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Central African youth leaders and youth support groups rally in support of their forests, biodiversity and climate
Summary: Following the workshop on the prospects for implementing CEFDHAC reform, which took place in Douala from 21 to 22 May 2008 and following the Kigali CEFDHAC meeting, it became clear that there was a need to organize general assemblies for the youth, women, parliamentarians and indigenous peoples’ networks, that would establish legally recognized structures and appoint their legal representatives. Learn more...
Is the Congo Basin’s future in jeopardy?
CBFP partners are urged to place the youth at the heart of interventions in the Congo Basin, thereby helping to guarantee sustainable investments and contribute towards the sustainable development of the countries concerned. It is a call for the active and direct involvement of youth leaders and youth support organizations in the Partners’ projects and programmes. Central Africa’s future hangs in the balance, with the sub-region on the one hand and the entire planet’s future on the other hand, in light of ecosystem services provided by the world’s second lung as the Congo Basin is also known.
Youth leaders and youth support organizations in Central Africa have come together under the Network of Youth Leaders’ Network for sustainable management of forest and humid ecosystems of Central Africa (REJEFAC) and are actively campaigning for their forests, biodiversity and climate in each of the ten countries, at the level of primary and secondary schools, universities, in professional circles, villages and communities, decentralized local communities, cities through a host of projects, programs and efforts conducted at the local, national, regional and international levels.
In this article, we will review:
The core tenets of the creation of REJEFAC;
Solemn commitment...to the slogan “With or without pay, I pledge my allegiance to my community”;
REJEFAC - Regional mobilization in close ranks;
The pressing need for fund-raising;
Structuring challenges at the local, national and regional levels.
(1) Core tenets of the creation of REJEFAC;
The saying goes “youth is the country’s future”, “youth today is the future of tomorrow”. Central African youth leaders and youth support organization are rising up today, not tomorrow, to support their forests, biodiversity and climate. They are already involved and are campaigning in each of the ten Central African countries to avoid a poisoned legacy. They are well aware that the hopes and future of Central Africa and its forest ecosystems rest squarely on young people’s shoulders in spite of major changes taking place in our world today.
In this regard, the youth in our Congo Basin countries have in recent years been pushing for a basic right, the right to have a viable and habitable Planet tomorrow. The threats are sobering and serious: disruption of livelihood support systems like forest ecosystems, climate and biodiversity, a rekindling of the arms race, rising inequality, the deterioration of public health, Covid-19 and certain States headed in the wrong direction… In the face of these huge threats, denial, tuning out and ignorance are no longer options. For a growing number of youths, the scales are falling, blithe consumerism is no longer acceptable, anxiety is becoming palpable, school curricula are being reassessed for relevance, and mobilization has become the only logical course of action.
A movement was born in the 2008s, the Central African Forest Youth Network- long may it prosper! While the “adult world” affirmed long ago in the Rights of Future Generations, according to the famous quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “We do not inherit the Earth from our parents, we lend it to our children”, foreshadowing the idea of sustainability, it’s up to the youth to claim these rights as the elementary and biological evidence and basis for all other rights (and duties!). For any social movement to shape events in a lasting manner, it must have 1) a structure and spokespersons and 2) the ability to formulate specific demands.
2) Solemn commitment...to the slogan” With or without pay, I pledge my allegiance to my community”;
A- Youth serving as volunteers at CBFP Meetings of Parties and Conferences since June 2015.
Volunteer participation in the Meeting of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) has now become customary practice. Young volunteers made their first test participation in the 15th edition of the CBFP at the Yaoundé Conference Centre in Cameroon. The test proved to be a huge success. This first successful participation encouraged the European Union to continue soliciting the services of young volunteers. Hence in 2015, young volunteers from Rwanda were invited to take part in the 16th edition that took place in the country. In response to the high quality of the services provided by these youths, the European Union CBFP Facilitation once more called on the young volunteers to serve at the 17th edition which took place from 13 to 27 October 2017 at the Sawa Hotel in Douala in Cameroon. This third participation was different from the previous two in that the volunteers were directly involved in the organization and conduct of the proceedings. Three days prior to the Meeting, they gathered and immediately began logistic preparations.
They were selected based on the CBFP website’s volunteer database. Gender equity was considered in the selection process which aimed to encourage young girls and give them an opportunity to express themselves. In the end, thirty-one youths were selected in all from the Adamawa, Centre and Littoral regions. The AJVC (the project proponent), the JVE, REJEFAC, CADDE and REFADD are some of the organizations to which these volunteers belong, with girls making up 60% overall. The youths were involved in several activities over the course of the meeting. In the logistics department, they were responsible for designing badges and putting kits together for the participants. In the meeting rooms, they were charged with the set up and smooth functioning of the sound system and small equipment needed by the participants during the conference.
The youths successfully ran the Meeting secretariat and did the printing, photocopying and archiving of documents, among other things. Their huge and active presence at the reception desk helped facilitate registration and guidance of participants. Since the volunteers were assigned tasks based on their profile, those who had a technical and scientific knowledge on the topics discussed were assigned either to the colleges, Streams or to certain public figures. Hence during Stream 1 on forest governance, Stream 2 on Biodiversity and Stream 3 on Climate Change, the “junior experts” in addition to taking care of the logistics, helped the rapporteurs with note taking and drafting of minutes. The young volunteers who were assigned to the Colleges demonstrated the same proactive spirit. Some of the EU Facilitation’s Experts and Officers were assisted by the volunteers who either served as translators, or helped them with note-taking or logistics.
The young volunteers from Cameroon seized the opportunity to strengthen their technical and logistic skills for organizing large events. They learned more about the main themes and projects relating to environmental protection and sustainable management of Congo Basin forests. Some of them established personal contact with a few public figures.
The CBFP also provided an opportunity for the shortlisted youth organizations to informally introduce themselves to the participants. As for REJEFAC, its presentation focused on introducing its new strategic framework. This presentation began at Radio Environnement. Later on, through B2B contacts and supporting documents, REJEFAC met with experts, public figures, donors, partners and many others. It presented its strategic framework which comprises four strategic axes (SA). SA 1 deals with peace and security issues surrounding protected areas and natural resource management and SA 2 is concerned with reforestation, forest conservation and restoring degraded soils. As for SA 3, it addresses issues relating to integrated water management while SA 4 tackles all cross-cutting issues such as capacity building, financial support and technology transfer.
It is also worth noting that REJEFAC took part in the CBFP meeting in Brussels (Belgium) in November 2018 and in December 2019 in Yaoundé (Cameroon).
B- Youths mobilized during celebrations of international days
It is important to note that REJEFAC member organizations and the Network’s Coordination office are regular fixtures at Climate Talks (COP CLIMATE) and at CDB-COP Biodiversity meetings as well. In order to prepare the youth for these international debates, REJEFAC’s technical secretariat has successively organized COP in my city (2015-2016); and COP CHEZ NOUS 2017, 2018, 2019 and in light of the COVID-19 situation, an online webinar will be held in October to prepare the youth for the two upcoming COPS and for WWF’s New Deal for Nature and POST 2020.
C- Involvement in Conferences of the Parties: How are the Congo Basin’s young men and women leaders able to work with meagre resources and how do they prepare for upcoming COP events?
The AJVC (www.ajvc.org) which runs the REJEFAC technical secretariat, organizes events in the area of energy (PODC), awareness campaigns and environmental education every year, and this year we decided to postpone the COP CHEZ NOUS 2020 simulation activity to early 2021 and organize a webinar in October 2020 on engaging youth leaders in biodiversity issues.
Through individual and collective efforts, the youth are doing their best to make a contribution. Youth-led civil society organizations and movements are actively working on all fronts. The youth are rallying inhabitants to better protect them and support monitoring efforts. The fight against climate change requires strong, global and ambitious action. It is crucial that the young generations be involved and COP 26 and COP 15 is determined to host the “The Youth Climate Conference” as well as the pre-COP and other sensitization efforts. Rescheduling the COPs will allow the efforts at local and regional level to focus entirely on the issues to be discussed at these international meetings and buy more time for the needed preparations. We will continue working through our public awareness raising and advocacy efforts to engage with all stakeholders to step up our climate ambitions, strengthen resilience and curb emissions.
(3) REJEFAC - Regional mobilization in close ranks: COMIFAC and its GIZ-POST 2020 support programme
Equip the youth with core skills to enable them to transition into a society that lives in harmony with nature:
The modest setting of the Cercle ELAEIS Circle of Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo served as the venue, from 11 to 14 March 2020, for the sub-regional finalization workshop on the REJEFAC strategy and operational plan, organized with the technical and financial support of COMIFAC and its GIZ support project. Fortunately, our Youth Leaders’ Network for the Sustainable Management of Central African forest ecosystems met a few weeks before the global COVID outbreak and the onset of confinement. About thirty young leaders from 10 Central African countries took part in a REJEFAC sub-regional workshop held in Kinshasa, capital of the DRC. The workshop’s overall objective was to prepare the REJEFAC youths to draft the Post-2020 Biodiversity Strategic Framework and raise their awareness of biodiversity conservation as part of celebrations marking the World Wildlife Day. The Kinshasa REJEFAC Forum provided an opportunity for the youth leaders to engage actively alongside Member States in discussions around the role that young people, men and women, can play in building sustainable and resilient rural and urban communities that contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The meeting helped to:
Enlighten the REJEFAC members on how to develop the post-2020 strategic framework for biodiversity;
Collect and document comments from the REJEFAC youth to inform the development of the post-2020 strategic framework for biodiversity;
Strengthen the capacities of the Central African youth for wildlife and wild habitat conservation;
Develop a long-term follow-up framework to get REJEFAC youths involved in wildlife conservation efforts and CITES decision-making processes;
Craft a consensus-based approach to revamping REJEFAC whose strategy will take into account emerging themes such as Reducing risks and natural disasters, smart agriculture and waste management;
Validate REJEFAC’s Annual Work Plan 2020 based on the Operationalization Framework for its Regional Strategy and break it down into activities and/or into efforts at the regional and national levels.
Intergenerational injustice must not only address the future, but also the past and present. How can we work together to protect the global climate when some youths, babies and their parents are drowning in the abyss of the Mediterranean, while others stage protests in Brussels, Paris and Quebec alongside their parents and teachers? The climate movement will merely sound hollow in countries that lack essential and pre-materialist goods, given that rallying for such a cause appears to be a concern for those who live in luxury-filled and post-materialist society, not because it lacks validity, but because the human spirit can only awaken to the urgency of climate issues when it is freed from the burden of daily deprivations : a hungry belly has no climate! Poor people and lands as well as their populations and descendants are doomed to bear twice the brunt.
What do the African “township and shantytown generations” have in common with the European “climate generation” aside from the fact that they live on the same Earth whose climate is spinning out of control? Will these impoverished youth in Latin America and developing countries have to foot the bill for the out of control climate, while Europe’s “climate generation” is spared? Our aim is to make sustainable and balanced management of Central Africa’s forest ecosystems attractive to the youth. Can the Congolese children who are sometimes are buried alive in the artisanal mines that feed Western multinational corporations, afford the privilege of being “climate conscious” when they have to scrape by on pennies? Land-grabbing issues? How and who finances the innovative projects of youth leaders and civil society actors in the sub-region?
(5) The stakes
An urgent appeal to the CBFP partners and States and governments: We need you!!! Time is short for the Congo Basin’s youth but there is a long road ahead.
REJEFAC has sent a call to CBFP partners and respective governments and States urging them to place the youth at the heart of interventions in the Congo Basin, as a way of guaranteeing the sustainability of investments. It is a call for the active and direct involvement of youth leaders and youth support groups in the Partners’ projects and programmes. Central Africa’s future hangs in the balance, with the sub-region on the one hand and the entire planet’s future on the other hand, in light of ecosystem services provided by the world’s second lung as the Congo Basin is also known. Central African youth have come together under the Network of Central African Forest Youth for sustainable management of forest and humid ecosystems of Central Africa (REJEFAC) and are actively campaigning for their forests, biodiversity and climate in each of the ten countries, at the level of primary and secondary schools, universities, in professional circles, villages and communities, decentralized local communities, cities through a host of projects, programs and efforts conducted at the local, national, regional and international levels.
The Conference of Parties is the governing body of the Convention of Biodiversity on Climate Change. The United Nations Conference on Climate Change COP-26 which was slated to hold in Glasgow in November was postponed because of COVID-19. The COP 15 conference which was supposed to take place in Kunming, China from 15 to 28 October was also postponed to a later date. In order to be useful, the new framework adopted at the COP 15 must offer added value to curb these pressures. Patricia Espinosa, the United Nations Executive Secretariat on Climate Change said: “COVID-19 is the most urgent threat facing humanity today but we cannot forget that climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity over the long term.” “Economies will soon restart and the countries will have a chance to recover, and include the most vulnerable in their plans and shape the economy of the 21st century in ways that are clean, green, healthy, just, safe and more resilient.
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...
