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The minutes of the 8th meeting of the CBFP Governing Council are available for download!
Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) - 11 December 2020 – the CBFP Council held its eighth meeting. The gathering was chaired by the Honourable Dr Christian Ruck, CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, co-chaired by His Excellency Mr. Jules Doret Ndongo, Cameroon Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Acting Chairman of COMIFAC and hosted by: His Excellency Barrister Claude NYAMUGABO BAZIBUHE, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Please download here below the minutes of the 8th meeting of the CBFP Governing Council
The meeting was graced by the presence of politicians, Forestry/Environment Ministers from the Central African countries and the High Representatives of ECCAS, COMIFAC, OCFSA and GVTC.
Close to 150 delegates also participated, representing the seven colleges that make up the CBFP with about fifty participants joining online, namely:
CBFP Regional College: ECCAS, COMIFAC and Ministers accompanied by the National COMIFAC Coordinators of the COMIFAC member countries;
CBFP Civil Society College: CEFDHAC-CPR and ROSCEVAC accompanied by representatives of REJEFAC, REFADD, REPALEAC, REPAR networks, representatives of RECEIAC and local CSOs;
CBFP International NGO College: AWF, WCS accompanied by WWF, WRI, FERN, TI
CBFP Private Sector College: ATIBT and Earthworm Foundations represented by the DRC’s Timber Industry Federation;
CBFP Donor College: Norway accompanied by Germany, Belgium and France;
CBFP Scientific and Academic College: CIFOR;
CBFP Multilateral College: UNESCO and GVTC represented by ICCN.
The Eighth CBFP Council Meeting was structured around a first segment which was devoted to the opening ceremony. During the opening session of the 8th CBFP Council meeting, the Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Honourable Dr Christian Ruck, provided a brief overview of the objectives and activities conducted by the German Facilitation for close to a year, underscoring the need to quickly develop a common position for Central Africa on Climate and Biodiversity issues, in order to strengthen the sub-region’s voice at international negotiations coming up in 2021.
Coming after the Mayor of Kinshasa, the Ministers of Forestry of the Congo (Acting President of OCFSA), and of Cameroon (Acting President of COMIFAC), the ECCAS Commissioner for Forests and the DRC Minister of Forestry took turns making statements. They all thanked the German Facilitation for all its efforts and especially for holding the meeting in Kinshasa amidst the turmoil of the COVID crisis. Furthermore, they were unanimous in acknowledging the need to quickly reach a common position for Central Africa through a Declaration that could be put forward at international Climate and Biodiversity negotiations. They pledged to work actively to help finalize the text speedily, noting that there was significant room to increase the funding granted to date for forest and biodiversity preservation in the Congo Basin, to compensate the countries for the efforts they are making both individually and collectively.
The Commissioner representing ECCAS, while recalling that the ongoing reform of the sub-regional organization envisages the centralization of various existing institutions, reiterated his wish that the Declaration on the common position would be taken to the international scene by the President of ECCAS, thereby expanding the political reach of the commitment made by COMIFAC, the specialized sub-regional institution dedicated to forests.
The moderator of the thematic workshop that gathered all the 7 CBFP colleges that had worked on the draft Joint Declaration of the Central African States, presented a summary of the text submitted for review to the Ministers of Forestry and the partners. He underscored the need to hammer out a “deal” outlining payments for ecosystem services of global importance. Such a deal would entail a commitment of the States to do more to preserve the Congo Basin forests and their biodiversity, on the one hand, and a commitment of funding partners to increase their contributions to match the magnitude of challenges facing the climate, biodiversity and forests in the Central Africa sub-region, on the other hand. The German Facilitation will continue to assist the States in finalizing the Declaration, by collecting inputs from the States and funding partners, in order to come up with a document that reflects both the common position of the States and the consensus among the partners.
The presentation of the transhumance workshop report stressed the importance of this issue for the countries concerned across the Sudano-Sahelian fringe and the increasing pressure from livestock movements in transit areas and the northern edge of the Congo Basin forests. The experts recommend awareness raising at the highest level in the States, to ensure better institutional integration, greater cooperation between countries, especially in cross-border areas, including on issues of security, taxation and related levies, which will require bilateral agreements that clarify the laws applicable to transhumants and communication actions on the rules established.
The CEFDHAC report summarized the actions conducted by the organization, particularly by civil society throughout the Congo Basin. The President underscored the need to prepare well for international meetings coming up in 2021 and reiterated the availability of CEFDHAC and civil society to contribute to the preparatory work.
Each CBFP college was given the floor to present the state of affairs within the College (news), and prospects or activities planned by the College. The focus was on the Regional College, with a special interest in news from the regional organizations (ECCAS; COMIFAC; OCFSA; the Congo Basin Climate Commission).
In their statements, the representatives of the respective CBFP colleges were unanimous in affirming the need to urgently come up with a common position for Central Africa at upcoming international meetings. They further insisted
Regional college) on the need to settle COMIFAC’s arrears to allow the transition towards a new Executive Secretariat for the organization and the launch of the mid-term evaluation of the implementation of the Convergence Plan;
-NGO College) on human rights compliance and the need to promote economic and social development in the periphery of protected areas;
-Private Sector College) on the crucial need to help the private timber industry become truly lucrative again by improving logistical connections, reducing taxes and related charges, reimbursing VAT to exporters without delay, stepping up the fight against illegal logging, facilitating the mobilization of new investments in order to quickly ramp up local processing capacities in preparation for the ban on log exports coming into force on 1 January 2022, providing professional training in the timber processing trades, formalizing and legalizing domestic timber markets, in accordance with FLEGT commitments, and renewing land use plans for forest concessions as part of a secure long-term land zoning framework, taking into account emerging international issues ;
-Research) on the development of a new issue of the State of the Forests report due in 2021 with contributions from over 150 researchers and the release of a new information platform on the Congo Basin forests on the OFAC website
-Donors College) on the donors’ commitment to continue and especially increase their contribution to the financing of forest preservation in the context of climate change, and conservation of biodiversity in the second tropical green lung of the planet, and also renewing their commitment to support efforts to curb the negative impacts of transhumance, and support dialogue on a sustainable timber value chain, particularly dialogue with China
- Multilateral College) on supporting protected area authorities, on the need to make more resources available for conservation and improve the livelihoods of communities; on the need to equip protected area authorities to manage man-wildlife conflicts, and help develop a “Zero poaching” strategy; on the need to improve governance in sharing benefits from natural resources; and combat climate change by better understanding the drivers of change and mitigation measures that need to be put in place. The Colleges’ statements are here attached.
The FONAREDD representative from the DRC shared her organization’s experience in REDD financing in the country, stressing the importance of strengthening cooperation between the respective financing tools to ensure greater consistency of actions taken, the need to focus on direct and indirect causes and to strengthen territorial governance for better territorial planning across all sub-sectors. She further underscored the need for a fund that would allow building on a foundation of trust where the responsibilities for implementation lie with the States and their implementing partners on the ground, hence reducing the scope of conditions and prerequisites.
During the closing session, the CBFP Facilitator recalled the calendar of major events coming up in 2021, including the Symposium on Tropical Forests in Berlin, the World Conservation Congress in Marseille, the World Forestry Congress in Seoul, the China-Africa Forum in Dakar, COP 15 on Biological Diversity in Kunming and COP 26 on Climate in Glasgow. With these in mind, and based on the report of the CBFP Regional College and the Ministers’ consultations, Honourable Dr Christian Ruck made it clear that the Joint Declaration of the Central Africa States needed to be finalized speedily in the COMIFAC countries (the ball is now in the Ministers' court), especially in view of the upcoming symposium in Berlin, and reiterated the availability of the German Facilitation to assist the States and their CBFP partners in this endeavour.
The Acting Chairman of COMIFAC renewed his commitment to ensuring that a common position is finalized as soon as possible so that the Joint Declaration can be taken to the top international bodies, particularly in climate and biodiversity negotiations.
Taking the floor on behalf of the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to close the proceedings, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development recalled that the DRC would be taking over the presidency of the African Union in the month of January 2021. He reiterated his country's commitment to the sub-regional process of concerted forest management, and announced his government's decision to host the 3rd Summit of COMIFAC Heads of State in Kinshasa in the first half of 2021.
Korup United, the Voluntary Association of ex-personnel of the Korup Project (1998-2003), is organizing a two-day Symposium October 31 - November 01, 2024, on Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Lower Guinea Congolian Forest Ecosystem. This event also commemorates the 38th Anniversary of the creation of the Korup National Park in October 1986 by Presidential Decree as the first rainforest IUCN Category II National Park in Cameroon.
Mrs Salina GRENET-CATALANO was appointed on July 5, 2024, by decrees of the Prime Minister and the Minister in charge of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Director of Global Affairs of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. It is in this light that she takes over Mr Christophe GUILHOU and becomes French’s new Co-facilitator for the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP).
PANGEA investigates variation between and within Earth’s two largest tropical forests in the Americas and Central Africa while integrating datasets and research from existing and complementary activities across the tropics. PANGEA’s research questions focus on five thematic areas, Biogeochemical Cycles; Biodiversity; Climate Interactions and Feedbacks; Social-Ecological Systems; and Disturbance Dynamics.
The Science Panel for the Congo Basin (SPCB) was launched on 3rd December 2023, at COP28 in Dubai. The SPCB is an independent platform for scientists from the region to synthesize the existing knowledge including Indigenous peoples and autochthonous knowledge, on the functioning of, and threats to, the Congo Basin and its ecosystems.
The DYNAFAC collective was created to develop common skills and technical and scientific complementarities. Its goal: to develop activities that will ultimately improve development plans and ensure better management of production forests in Central Africa.
The Congo Basin Science Initiative (CBSI) is an independent scientist-led platform that promotes long-term investment in science in the Congo Basin with a mission to transform our understanding of the world’s second largest extent of tropical forest, build scientific capacity in the region, and use this knowledge to support sustainable development.
In his book, "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need,” Bill Gates singled out CGIAR centers, which have been at the forefront of supporting the world to feed itself through research including developing improved higher-yielding varieties of important staples such as maize and rice, as doing work that is “indispensable in creating new climate-smart crops and livestock for the world’s poor farmers.”
The PANGEA Scoping Campaign had a strong presence at the 20th Meeting of the Parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership from May 31 – June 5, 2024 in Kinshasa, DRC. The conference exchanges between civil servants, scientists, and philanthropic organizations in the Congo Basin provided a special opportunity to address the need for strengthening collaborative partnerships in the region and pan-tropically.
The CBFP and the coordination of the Western Bloc are pleased to invite you to a face-to-face exchange session, to be held on Friday 4 October from 8:00 to 10:00 at the Hôtel de l'Amitié, in N'Djamena, on the occasion of the conference on pastoralism and protected areas. The event will provide an opportunity to reflect on how the CBFP can continue to lead discussions on the most topical issues in the sub-region.
The Conference aims at: Presenting the state of knowledge on the causes and consequences of tensions between agropastoral activities and protected areas within the Sahelian and Sudano-Guinean ecosystems; Reviewing the modes of governance and technical innovations making it possible to better manage the interface zones between agropastoral areas and protected areas, in order to promote the sustainable development of agropastoral territories...
After a series of broken silence procedures in the lead-up to the Summit, the Summit of the Future (SOF) opened under a cloud of uncertainty when the Russian Federation made a last-minute proposal for an amendment to the outcome document. However, following a quick voting round, delegates adopted the Summit’s negotiated outcome, the Pact for the Future, and its two annexes: the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration of Future Generations. The rest of the day then proceeded largely as planned, with general statements by high-level representatives taking place in parallel with two interactive dialogues on the Summit’s themes.
The Summit of the Future opened with some drama when the Russian Federation tabled its objection to several paragraphs in the outcome documents: the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact, and Declaration on Future Generations. In the end, after months of negotiations, the Pact was adopted. UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Philémon Yang thanked the Co-Facilitators for steering a complex negotiating process and described the just-adopted Pact as a reflection of “our pledge” to lay the foundation for a sustainable, inclusive, and peaceful global order.
The Central African Biodiversity Working Group adopts common views for COP-16 at the CBD and related meetings at the end of their 38 meeting held from September 9 to 13, 2024 in Brazzaville. The Central African Biodiversity Working Group held its thirty-eighth meeting (GTBAC-38) from September 9 to 13, 2024 in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo. These meetings organised by the Executive Secretariat of the Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC) with technical and financial support from the GIZ Regional Support Project to COMIFAC, brought together members of the GTBAC.
President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Philemon Yang has made available an updated programme of the Summit of the Future (SoF), along with a logistics note, an announcement of the co-chairs for the interactive dialogues to take place during the Summit, and lists of speakers for the interactive dialogues. The SoF is taking place in New York, US, from 22-23 September 2024.
New York, 10 September 2024 – Philémon Yang, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Cameroon, took office today as President of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at a time when the urgent need to strengthen multilateralism respond to new and emerging challenges is increasingly acute. The theme of President Yang’s mandate is “Unity in diversity, for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for everyone, everywhere”. His priorities range from boosting gender equality, advancing multilingualism to combatting terrorism. Under his leadership, efforts will focus on fostering more effective collaboration and finding effective solutions to global challenges.
On 10 September 2024, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) closed its 78th session. Addressing the Assembly for the last time as its President, Dennis Francis (Trinidad and Tobago) underscored the important role of the multilateral system in overcoming complex challenges. Philemon Yang (Cameroon), President-elect of the 79th session of the UNGA, subsequently took an oath of office, pledging to perform his duties “in all loyalty, discretion and conscience.” This was followed by the opening of the Assembly’s 79th session.
07 September, Abidjan - African Environment Ministers meeting in Abidjan have called for the establishment of a legally binding protocol on drought management under the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), with a special focus on Africa. The call for action comes amid growing concerns over the detrimental impact of land degradation, drought and desertification on the continent’s socio-economic stability, food security, and environmental sustainability.
A search was carried out using Google Scholar and Scopus (for the period 2000-2023) and official reports (from the inscription of the site until 2024) submitted by countries on the state of conservation of natural UNESCO World Heritage sites in Africa. The scientific literature does not sufficiently address the determinants of armed conflicts affecting African Natural World Heritage sites or the connections between the quality of governance of Protected Areas and the emergence and/ or resolution of armed conflicts. Understanding the origins and foundations of these armed conflicts requires an in-depth analysis of several determinants linked to the existence of these protected areas and an assessment of the effectiveness of the governance systems, which is rarely available.
Abidjan, 3–6 September 2024 : Leveraging financing and partnerships for combating drought, land degradation and desertification in Africa The note available to dowload explores the critical role of financing and partnerships in addressing the interrelated challenges of drought, land degradation, and desertification in Africa.
Bonn / Laramie, 4 September 2024 - Today, a groundbreaking online map was launched showing the migration paths of land animals around the world. An international team of over 80 scientists has collaborated to create the first-ever interactive migration map of hooved mammals such as antelopes, guanacos and zebras, that routinely travel large distances at different times in the year. Such animals are collectively called “ungulates".
The African Forest Forum (AFF) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s Regional office for Africa, is organizing a three-week Community of Practice (CoP) on “Climate Change in African Forestry and Wildlife Sectors”. The CoP will be held from9 - 27 September 2024, from 12:00 noon - 3.00 pm Nairobi time/ 9:00 am -12.00 noon GMT., via Howspace – a virtual ‘African Forestry Community’ platform – for knowledge sharing and learning.
To prepare the next post-Malabo plan, the ECCAS Regional Economic Community (REC), in partnership with AU, and the Feed the Future Policy LINK Program organized regional stakeholder consultations for the Central Africa region. The participants at the consultation were: the CAADP focal points and government representatives of different countries, as well as private sector and non-state actor representatives from the seven ECCAS Member States. Please download the report...
The tenth special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) regional consultations will be held in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, from 30 August to 6 September 2024, under the theme “Raising Africa’s Ambition to Reduce Land Degradation, Desertification, and Drought.” The theme underscores the critical need to address the current state of land degradation in the region and restore this vital resource.
Rome – A new roadmap guiding the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on forests was endorsed on Wednesday by members at the 27th Session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO 27) in Rome. The FAO Forestry Roadmap - From Vision to Action 2024-2031 sets out how FAO will work to enhance the role forests play in meeting forestry-related goals and targets and in addressing global challenges in coming years.
In recent years, the international community and countries in central Africa have developed various initiatives and programmes to halt biodiversity and natural resource degradation, and to address challenges to sustainable development in forest ecosystems.
At the 26th IUFRO World Congress in Stockholm from 23-29 June 2024, the booth hosted by the Scientific and Academic College of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) provided an opportunity for Crispin Ilunga-Mulala Mushagalusa, a PhD student at the University of Liège (Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech), to present his research as part of the UFA - Reforest project (Reforestation in the Forest Management Units of Cameroon).
This study addresses the need to explore the attitude and perception of local residents toward wildlife and conservation. Questionnaires, surveys and field observations were used in data collection. A total of 400 people was conveniently selected in 16 villages from October to December 2015. Data analysis relied mainly on factor analysis and structural equation modelling in SPSS 21 and Smart-PLS software.
The objective of this side event on 4 June 2024 was move away from rapid conflict mitigation and prevention towards to holistic and integrated coexistence programs between human and forest elephants in rainforest of the Congo Basin.
The theme for International Youth Day 2024 (12 August) is “From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development.” This theme highlights the key connection between digitalization and accelerating the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasizing the crucial contributions of young people in this transformative process.
On 23 December 1994, the United Nations General Assembly decided, in its resolution 49/214, that the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People shall be observed on 9 August every year. The date marks the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations. The International Day observance will take place online on Friday, 9 August 2024. This year’s theme is: Protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact.
CBFP, which is one of the oldest Type 2 partnerships in the United Nations system, registered in the ECOSOC and UN DESA partnerships, and strengthened in SDG 17, is calling on its partners to make the conclusions of the High-Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development their own... the call is crystallised in advocacy for Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership with diverse stakeholders for sustainable developmen. In Fact, Partnerships are the glue for SDG implementation and is been essential to making the Agenda a reality.
This hybrid event aims to set the stage for the 2025 IYC, which will be officially launched during the ICA Global Cooperative Conference, scheduled for November 25-29, 2024, in New Delhi, India. The New York event will serve as a platform to deepen the theme of IYC2025, unveil the media package, discuss the UN resolutions outlining the modalities for the IYC launch.
Side event organized by the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme on the 04/06 from 8h30 to 9h30 am. United Nations member states are committed to reducing hunger, improving health, and conserving natural resources through the Sustainable Development Goals. Additionally, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aims to conserve 30% of terrestrial and marine areas by 2030, promoting sustainable wildlife management and equitable benefits. However, in Central Africa, the unsustainable wild meat trade threatens food security and biodiversity, making these goals challenging to achieve.
The Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme presented its innovative Legal Hub at the recent 20th Meeting of Parties (MoP20) of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership. This event was held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), from 3 to 5 June, 2024. A specific side-event titled "A Tool to Connect Different Sources of Law" showcased the Legal Hub’s critical role in enhancing the legal frameworks governing wildlife management across multiple countries, including the sub-region.
In this 20th meeting, the consortium comprising the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), RIKOLTO, and the Catholic University of Bukavu (UCB) actively participated in the sessions held from June 3 to 5, 2024, at the Pullman Hotel in Kinshasa. During a panel focused on agroforestry and agribusiness, the consortium presented solutions for sustainable and effective land management around the Itombwe Reserve and the Kahuzi-Biega National Park through two main themes...
