Sections:

What is being done?

Collaboration over forest conservation between the Congo Basin countries is not new.

In 1988, discussions in Gabon led to the ECOFAC programme (Ecosystèmes Forestieres D’Afrique Centrale) in six countries focused on protected area management. In 1996, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) convened a high-level meeting, the Conference on the Dense Moist Forests of Central Africa (CEFDHAC) to raise the political profile of forest conservation, and to promote regional collaboration.

In 1999, the Cameroon Government and WWF hosted a summit meeting of the Heads of State of the region, leading to the Yaounde Declaration on the Congo Basin forest, which in turn gave birth three years later to COMIFAC -the Conference of Ministers of Forestry of Central Africa. COMIFAC met for the first time in Yaounde in December 2000. The Ministers approved, and the Secretariat oversees the implementation of its main working tool, the COMIFAC Convergence Plan. This is divided into ten Strategic Areas (see table). COMIFAC also provides institutional shelter to a number of specialised regional collaborative bodies.

The Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) was established in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Since that time, the partnership -a loose federation of donors, Government Agencies responsible for forestry in the Congo Basin, international and national NGOs and research institutions - has grown in both strength and complexity. Its purpose is simple: to enhance collaboration among those working to the common end of improving the management and conservation of the Congo Basin rainforest. It also launched the publication of The State of the Forest in 2006, a process it intends to repeat every two years.

The forest sector in Central Africa has attracted a considerable amount of support from the donor community, in the first instance through the Tropical Forest Action Plan process which began in the mid-1980s, followed later by a series of Forest-Environment Sector Programmes, which started in the late 1990s, under the general umbrella of the World Bank. Through these have emerged the Forest Codes, which have been revised in most of the Congo Basin countries in recent years. Many other donors, international organisations and international NGOs are also active in the conservation and management of the forests of the Congo Basin – including Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, US, the EU, GEF (Global Environment Facility), ITTO (International Tropical Timber Organisation) and UN Agencies

COMIFAC Convergence Plan Strategic Areas

  1. Harmonisation of forest and taxation policies
  2. Knowledge of the resource
    • Inventory of forest resources (timber, non timber, medicinal plants and wildlife)
    • Strengthening and/or setting up national and regional observatories
  3. Management of ecosystems and reforestation
  4. Biodiversity Conservation
  5. Sustainable use of forest resources
  6. Development of alternative activities and poverty alleviation
    • Alternatives to poaching
    • Income-generating microprojects for the local population
  7. Capacity building, stakeholder participation, information, training
  8. Research Development
  9. Development of funding mechanisms
    • National Forestry Funds
    • Innovative finance mechanisms (area conversion tax, % for COMIFAC, debt for nature etc)
    • Debt alleviation mechanisms
    • Bi- and multi-lateral financing
  10. Regional cooperation and partnerships

Return to top