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All publications from the years 2008 to 2019 can be found here on our old website
Help us save Cameroon’s Ebo Forest, home to chimpanzees and gorillas. Born Free is extremely concerned that the Cameroon government is planning to licence logging in one of its protected areas, Ebo Forest, risking the survival of great apes and countless other animals.
A new Green Climate Fund (GCF) project to increase the resilience of marginalised communities in flood-prone areas of Bangladesh comes at a critical time. Project activities launched by GCF’s partner, the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), will strengthen the adaptation capacity of those most at risk, particularly female-led households, just as monsoon season threatens.
2020 is a critical year for raising NDC ambitions and was supposed to culminate at COP 26 this November. However, the Covid-19 pandemic is devastating human lives and economies worldwide and has also led to postponement of COP 26 to November 2021.
To address urgent, complex and intertwined problems like climate change, deforestation and global inequality policymakers need to learn from various attempts to transform these “super wicked” challenges – and to put that learning into practice, fast.
On Monday evening, top climate diplomats decided the intersessional meeting which happens every year between UN climate summits in Bonn, Germany, where UN Climate Change is headquartered, would not be able to take place on the proposed dates of 4-12 October.
As part of the activities of the FLEGT REDD project, financed by the FFEM, ATIBT with the support of Form International updates and animates the website. The country fact sheets are currently being revised and translated and will be available in French...
The National Coalition to Combat Illegal Logging (CNCEIB), with which the Federation of Timber Industrialists (FIB) recently built and formalized collaboration, issued a press release on May 13, 2020 to decision-makers denouncing the 1,000 illegal logs at the ports of Kinkole during this period of COVID 19.
Ebo forest is a blessing to more than 40 community villages, numerous species (some of them endangered) and the planet. But the Cameroonian government just decided to destroy 68,385 hectares of it, an area about half the size of London, despite the strong disagreement of Banen communities.
The Executive Board of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) approved a USD 1.2 million project aimed at assessing the recent drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in 6 countries of Central Africa.
SCALA responds to the urgent need for increased action to cope with climate change impacts in the agriculture and land use sectors. The twenty million euro programme will support at least twelve countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to build adaptive capacity and to implement low emission priorities.
To conceptualize such a mitigation policy, we propose a two-step approach, combining the works of Schlosberg, Fraser, and Sen. We argue that, to start with, it is important to identify relevant forms of exclusion, and then, in turn, to identify opportunities for ‘parity of participation’ of women in the mitigation policy cycle.
Uganda has become the first African country to submit REDD+ results to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), paving the way to potential results-based payments.
Building on the UN Secretary-General’s report “Shared Responsibility, Global Solidarity,” the UNCCD secretariat has been recalibrating its 2020-2021 work programme to reflect the realities of the COVID-19 crisis, address the current needs and priorities of UNCCD Parties and continue to deliver on decisions taken at UNCCD COP14.
Rwanda became the first African country to submit its updated national climate plan under the Paris Agreement this month. The ambitious submission renews hope that 2020 can be “the Super Year for Climate Action.”
The recently published Environmental and Social Standards (ESS) Guidance document and complementary Q&As outline the steps and safety measures needed to mitigate potential risks and impacts arising from COVID-19 in all FAO projects and programmes...
The Bank has delivered on its goals of reducing poverty and fostering inclusive growth on the continent. We scaled up development support for our 54 regional member countries and recorded remarkable successes in recent years in our renewed push to help deliver life-changing impact to livelihoods.
Across the development and medical community, experts have acknowledged the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on women. Many in Africa work in agriculture and the informal sector, both industries facing massive stagnation from closed businesses and closed borders.
Rwanda is renowned as a pioneer for gender equality. In 2020, it was the only African country ranked in the top 10 of the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report.
The African Development Bank’s High 5 priority areas are intended to support African countries’ achievement of the SDGS. They are: Feed Africa; Light up Africa; Industrialise Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the Quality of Life for the people of Africa.
Rainforests are vital for the survival of life on Earth. They absorb our carbon dioxide, stabilize climate patterns, and are home to half the world’s plant and animal species.
UN Climate Change News, 16 June 2020 – The Board that oversees the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has concluded its latest meeting, held virtually in three sessions over four weeks to accommodate members spanning five continents, from Japan to Peru.
The Africa LEDS Partnership is proud to relaunch its Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use (AFOLU) CoP in collaboration with the AFOLU Working Group and UNIQUE forestry and land use.
This policy brief focuses on the topic of global emergence of infectious diseases and its links with consumption of wild meat, ecosystem disruption, habitat degradation and biodiversity loss.
Mark your calendars from 22-25 June 2020, 12:00-15:00 CET each day. The COVID-19 Forestry Webinar Week will feature a series of virtual sessions in the week in which COFO and the World Forest Week were originally scheduled.
As countries continue to battle the far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations today called for the inclusion of sustainable forest-based actions in COVID-19 recovery programmes and policies.
On May 29, 2020, about thirty participants representing the members of the CBFP's Scientific and Academic College took part in a virtual meeting convened by the College's Leaders CIFOR and IRET. The agenda of the meeting focused on introducing the road map of the current CBFP Facilitation as well as the ongoing participative consultation process.
UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw speaks with Deutsche Welle on 5 June 2020. In this interview Ibrahim Thiaw, the executive secretary of UNCCD points out that the situation in Sahel is dramatic. There is less land available for the needs of an ever growing population.
UNCCD CSO Alliance is launching a new campaign for 2020 Desertification and Drought Day. This year’s UNCCD theme is Food.Feed.Fibre, and to support this theme CSO Alliance has chosen food as the campaign focus for its campaign.
The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has been awarded the 2020 Water Award from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation in recognition of the institute’s outstanding research for finding water solutions for sustainable development.
UN Climate Change News, 16 June 2020 – The Board that oversees the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has concluded its latest meeting, held virtually in three sessions over four weeks to accommodate members spanning five continents, from Japan to Peru.
UN Climate Change News, 5 June 2020 - To mark World Environment Day, a vast and unlikely alliance of investors, activists, cities and corporates is gathering virtually for the launch of Race to Zero, the global campaign to mobilise leadership and support for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery which creates well-paying jobs, unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth and prevents future threats.
UN Climate Change News, 4 June 2020 – The crucial topic of delivering climate finance in 2020 and beyond was the focus of an event held on day 4 of June Momentum for Climate Change - one of a series of events that demonstrate the commitment to deliver climate action and ambition in 2020.
UN Climate Change News, 16 June 2020 – At the 20th UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, taking place 15 and 16 June, thousands of leaders from government, civil society and the United Nations are discussing how business can support countries and communities around the world to recover better....
The Paris Committee on Capacity-Building (PCCB), established under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, has a mandate to foster collaboration among climate-related capacity-building stakeholders at all levels, and to strengthen networks and partnerships...
Sababil Al-Haj Hussain lives in the Sudanese locality of Al Rahad, which sits in the middle of a semi-arid ribbon of land known as the Sahel. Life there has long been challenging.
The report assesses entry points for action across existing global agendas and suggests concrete recommendations for how policymakers, development practitioners and donors can advance three inter-related goals: peace and security, climate action and gender equality.
Nairobi, 8 June 2020 – Seagrass meadows can be a powerful nature-based climate solution and help sustain communities hard-hit by stressors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, but these important ecosystems continue to decline.
COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease, meaning that it jumps between animals and people, and is therefore closely connected to the lands both inhabit. Human and economic activity is eroding wild spaces, forests and other importan.
The new coronavirus pandemic, hopefully leaving us, has brought much of the world to a halt, disrupting entire food systems and the global economy and putting tens of millions out of work. But this is not the only storm humanity is braving.
The African Development Bank has responded swiftly to the needs of its member countries during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Bank’s operations have continued to run smoothly since the first cases appeared in early March...
Fifty-five people were kidnapped by alleged LRA members during a double incursion on 18 and 19 May in the localities of Bili and Baye, in Bondo territory (Bas-Uele).
The Council of Ministers held its 9th Extraordinary Session by videoconference on 3 and 4 June 2020.
ITTO: The report of the International Forum: Together Towards Global Green Supply Chains, held in Shanghai last October, is now online. About 350 actors in the tropical timber sector attended the forum, which ITTO co-organized...
The ITTO Environmental and Social Management Guidelines draw on best practices globally to provide user-friendly guidance on enhancing environmental and social safeguards in ITTO projects.
Desertification and Drought Day, a United Nations observance day held on 17 June each year, will in 2020 focus on changing public attitudes to the leading driver of desertification and land degradation: humanity’s relentless production and consumption.
Ekwoge Enang Abwe grew up in a rural village in Cameroon where his passion for great apes and especially chimpanzees was born. Ekwoge has played a pivotal role in conservation research work in the South Western Cameroon for almost a decade and, since 2010, he has been managing the Ebo Forest Research Project, encouraging local communities to take pride in the forest’s unique biodiversity.
...The vision of the AU Sustainable Forest Management Framework (2020 -2030) aims to foster sustainable management and to address the above mention challenge undermining the value and the role of the forest sector...
To read: ITTO releases new guidelines for ensuring environmental and social compliance in projects; Report of forum on sustainable, legal timber supply chains now available; Tropical timber market headlines…
To read: Fern stands with the Black Lives Matter movement in the struggle for justice; EU-Mercosur deal increasingly under fire; EU Trade to consider action to improve the environment and human rights; Germany’s Corona EU Presidency – what impact on the world’s forests?
With one of the highest deforestation rates in the Congo Basin, Cameroon’s forest cover (18.8 million hectares, about 40 per cent of the total land area) has declined significantly over the past 25 years.
We are writing to express our concern, following the publication on 9 March 2020, of two public notices classifying the Ebo forest in the Littoral Region in the private domain of the State as two Forest Management Units (FMUs).
A group of Cameroonian civil society actors, including the organizations EBO FOREST RESEARCH PROJECT, SEKAKOH and COMAID (all three beneficiaries of PPI support) has just sent a letter to the Cameroonian government, requesting the suspension of the creation of two logging concessions in the Ebo forest.
Dzanga-Sangha, a protected reserve in the south-west corner of the Central African Republic, boasts a wealth of animal, bird and plant species, including forest elephants and one of the world’s most endangered gorilla populations.
“We have completed the great ape nests and elephant dung degradation study. A total of 558 marked indices were revisited and data obtained to estimate degradation rates for DSPA...”
A coalition of 140 landscape leaders convened at the African Landscapes Dialogue, in Arusha, Tanzania in November 2019, recommended the following actions to advance sustainable landscapes in Africa, building on the Action Plans developed in 2014...
Today, the European Commission adopted a comprehensive new Biodiversity Strategy to bring nature back into our lives and a Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system. The two strategies are mutually reinforcing, bringing together nature, farmers, business and consumers for jointly working towards a competitively sustainable future...
Thanks For Getting Involved! For 2020 World Oceans Day is growing the global movement to call on world leaders to protect 30% of our blue planet by 2030. This critical need is called 30x30.
The Largest participation of the Members ever of the international NGOs CBFP College and revitalization of the process towards a common position of the Partnership CBFP and way forward, in the framework of this Important ‘year of biodiversity and forests, climate’ with major international conferences...
The first ever meeting of Africa’s heads of Protected Areas agencies was held on 22-23 April, 2020 through video conferencing.
The study: 'Stockpiles of elephant ivory in DRC: what management measures to put in place?' was compiled following revelations that over a 26-year period from 1990 through 2015, a minimum of 7,686 kg of ivory went missing from government custody in DRC.
The Global Environment Facility’s governing body, meeting remotely, has agreed on $700 million for projects and programs to help developing countries keep advancing urgent environmental priorities through and beyond the coronavirus pandemic.
3 June 2020 – The 58th Council Meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) was held for the first time virtually, gathering participants from the GEF’s 183 member countries located in 17 different time zones.
To read: Carlos Manuel Rodriguez named new CEO of GEF; GEF Council agrees on $700 million for environmental action; GEF's response to COVID-19; 58th GEF Council Meeting…
The session will discuss the COVID-19 crisis and its links to wildlife trade and, above all, explore potential solutions for a common and co-ordinated response by the countries of the continent to combat illegal exploitation and illegal trade in wild flora and fauna... Friday 05 June 10am GMT
implementation of the N’Djamena Declaration (January 2019) and the Douala Action Plan (December 2019) on security, the fight against poaching, monitoring of transhumance and armed groups circulating between the Sahel and Equatorial Africa.
Costa Rican Environment and Energy Minister Carlos Manuel Rodriguez has been selected as the next CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility, the largest multilateral trust fund supporting environmental action in developing countries and the main financing mechanism for multiple United Nations environmental conventions.
“Any threat to our environment is a threat to our health, our society, our ecosystems, our economy, our security, our well-being, and our very survival,” says a ministerial declaration of the United Nations Environment Assembly.
The new CBFP Co-Facilitator was born in 1951 in Fafara (Bimbo) in the Central African Republic. His studies were crowned with a Diploma in Forestry Engineering and a Certificate in Techniques and Management of Development Projects, just to name a few.
CEPF has funded more than 2,400 grantees in 98 countries and territories in 24 of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. That represents a lot of conservation effort. But what are the results?
4 June 2020, Rome - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today welcomed the decision by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council to allocate a substantial $ 176 million to 24 of its projects that tackle the critical intersection between agriculture and environmental concerns.
To read: Forest defenders on the COVID-19 frontline stand ready to assist the global EU response; DG Justice joins the due diligence debate on the side of mandatory rules; Scientists point to the links between destruction of biodiversity and COVID-19 outbreak…
A new paper from TRAFFIC, UNEP-WCMC and FFI examined seizures as an estimate of the ‘lower bound’ of illegal trade into the USA and the EU and considers the implications for effective trade regulation.
To celebrate this year’s International Biodiversity Day and its theme ‘Solutions are in Nature’, we are featuring nature-based solutions that have been shared among communities through South-South cooperation (SSC) and supported by the Small Grants Programme.