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On May 29, 2020, about thirty participants representing the members of the CBFP's Scientific and Academic College took part in a virtual meeting convened by the College's Leaders CIFOR and IRET. The agenda of the meeting focused on introducing the road map of the current CBFP Facilitation as well as the ongoing participative consultation process. Furthermore, other current matters in the College such as the impact of Covid 19 on work of College members were discussed.
please download the Document here below:
200529_Report_Scientific College Meeting.pdf (130.0 KiB)
Chaired by College Co-Leaders Richard Atyi & Donald Iponga
Alain Karsenty, Anne-Julie Rochette, Aurelian Mbzibain, Benoit Mertens, Christiane Käsgen (observatory), David Montgomery, Ehabe Eugene, Bryan Featherstone, Eric Forni, Mary Gonder, Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury, Guillaume Lescuyer, Jennifer Cohen, Luc Janssens de Bisthoven, Maarten Vanhove, Mike Skuja Bioko, Robert Nasi, Désiré Nkwinkwa, Richard Nyirenda, Pascal Boeckx, Pierre Defourny, Denis Sonwa, Vivien Rossi, Christian Ruck (CBFP Facilitator), Iven Schad (CBFP Facilitation team), Raymond Mbitikon (CBFP Co-Facilitator), Dany Pokem (CBFP Facilitation team), Johannes Haas (CBFP Facilitation team)
After College Co-Leaders and meeting Co-Chairs Richard Atyi and Donald Iponga welcomed all participants and Dr Christian Ruck, Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany to the CBFP who is present for his first full meeting with the Scientific College, the German Facilitation gave a brief technical introduction into holding digital meetings in times of the current global pandemic.
Facilitator Dr Christian Ruck then introduced himself and his team to the Scientific College. Dr Ruck gave a brief introduction to the German Facilitation´s road map for the upcoming two years which was elaborated with partners and welcomed by the acting COMIFAC President as well as COMIFAC´s Executive Secretary. Dr Ruck stressed the importance of continuing the work of preceding facilitations and of building up on previous efforts of the Partnership. He named the implementation of the N´Djamena declaration and a strengthened dialogue with Chinese partners as two important examples. Dr Ruck outlined the crucial importance of upcoming international conferences like UNFCCC and CBD COPs as well as EU summits with Africa and China, respectively, under German EU Council presidency and stressed that future international environmental policies will be strongly influenced by these summits. He underlined that the Facilitation intends to work for a unified voice of Congo Basin for mentioned conferences and preparatory negotiations. According to the Facilitator, particularly important topics during these talks and during the German Facilitation period will include biodiversity conservation and protected area management, sustainable land use, ecotourism, Forest Landscape Restoration or an appropriate payment for the globally relevant services the forest ecosystems of the Congo Basin provide to the world. Furthermore, Dr Ruck stressed that to push the Congo Basin on the international agenda with regard to mentioned topics and other subject areas, scientific input will be needed. In that regard, he invited and strongly encouraged the Scientific College to contribute to the ongoing consultation process by means of answers to the technical questionnaire sent out to all CBFP members. The consultation and negotiation process is planned to move forward and presence meetings are to be held as soon as the Covid-19 pandemic allows for them.
In more detail, the consultation process shall be organized as follows:
Co-Chair Richard Atyi stressed importance of the mentioned consultation process and invited College members to contribute as scientific advice and expertise is crucially necessary to guide political decisions.
College members asked how the answers to the questionnaire will be used and if answers will be forwarded also to other colleges. In response, Facilitator Dr Ruck explained that the Facilitation will elaborate a methodology for each step of the consultation process. He mentions that it is so far not planned to publish them in the form of a scientific paper.
Further questions from the college concerned the intended outcome of the consultation process as specification could help College members in elaborating contributions. Facilitator Dr Ruck stated that the objective of a common position of the CBFP remains very clear and that the negotiation process will need to be based on scientific evidence from the College. At the same time, he made clear that it is not possible to foresee how negotiations will evolve. As a consequence, the work process will have to adopt to this and will develop step by step. The Facilitator mentioned that it is impossible to say now how far the negotiation process will go but that the Facilitation will try to push it as far as possible. The Facilitation team added that it is an additional objective of the Facilitation to dynamize intra-college interaction in the CBFP and that a clearer idea on how communication between colleges is to be organized will be elaborated.
Discussion continued on how CBFP will factor in resilience of Congo Basin forests in a post Covid-19 world and if it should become part of priorities of the CBFP. Christian Ruck explained that the technical questionnaire also included a part on Covid 19 and that all further input on Covid would be much welcome. The College mentioned two initiatives of the COVID-19 Task Force of the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities and the Distributed System of Scientific Collections, namely (1) a horizon scanning exercise on research priorities on pathogen transmission, and (2) and exploration on how biodiversity collections can be better integrated into understanding and preventing emerging infectious diseases in general. Information on both initiatives was forwarded to all participants after the call via email.
On general matters, CIDT announced to organize a forest governance forum in DRC in November and stated that active involvement of the College would be very welcome. A concept note will be shared in June.
CIRAD asked if a planned project on preserving a forest continuum ("trame forestière") throughout Central Africa could be forwarded to other Colleges. Facilitator Dr Ruck welcomed the idea.
The College discussed if a side event of the CBFP Scientific College should be organized during the upcoming CBD COP. In that regard, Christian Ruck confirmed that the Facilitation plans a presence at CBD and UNFCC COPs as well as at other international conferences like the next IUCN World Conservation Congress. He underlined that active support from partners will be necessary and that planning is also dependent on Covid 19.
CIDT announced that the summer school planned for this summer had been pushed to next year due to the Covid 19-pandemic.
Before closing the meeting, Co-Chair Richard Atyi asked for further contributions and then thanked the participants for their time and availability.
For more Information, please download the Document here below:
This thematic summary and Compendium serve to compile the discussions, recommendations and conclusions reached over 4 intensive days of work in thematic ateliers (Streams), plenary, side events and political discussions.
Mr Christophe Guilhou, Director of Sustainable Development, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, France, and Mr Ghislain Moussavou, Director General of Forests, Ministry of Water, Forests, the Sea and the Environment, in charge of the Climate Plan and the Land Use Plan, Gabon, were officially installed as CBFP Facilitators on 12 July 2023 during a ceremony to hand over the CBFP Facilitation from Germany to Gabon and France, presided over by Prof. Sanctus Niragira, Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, Burundi, and current Chairman of COMIFAC.
At the 11th Meeting of the Governing Council of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) on 12 July 2023, the Honourable Dr. Christian Ruck presented to the members of the said Council an 11 point summary of the activities carried out by the CBFP Facilitation of the Federal Republic of Germany during its mandate....
The French-Gabonese facilitation is part of this unprecedented framework. Firstly, because this is the first time since the creation of the Partnership that this work has been carried out jointly by a donor country, France, and a Congo Basin forest country, Gabon. In addition, the One Forest Summit, held in Libreville in March 2023, reiterated the importance of Central Africa's forests, promoting greater scientific cooperation, sustainable value chains and the development of innovative financing mechanisms.
The 11th meeting of the CBFP Governing Council was held on July 12, 2023 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. This "statutory" meeting in the organised by the CBFP, of which the objective was to present the Roadmap of the Franco-Gabonese Facilitation to the members of the CBFP Governing Council, took place just after the handover of the CBFP Facilitation from Germany to France and Gabon.
M. Christophe GUILHOU was recently appointed Co-Facilitator of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) by the Government of the French Republic for the period July 2023 to 2025. Please download his biography...
The presentations of the CBFP geographical blocks at the Second International Conference of Ministers on Transboundary Transhumance Nexus: transhumance, protected areas and natural resources, development, peace and security from 10 to 12 July in Yaoundé Cameroon are available. Please download the presentations of the Country Investment Plans (PIP) of the different blocks....
The Congo Basin, sometimes referred to as the “heart of Africa” and “lungs of the world,” absorbs more carbon than the tropical forests of the Amazon and Southeast Asia combined. It's home to 75 million people and species found nowhere else on Earth. Yet these forests are disappearing at alarming rates.
We hereby cordially invite you to our regional launch of the German cooperation project "Peaceful and inclusive transhumance in Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad" at the Second International Conference of Ministers on Transboundary Transhumance.
Dear Panelists, dear Guests, You are invited to take part in the sharing and reflection workshop that IOM Cameroon and KAS are organizing on the theme: "Practical solutions to migration, security and climate change: Initiatives and commitments by civil society and the United Nations to address and resolve challenges". As part of the Second International Ministerial Conference on Transboundary Transhumance - Nexus.
Yaoundé, July 4, 2023 - From July 10 to 12, 2023, under the high patronage of the President of the Republic of Cameroon, His Excellency Paul Biya, Cameroon will host the Second International Conference of Ministers on Transboundary Transhumance Nexus: transhumance, protected areas and natural resources, development, peace and security. Please download the Document...
The Global Environment Facility’s governing board has approved plans to establish a “game-changing” new fund to finance the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to put nature on a recovery path by the end of this decade. The GEF Council decision, taken during a meeting in Brazil, clears the way for the launch of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund at the Seventh GEF Assembly, to take place in Vancouver, Canada, in August.
The purpose of the visit on Friday June 23, 2023 was for the team from the Ministry of External Relations of Cameroon (MIREX) to make sure that the Hilton's facilities are adequate to welcome the ministers and participants expected to attend the Ministers' Conference on transborder Transhumance from July 10 to 12, 2023.
This is the objective of the virtual meeting held this Monday, June 19, 2023, between the CBFP Facilitation of the Federal Republic of Germany, headed by the Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck, and some fifteen networks and forums that are members of the CBFP Civil Society College.
"I've already attended the COP in France, in Egypt, and everyone kept talking about the Amazon. So I said to myself: why not hold the conference here, so that everyone knows about the Amazon?", justified Lula. A climate summit in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced on Friday May 26 that the UN had chosen the Amazonian town of Belem to host the COP30 climate conference in 2025. "It will be an honor for Brazil to receive representatives from all over the world in our Amazon," Lula wrote on social networks.
The Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) will deploy $63 million in urgent funding for countries on the frontlines of climate change following a meeting of the Global Environment Facility-managed funds in Brazil.
Douala, Cameroon, May 24-26, 2023. As part of the implementation of the recommendations of the first high-level concertation for peaceful transborder transhumance in the Lake Chad Basin, held in Ndjamena in September 2019, ECCAS and ECOWAS have undertaken a mapping study of actions and initiatives contributing to the prevention and resolution of conflicts linked to competition for access to resources in the Lake Chad Basin, CAR and DRC. This study was financed by the ECCAS Border Program Support Project (APF-CEEAC).
To read: DRIVING AFRICAN-LED CONSERVATION THROUGH THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP – Letter from CEO … A Landmark conservation gathering… APAC highlights… The power of network-building…
This workshop took place from June 13 to 15, 2023 in the conference room of the ZION BEACH hotel in Bujumbura, Burundi. The aim of the sub-regional meeting was to develop a RECEIAC action strategy to reinforce the promotion and ownership of the revised COMIFAC convergence plan by stakeholders.
The online training course in Botanical Garden management was created and financed as part of the SEP2D Program (Sud-Expert Plantes - Développement Durable/ Sud-Expert Plants - Sustainable development). The SEP2D program is part of the international drive to support and accompany scientific communities in the South, reaffirmed at the 10th Conference of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya in 2010. It aims to strengthen interactions and partnerships in plant biodiversity between research, teaching and the demands of society.
Yaoundé, Cameroon, June 9, 2023- The COMIFAC Gender Committee, created by a memorandum dated January 11, 2023, held its first meeting at the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat Head Office. The meeting was attended by some twenty members representing the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat, technical partners and civil society organizations, including FAO, FTNS, GIZ, Rain Forest Alliance, REFADD, RIFFEAC and IUCN.
The second edition of the report on the summary of forest and wildlife offences published by the Field Legality Advisory Group (FLAG) in 2021 analyses Cameroon's forest and wildlife litigation based on the summaries (a document presenting court cases and files monitored by the forest and wildlife administration over a given period) published by the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife and obtained by FLAG over the period 2019-2020.
The quality of a blue carbon ecosystem project, essential for investor appeal, must be judged by strong social outcomes, benefit sharing, and community support, all of which can ultimately determine the project’s sustainability and contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
When it meets this month in Brasilia, the Global Environment Facility’s governing body will consider a record $1.4 billion work program and set the contours of a new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, speeding up international efforts to confront species loss and related crises.
The Climate Chance Summit Africa 2023 will bring together on the 23rd, 24th and 2th of October 2023 at the Palais des Congrès in Yaounde 1,500 African actors from the "climate community": high-level personalities, experts, actors in the field, representatives of local governments, businesses and organised civil society.
Celebrations for World Environment Day 2023 kicked off in host-country Cote d’Ivoire, as millions of people prepare for similar activities across the world. Venues across the capital city, Abidjan – from its historic lagoon to its first modern art museum - shone the spotlight on this year’s theme #Beat Plastic Pollution.
Congo Basin Carbon brings together information on various research and education projects in the Yangambi and Luki MAB Reserves in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Through this website we hope to strengthen research networks and improve project visibility, specifically for carbon research. Tropical rainforests such as the forests of the Congo Basin comprise nearly half of the world’s vegetation carbon. Intact tropical forests represent a carbon sink at a level that is higher than other vegetation types. The issues of carbon stocks, sinks and sources in tropical forests are therefore a central topic in international policy debates on climate changes.
At last year’s United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), 141 leaders committed to halt and reverse forest loss and degradation by 2030. Forests, particularly tropical ones, are known to play a crucial role in removing carbon from the atmosphere, partially offsetting the effect of greenhouse gas emissions. This is a highly valuable service to the global climate, meaning the world should be willing to pay to ensure it happens. In this policy note, we look at just how valuable that service is, and put that in the context of aid efforts to protect forests.
During the process of photosynthesis, trees naturally absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Rainforests act as important 'carbon sinks' stemming global heating. The Congo rainforest is the planet’s most important “lung,” new data has revealed. The world’s rainforests absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide, slowing down global warming.
The world is getting a better understanding of just how important forests are in the global fight against climate change. New research, published in Nature Climate Change and available on Global Forest Watch, found that the world’s forests sequestered about twice as much carbon dioxide as they emitted between 2001 and 2019. In other words, forests provide a “carbon sink” that absorbs a net 7.6 billion metric tonnes of CO2 per year, 1.5 times more carbon than the United States emits annually.
This brief describes the first efforts to integrate agroforestry with charcoal production in the Yangambi tropical forest landscape. Activities resulted in both increased food crop production and reforestation, as well as the establishment of producer-led local associations and greater collaboration between communities and local authorities.
The GEF Secretariat prepared this document to summarize the GEF’s potential role in a financial mechanism for the internationally legally binding instrument under negotiation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). The document is prepared to help inform deliberations. It also includes questions and answers to key issues raised thus far by countries. GEF’s role as Convention Financial Mechanism: The GEF serves as a/the financial mechanism for five Conventions, namely the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Minamata Convention on Mercury, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Chemicals, UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
On May 8, 2023, in the BOUN'S Hotel conference, in Yaoundé, a workshop was held to launch the process of drawing up the Cameroon Country Investment Plan (CIP) on the nexus of transboundary transhumance, protected areas, peace and security, and development. Please download the final communiqué of the workshop...
Geneva and Yaoundé, 26 May 2023. The Ministry of Economy, Planning and Land Planning of Cameroon (MINEPAT) and CAFI are launching two Calls for Expressions of Interest today to all relevant implementing organisations concerned, representing a maximum of 60 million US$.
WWF is supporting the Government of Cameroon in her effort to restore more than 12 million hectares of degraded landscapes in the country. In 2017, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife committed, on behalf of the Government of Cameroon, to restore 12,062,768 ha of degraded landscapes under AFR100 and the Bonn Challenge by 2030. Of these, 80% are in the three northern regions of Adamaoua, North and Far North; with the remainder in the high plateau, Centre region, vast forest and coastal areas (Mangroves).