders has been issued for the supply of roughly 5,000 prepayment meters; 100 km of low voltage network and 70 km of MV/LV network have been rehabilitated, 15 MV/LV transformer stations have been rehabilitated and equipped;

4.99. The authorities have indicated that several projects have been under way since 2011 with the assistance of foreign partners:
(…)
• in the realm of renewable energy, a memorandum of understanding was signed in August 2011 with the French company Helios énergie to develop, build and operate 20 MW solar photovoltaic power stations to supply electricity to the towns of Berberati, Carnot, Bouar, Bossangoa, and Bambari;

4.107. Under Ordinance No. 83.083 of 10 December 1983 regulating the trade and provision of services in the CAR, the supply of any service (educational, telecommunications, financial, transport, legal, tourism, medical, environmental, architectural, energy related, cultural and sporting, as well as accounting) is subject to prior approval signed by the Minister responsible for trade. A total of 315 approvals were issued in 2009, 389 in 2010, and 290 in 2011.

4.145. The CAR has enormous tourism potential (equatorial forest, fauna and flora, indigenous cultures), and wildlife tourism had been significant before the military and political upheavals occurring in the country since 1996. Harassment and annoyances of all kinds have considerably limited tourism otherwise authorized and supervised by the Ministry of Tourism. This accounts for the drop in arrivals (by air in Bangui's classified hotels) from 13,881 in 1995 to 8,156 in 2004, a figure that then started rising steadily again to reach 25,759 in 2011, amounting to a total number of overnight stays of 48,501 or an average stay of 1.88 days