Decree-Law No. 4-A/91 approving the Forestry Act.

This Decree-Law, approving the Forestry Act, aims for the promotion and rational exploitation of forestry resources within the Guinea-Bissau territory with economic development purposes. It consists of 66 articles establishing the requirements to be satisfied in order to perform authorized forest exploitation under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This Decree-Law creates forestry institutions, under the aforementioned Ministry, entitled for carrying out forestry policy and controls on different activities. A special fund is created for forestry sector management. It specifies protected zones, classification procedure, tree marking, etc. It also concerns public and private forest management, tree logging authorization/prohibition and wood sale conditions, specifying the requirements to be met in order to obtain a forestry exploitation licence (duration, terms and conditions). This Decree-Law establishes as well forestry protection measures in order to avoid forest fires and sanctions for offenders.