Use of cookies: We use cookies to optimize our website for you and to be able to improve it continuously. By continuing to use the website you agree to the use of cookies.
For more information on cookies, please see our privacy policy
All publications from the years 2008 to 2019 can be found here on our old website
On Saturday, delegates to the 14th Session of Working Group III (WGIII) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) continued working through the draft text of the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the WGIII contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). WGIII’s contribution focuses on mitigation of climate change.
A gear change was evident at the Geneva Biodiversity Conference on Saturday. The Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) held a productive plenary session in the morning. The rest of the day was devoted to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework (GBF), with two dense Contact Group sessions of the Working Group on the GBF (WG2020) taking place in the afternoon and evening, going strong into the late night. Two informal groups found some time in the packed schedule to continue working on digital sequence information (DSI) at lunchtime, and marine and coastal biodiversity in the evening.
The Wildlife Conservation Bond, issued by the World Bank with funding from the Global Environment Facility, is not just another financial product. It is a game-changing innovation that can direct funding to nature reserves and protected areas whose budgets have been stretched by the coronavirus pandemic, a drop in tourism, and recent fiscal strains.
The Network of Indigenous and Local Populations for the Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa (REPALEAC) held its political executive meeting in Brazzaville to conduct its annual planning and develop its strategy for mobilizing climate funds, including the 1.7 billion dollars announced at COP26 in Glasgow.
As a matter of fact, IPLCs in Central Africa bear the brunt of shocks from climate change and land insecurity only worsens their vulnerability, with significant adverse impacts on their livelihoods. In a bid to provide a lasting solution to this situation, REPALEAC with technical support from the GIZ Regional Project to support COMIFAC, has developed an Action Program worth 100 million US dollars to strengthen, protect and secure the land and territorial rights of IPLCs in Central Africa. Thus, as part of fund raising for the program, REPALEAC plans to capture some of the funding announced in Glasgow. It revealed its plans in a letter addressed to the donors and made them public at its 2022 annual planning meeting held in Brazzaville.
The meeting was marked by the official presentation of REPALEAC’s letter of intent addressed to the Donors, spelling out the Network’s expectations and directions regarding the Joint Glasgow Declaration pledging USD 1.7 billion for the benefit of indigenous and local communities. As part of his official trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Congo scheduled for 23 to 27 March 2022, H.E. Lord Zac Goldsmith, will meet the National Representatives of REPALEAC in the two countries, to pick up the discussions where they left off.
Legacy Landscapes Fund is incredibly pleased to announce its first open call for proposals. With this call, LLF makes strides towards protecting the world’s most important conservation areas by funding 7-12 new sites. LLF will provide financing for two kinds of programs to support legacy landscapes: perpetual funding of USD one million per year, or 15-year-long funding of USD one million per year. For both types of grant, a minimum of 1:2 and a maximum of 1:1 match funding is required. The deadline for submitting a concept note is 30 April 2022 at 12:00 am CET.
The ADEFAC project (Support for the Development of Continuing Education for the Forestry and Timber Sector in Central Africa) held its third Steering Committee meeting on March 17, 2022, under the chairmanship of the COMIFAC Executive Secretary, Mr. Hervé Martial MAÏDOU, by videoconference, after the first two meetings held on September 23, 2020 and March 11, 2021.
The results of the training of SME-VSE actors in the forestry-wood sector in Congo are encouraging in a context that requires adaptation to the multiple transformations that the forestry sector is undergoing in the Congo Basin countries.
This week was important for our sector: the International Day of Forests took place on Monday, March 21. On this occasion, we share with you the press release written following the press conference organized by ATIBT on March 15th.
On International Forest Day, INTERHOLCO is delighted to share photos of this magnificent Kosipo staircase, made by INTERHOLCO customer KORA. This year, International Forest Day’s theme is ‘Forests and sustainable production and consumption’, making direct reference to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.
The Nature-Based Infrastructure Global Resource Centre is now offering a new course: nature-based Infrastructure for climate adaptation and sustainable development. This course aims to empower policymakers, infrastructure planners, and investors to understand the economic and financial performance of nature-based infrastructure as well as its co-benefits, in comparison with traditional “built” or “grey” infrastructure.
enabling an exchange of technology transfer, capacity-building, policy support or fundraising between countries in the Global South. The project catalyzed global and regional collaboration on Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), especially sharing China’s experience and research know-how in ecological restoration and climate change adaptation. Nature-based solutions for climate adaptation were piloted in key vulnerable ecosystems, like deserts in Mauritania, mountains in Nepal, and coasts in Seychelles.
As much as 97 percent of the world’s water is underground – this “groundwater” originates from rain, melting ice, and snow which has soaked into the soil and is stored in the pores and cracks between sand, rocks, and soil particles. Hidden under our feet, this source of water is unfortunately often overlooked and abused. To increase attention to this valuable source of water, the United Nations has declared 2022 the Year of Groundwater. A new report on the subject - Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible - is being released at the World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal.
The Global Environment Facility’s member countries are approaching broad consensus about expanding the size and scope of its support over the next four years. Meeting virtually, representatives of the multilateral fund’s 40 donor governments found significant common ground on proposed policies and programming priorities for the GEF-8 funding period, which covers the period from July 2022 to June 2026.
Growing awareness of plastic pollution has influenced public opinion and led to stronger policy interventions, according to the ‘Global Plastics Outlook: Economic Drivers, Environmental Impacts and Policy Options,’ published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in February 2022. The authors report that the current magnitude of plastics consumption globally is leading to a high carbon footprint related to production, as well as to high waste volumes, persistent pollution, and harm to wildlife and ecosystems. The level of consumption requires increased circularity in the plastics lifecycle.
The International Day of Forests is celebrated with a particular theme every year. The theme for 2022 is Forests and Sustainable Production and Consumption'. The world celebrates the International Day of Forests on March 21 every year with the aim to increase awareness about the unprecedented role forests play in sustaining lives on this planet. Forests provide food, water, and shelter to animals and human beings. They reduce the impact of events threatening to life, such as floods and climate change.
Each year, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (which is an arm of the United Nations Forum on Forests) decides on a theme for Forest Day. The theme for 2022 is "Forests and sustainable production and consumption".
More than 400 delegates and observers from around the world met in Lyon, France, from March 7 to 11, 2022, for the 74th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee. As a reminder, CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) has 184 member states. It acts for the conservation of biodiversity by regulating trade in wild fauna and flora.
Digital technology helps the sustainable tropical timber industry to support the professions in the forestry and wood sector. The PPECF is implementing an e-learning module in the Congo Basin countries, particularly to improve worker safety. 6 films, produced by 3D animation, are now available online to illustrate the lessons of safety at felling.
Tuesday, March 15, ATIBT organized via Zoom a press conference on tropical timber and sustainable forest management, in view of the International Day of Forests on Monday, March 21. ATIBT began this press conference by recalling the key role that forests, and more particularly tropical forests, play in mitigating climate change and regulating the climate, by acting as the "lungs" of the planet.
The ATIBT team continues to prepare the next ATIBT Forum, which will take place in Nantes during the Carrefour International du Bois from June 1st to 3rd. After 2 years of pandemic, the time has finally come to resume meetings. It is with a great desire to find times of discussion and face-to-face exchanges that we seized the opportunity of the next Carrefour International du Bois to organize the ATIBT Forum and the 70th anniversary of our Association.
Amandine Viretto, a researcher-engineer specialising in the design of wood-based composite materials, was recently recruited by CIRAD. Amandine Viretto holds an engineering degree from the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Clermont Ferrand and a PhD from the École des Mines d'Alès. She has proven experience in the field of green waste valorization and other by-products, co-products and related products of the plant processing industry.
The companies members of ATIBT invited to inform their data of timber purchases on the Themis portal benefit from an additional delay of 3 weeks.
Have you ever stopped to think about how this pandemic has affected you, and what you could contribute to heal the wounds it leaves in our society? Everyone has a story of loss and change over the past two years. The pandemic highlighted how fragile we are, the need to be united, and at the same time gave us a warning: we are not paying enough attention to our environment.
Over the past five years, the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) has helped more than 80 countries improve their ability to monitor and share their progress toward international climate goals. The improved reporting and transparency resulting from CBIT support has had a truly game-changing impact – not only for tracking progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also by supporting informed climate policy-making in countries around the world.
A new EU-funded project on "Applied research in ecology and social sciences in support of sustainable management of forest ecosystems in Central Africa– (CIFOR-ICRAF)". A project for the benefit of stakeholders in the field; By mobilizing academic and scientific research - Indicative list of eligible research topics...
The reuse of tropical timber species with good durability in a second life is just beginning to emerge. If we look closely, this reuse has many positive externalities, including for the image of tropical timbers, which the "as usable" economy does not value... yet. For several decades, tropical timbers have been used in constructions, and a considerable quantity of CO2 is thus sequestered, for several more decades in many buildings (1 ton of wood = 1 ton of CO2).
The 17th Group of 20 (G20) Heads of State and Government Summit will take place in October 2022 in Bali, Indonesia. Under the Indonesian Presidency, the G20 in 2022 will focus on the theme “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”.
The NGO World Forest ID is organizing a webinar on March 23, 2022 at 4pm (Paris time). The webinar will present the progress of the World Forest ID work, as well as information on the practical use of the data to support the legal timber trade.
What is the role of women in society? The answers are many and varied. According to Diane TCHICAYA, assistant to the Director General at INTERHOLCO's production site in the Republic of Congo, ‘If a woman really wants to be of service, she must be able to work. Even if it's not in an office, a woman has to – that’s how she can help.’
The Executive Director of Forests and Climate Change at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) published an article on nature-based solutions to climate change in the scientific journal ensia last week. We relay it here. Decades ago, the Welsh academic Raymond Williams wrote, “Nature is perhaps the most complex word in the language.”
The 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) will bring together ocean conservation professionals to chart a course towards protecting 30% of the global ocean by 2030. IMPAC5 aims to provide an opportunity for the global community of marine conservation managers, practitioners and decision makers to exchange knowledge, experience and best practices to strengthen the conservation of marine biodiversity and to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the ocean.
The 2nd International Conference on Biodiversity in the Congo Basin will take place on March 6-10, 2023. The second conference will address issues related to preserving the natural environment of the Congo Basin, linked to biodiversity, health, climate and resilient social ecological systems. Links to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity and to the Sustainable Development Goals will be highlighted and discussed. Adding these and possibly other new themes to the conference program will attract a diverse and cross-pollinating audience.
Paris (France), 2-3 February 2022: Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck, CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany meets with representatives of the French Development Agency (AfD) and officials from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the "Fair Deal" and Donor Coordination.
Yaoundé, from 24 to 27 January 2022, the CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck visited Yaoundé, Cameroon. During his stay, in addition to his audience with the Minister of Forests and Wildlife of Cameroon, Dr. Christian Ruck was granted an audience by the Prime Minister, Head of the Cameroon Government, His Excellency Mr. Joseph Dion Ngute.
Well ahead of the CCPM meeting, the CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck, chaired a hybrid in-person and videoconference meeting of the West Bloc in charge of monitoring the implementation of N'Djamena Declaration.
N'Djamena from 27 February to 2 March – During this visit to Chad, the CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck was granted audiences by high-level political authorities of the Republic of Chad and a regional organization...
N'Djamena (Chad), 28-30 January 2022 - The CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck accompanied by His Excellency Dr. Kricke Gordon, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Chad, visited the African Parks Network Project, of the National Park, which is under the end-to-end management and well appreciated Leadership of Dr Pierre-Armand Roulet, Regional Director – Chad.
The XV World Forestry Congress aims to provide an opportunity for the global forestry community to consider the state and future of world forestry, particularly in the context of the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, while striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. It will be held on the theme, “Building a Green, Healthy and Resilient Future with Forests.”
Mr. Paulo GOMES President of the ORANGO Investment Corporation, an economist, financier and committed ecologist with a stellar reputation within both the pan-African and international communities, was granted an audience Tuesday, 18 January 2022, by the Minister of the Environment, Sustainable Development and the Congo Basin, Mrs. Arlette SUDAN-NONAULT, as part of fund raising efforts under the investment plan of the Congo Basin Blue Fund, a meeting that was graced by Mr. Nicaise Mouloumbi, Vice-president of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council of Gabon.
On November 2, a group of 12 donors, including the European Commission, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Bezos Earth Fund, collectively pledged at least $1.5 billion in funding for the protection and sustainable management of Congo Basin forests over the next four years. This pledge is part of a larger $12 billion commitment made at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland by 100 leaders to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030, and it received a mixed reception from experts in the region.
The European Union was about to get rid of its main tool in the fight against illegal logging. However, civil society organizations from all over the world have protested to change the situation. Few months ago, the European Union (EU) seemed determined to abandon what constitutes its most innovative and ambitious initiative in the fight against illegal logging on a global scale.
The sub-regional workshop to decipher the results of the 26th Conference of Parties (CoP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was held in Kigali, in the Republic of Rwanda from January 25 to 27, 2022. It was organized by the Executive Secretariat of the Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC) with the support of the Strengthening and Institutionalizing of the Central African Forests Observatory (RIOFAC) Project.
COMIFAC is gathering its experts and focal points of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its additional protocols to host the 33rd meeting of the Central African Biodiversity Working Group (GTBAC 33). The Executive Secretariat of COMIFAC is organising the thirty-third meeting of GTBAC (GTBAC-33) from 14 to 18 February 2021. This meeting, chaired by the Executive Secretary of COMIFAC, began with opening remarks by the GTBAC Leader, the Director of the GIZ Regional Project in support of COMIFAC and the Co-facilitator of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership.
Libreville (Gabonese Republic), January 29, 2022 - The new headquarters of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) was the setting for the exchange meeting initiated by the President of the ECCAS Commission, His Excellency Gilberto Da Piédade Verissimo, and the ambassadors of friendly countries and the technical and financial partners of ECCAS.
Mbalmayo, Cameroon, 17-19 January 2022 - The Executive Secretariat of COMIFAC held an onsite and online technical workshop to finalise its 2022 Annual Budgeted Work Plan. The objectives of this workshop were as follows: (i) to present the state of implementation of the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat's 2021 AWP (ii) to consolidate the actions to be carried out in 2022 by the Executive Secretariat of COMIFAC with the support of stakeholders (iii) to identify possible areas of synergy with the actions of the AWP and the contributions of technical and financial partners.
The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo H.E. Félix Antoine Tshisékédi Tshilombo has succeeded his counterpart and brother H.E. Denis Sassou N'guésso as the current President of ECCAS for a one-year term.
The 2022 session of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be the 10th session of the HLPF, and will take place in July 2022.
The GEF-7 Corporate Scorecard is a comprehensive report on the performance of the Global Environment Facility during the GEF-7 period. In particular, the Scorecard reports on the progress made towards the achievement of the GEF-7 targets. It also looks at how the GEF is utilizing resources made available for its seventh replenishment cycle and making progress in the implementation of key policies. The Scorecard is published twice a year and this issue includes all projects approved from June 2018 up to and including the December 2021 work program.
“The Adaptation Fund’s effective projects and innovative finance programs continued to grow rapidly in 2021, with now more than 125 concrete localized projects around the world reaching over 31 million total beneficiaries,” said AF Board Chair Mr. Mattias Broman, of Sweden. “The Fund appreciates its record-setting support received from 16 different contributors in 2021, which will go to helping reach even more vulnerable countries with concrete adaptation solutions.”
The IPCC is now in its sixth assessment cycle, in which the IPCC is producing the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) with contributions by its three Working Groups and a Synthesis Report, three Special Reports, and a refinement to its latest Methodology Report. The Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis was released on 9 August 2021. The Working Group II contribution was released on 28 February 2022. The Working Group III contribution will be released in early April 2022. The Synthesis Report will be the last of the AR6 products and is scheduled to be released in September 2022.
Many of the impacts of global warming are now simply "irreversible" according to the UN's latest assessment. But the authors of a new report say that there is still a brief window of time to avoid the very worst. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that humans and nature are being pushed beyond their abilities to adapt. Over 40% of the world's population are "highly vulnerable" to climate, the sombre study finds. But there's hope that if the rise in temperatures is kept below 1.5C, it would reduce projected losses.
The IWC was set up under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which was signed in Washington DC, US, on 2 December 1946. The preamble to the Convention states that its purpose is to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry.
On Tuesday 25 January 2022, between 11:00 and 13:00, a meeting was held at the Hotel La Falaise in Yaoundé between Partners of the forest and environment sector in Cameroon. Organised by KfW on the occasion of the mission of the CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck in Yaoundé, the meeting consisted of the re-launch of the Consultation Circle of the Partners of MINFOF and MINEPDED (CCPM).
The meeting between the two distinguished personalities took place on Monday 24 January 2022, at the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife of Cameroon and focused on; Debriefing of COP 26 - Next steps; MoP: a) COMIFAC's assumption of the co-chairmanship of the MoP: date, theme and structure of the MoP; b) Letter of Invitation to the MoP for COMIFAC Ministers by the COMIFAC President; c) Letter of Invitation to the MoP by the current COMIFAC President to Ministers...
Yaoundé, Cameroon, 13 January 2021 - The Republic of Angola becomes the 11th member state of the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), a common organization for the countries of the sub-region in charge of coordinating actions for the conservation and sustainable management of forest ecosystems, announces the accession of the Republic of Angola to the institution as its eleventh member state. The letter of accession of Angola was signed on October 20, 2021 by its President, João Lourenço, after a vote in the Angolan National Assembly.
The resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) takes place online and in Nairobi on 28 February – 2 March 2022. The overall theme for UNEA-5 is “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”. This highlights the pivotal role nature plays in our lives and in social, economic and environmental sustainable development.
Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
We renew our commitment to promote sustainability in agriculture by eliminating deforestation in relation to agricultural commodities, and by working in partnership with consumer and producer countries and with all actors along the supply chains to this end. We will take further action both nationally and as a group and will also collectively promote and support strengthened and ambitious action at European level to achieve sustainable and deforestation-free agricultural commodity supplies and thereby contribute to sustaining forests and their ecosystems globally.
The 17th session of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF 17) will take place in May 2022 in New York, US. The session will include policy discussions on the implementation of the UN strategic plan for forests 2017–2030, including activities in support of the thematic priorities for the biennium 2021–2022.