Final communiqué of the thirty-eighth meeting (GTBAC-38) of the Central African Biodiversity Working Group

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. 

Present were

• Focal Points of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising out of their Utilisation (ABS) in COMIFAC countries: Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, CAR, DRC and Chad except Burundi, Rwanda and Sao Tome and Principe;
• COMIFAC Executive Secretariat;
• COMIFAC National Coordinators of the Republic of Congo and the Gabon;
• Members of civil society organisations including REFADD, REPALEAC, REPAR and REJEFAC;
• Representatives of technical and financial partners: GIZ, WCS, ZSL ;
• Resource persons.

The main objective of GTBAC-38 was to adopt the common views of COMIFAC countries for the sixteenth Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CoP 16 CBD), the eleventh Conference of Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CoP-MoP 11) and the fifth Conference of Parties serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising out of their Utilisation (CoP-MoP 5).

The opening ceremony was chaired by Mr CHOUAIBOU NCHOUTPOUEN, COMIFAC Deputy Executive Secretary and Technical Coordinator, and included three speeches. In his speech, Aristofanes ROMAO, GTBAC Co-Pilot, thanked the Republic of Congo for hosting the meeting. He spoke of the GTBAC's mission and presented the objectives of the meeting, welcoming participants and encouraging them to share their knowledge. Mr Emmanuel BAYANI, Technical Advisor to the Gabonese Co-Facilitation of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), also took the floor. He recalled that the CBFP was created in 2002 to support the countries of the sub-region in the sustainable management of forest ecosystems. Confident that GTBAC-38 will achieve its objectives, he wished participants fruitful exchanges.

Taking the floor, the COMIFAC Deputy Executive Secretary thanked the Republic of Congo for its warm welcome and legendary hospitality in hosting this meeting in green Brazzaville. He also expressed his gratitude to German International Cooperation (GIZ) for its ongoing support in organising GTBAC works.

He pinpointed that this Work Group, set up in 2006 by COMIFAC, plays a pivotal role in the implementation of the CBD and its Protocols by countries of the sub-region; and forms a force for proposals and negotiation, as well as a capacity-building tool for the development of biodiversity-related policies and strategies. He recalled the stakes of the meetings scheduled under the sixteenth CoP16 CBD meeting, and invited participants to unite their efforts and work collaboratively to address biodiversity conservation  challenges . It was on this note that he declared the works of the thirty-eighth meeting of the Central African Biodiversity Working Group open.

At the end of the meeting, participants adopted common views for COP-16 at the CBD and related meetings, subject to enrichment by the task force set up in this regard. GTBAC 38 updated the GTBAC 2024 roadmap and formulated recommendations.