Why a fund is needed
The forests of the Congo Basin, the second largest rainforest in the world, are an essential resource providing food, shelter and livelihoods for over 50 million people.
Covering 200 million hectares and including approximately one fifth of the world’s remaining closed canopy tropical forest, they are also a very significant carbon store with a vital role in regulating the regional climate; and harbour diversity of global importance.
The Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF) is a multi donor fund set up to take early action to protect the forests in the Congo Basin region. The Fund invites proposals for transformative and innovative initiatives from the governments and civil society and private sector of the Congo Basin to slow the rate of deforestation, through developing the capacity of the people and institutions in the countries of the Congo basin to manage their forest. This includes helping local communities find livelihoods that are consistent with forest conservation and developing new approaches which will bring genuine change and ensure future sustainable forest management.
The Fund will support activities/projects which complement particular aspects of the COMIFAC (The Central Africa Forests Commission) convergence plan. The CBFF will work closely with Central African governments, regional institutions, COMIFAC, ECCAS, Congo Basin technical partners, international donors, NGOs and private sector.Although the CBFF is intended to directly benefit the countries of the Congo Basin, it is also considered as a global public good, which will have continental as well as global benefits.
The Fund will be run by a Governing Council chaired by Professor Wangari Maathai and the Rt Hon. Paul Martin; and managed and disbursed by a Secretariat based at the African Development Bank (AfDB).
This website is a guide to assist countries and organisations wishing to apply for funding.
‘It is a huge challenge, but for all our futures it is one that we must meet.’