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Final Communiqué of the Experts’ Meeting to Follow up on the N’Djamena Conference on The Sahel-Congo Basin Roadmap on the Operational Implementation of the N'Djamena Declaration Synthesis
The Kingdom of Belgium Facilitation of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), in close collaboration with the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) and the Government of the Republic of Cameroon, hosted from 16 to 17 December 2019 in Douala, Cameroon, the Experts’ Meeting for the follow up of the International conference on Security, Poaching, Transhumance Management and the Movements of Armed Groups between the Sahel and Equatorial Africa.
This meeting aimed to make progress in the concrete implementation of the recommendations of the N'Djamena international conference of ministers, through the adoption of a logical framework based on five strategic axes relating respectively to (1) bilateral and/or multilateral legal agreements, (2) protected areas management systems, (3) regulation of transhumance and (4) anti- poaching measures, (5) communication strategies relating to protected areas at regional level. The methodological approach adopted consisted in dividing the experts into three geographical blocks in order to facilitate the identification of specific problems and the actions to be taken to address them at the local, national, transboundary and regional levels;
The experts will also propose a strategy aimed at establishing a regional monitoring and political steering mechanism for actions dealing with security/protected areas/pastoralism interactions.
It is organized with the financial and technical support of the Kingdom of Belgium Facilitation Consortium of the CBFP, namely: the German Ministry of Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union (DEVCO), and Belgium;
Placed under the supervision/Presidency of His Excellency Mr. Jules Doret Ndongo, Minister of Forestry and Wildlife of Cameroon, current COMIFAC Chairperson, this meeting brought together representatives of the following concerned countries: Cameroon, Niger, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Southern Sudan and Chad. Also attending were the following regional organizations: ECCAS, COMIFAC, OCFSA, IGAD, CBHVIRA, GABAC and technical and financial partners dedicated to wildlife conservation and anti-poaching issues, as well as Civil Society Organizations.
The deliberations of the meeting of experts were structured around the following points:
The opening ceremony
The technical session of Experts
Resolutions and recommendations
The conclusion
1- The Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony was punctuated by four speeches by the following personalities:
The welcome address of Facilitator of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), H.E. François-Xavier de Donnea, Minister of State of the Kingdom of Belgium
A word from the Minister of Water and Forestry, Hunting and Fisheries of the Central African Republic, His Excellency Amit IDRISS
Speech by the ECCAS Deputy Secretary General, Her Excellency Mrs MFOULA Marie Thérèse Chantal
Opening speech of His Excellency Mr Jules Doret Ndongo, Minister of Forestry and Wildlife of Cameroon, COMIFAC Serving Chairperson.
This was followed by the presentation and adoption of the agenda of the meeting by all the participants after amendments.
This session continued with the setting up of the workshop bureau, which is composed as follows:
Chairperson: Mr NYONGWEN Joseph, Secretary General of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife of Cameroon;
1st Vice-president: Mr ABDRAMANE CHAIBO HAMID, Director of Conservation, Wildlife and Protected Areas of Chad;
2nd Vice-president Mr MAMAN Ibrahim, Technical Advisor to the Minister of Environment of Niger;
Rapporteurs:
Major General AGURU MAMBA Maurice, Commander of the Corps in charge of the Security of National Parks and Related Natural Reserves of the DRC;
Mr ZACKARIA TABAN, Park Warden, Lantoto National Park, South Sudan
Mr MUBANGO Emmanuel, Director of Legal Affairs and Communication.
The Technical Secretariat was held by the CBFP Facilitation, ECCAS, COMIFAC, OCFSA, IGAD, GABAC and IUCN.
This session ended with a family photograph.
2- THE TECHNICAL SESSION OF EXPERTS
This technical session began with keynote presentations aimed at providing an overview at regional level (presented respectively by UNESCO, WCS and IGAD) and at national level (presented respectively by experts from Cameroon, Niger, CAR, DRC, Sudan, Chad, ECCAS and IGAD). OFAC then presented a map of the three geographical blocks, as well as aspects relating to data monitoring. Finally, each leader presented an inventory of their block (GIZ for the West block, WCS for the Central block and APN for the East block). At the end of these presentations, three working groups following the geographical blocks were set up to make amendments to the logical framework.
The Multi-stakeholder Dialogue of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) between representatives of donor countries, civil society, the private sector, INGOs and multilaterals in dialogue with representatives of Central African countries will take place on Friday 8 December 2023, 14:00-15:30 at the COMIFAC Initiatives Pavilion, Blue Zone. Theme of the event:“The Central African Forests, vital global biodiversity and carbon reserves: a major challenge for domestic and international mobilisation”.
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To read: West African producers - generally dull international demand; Slump in Malaysia’s exports; Indonesian industry ready to intensify presence in Asian markets; Peeler logs now more readily available in Northern India; Incentives for Peruvian companies obtaining voluntary forest certification; Japanese importers confused over new government requirement; Action required now by tropical wood suppliers to meet EUDR requirements; US wooden furniture imports at lowest since March..
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Improved management and conservation could, by 2030, increase the value of DRC's forest-based ecosystem services by US$1.76 billion/year8 over the BAU scenario, and by US$3.8 billion/year by 2050. A comparison of net present values of costs and benefits shows that for every $1 invested today in landscape and forest restoration, DRC stands to gain $15 in benefits by 2050…
David began his career in journalism in his homeland of Cameroon as a writer for The Post Newspaper, before transitioning to broadcasting. He then worked for Radio Reine, Radio Environment, and the Cameroon Radio Television Corporation, while freelancing for Reuters and RFI.
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In a significant move towards enhanced partnerships and coordination, the United States has officially announced its intent to join the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) as an Executive Board member. The announcement was made during a side event of the Three Basins Summit attended by Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso and Minister of the Environment of Congo-Brazzaville Arlette Soudan-Nonault. The Summit was held in Brazzaville from October 26-28, 2023,
CAFI is launching a call for Expressions of Interest today to all relevant implementing organisations interested in investing in private sector companies in our partner countries (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, the Gabonese Republic, the Republic of Cameroon, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic) to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in the following sectors...
COMIFAC, the GIZ Regional Support Project for COMIFAC, the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) France – Gabon Facilitation, the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI), the EU Funded Support Project to the Central African Forests Observatory (RIOFAC and The Sangha Tri-National Trust Fund (FTNS)hereby launch a call for proposals to host side events lasting no more than 60 minutes under the « COMIFAC – Central Africa Initiatives », at the COP28 venue from 30th November to 12th December 2023. Applications should be submitted before 31 October 2023.
In a declaration issued at the end of the Summit of the world's three great basins of the Amazon, the Congo and Borneo-Mekong on Saturday 28 October 2023 in Brazzaville, the Heads of State and Government undertook, among other things, to: to strengthen cooperation between the three basins, which are home to 80% of the world's tropical forests and two-thirds of terrestrial biodiversity; to recognise the unity of enhanced cooperation between the three basins; to recognise the sovereign management of biodiversity, forests and associated resources by the countries that make up the three basins; to pool and capitalise on the knowledge, experience, resources and achievements existing in each of the basins; and to introduce a sustainable system of remuneration for the ecosystem services provided by the three basins".
Douala, Cameroon, 16 - 17 May 2019
This was followed by the presentation and adoption of the agenda of the meeting by all the participants after amendments.
Rapporteurs:
This technical session began with keynote presentations aimed at providing an overview at regional level (presented respectively by UNESCO, WCS and IGAD) and at national level (presented respectively by experts from Cameroon, Niger, CAR, DRC, Sudan, Chad, ECCAS and IGAD). OFAC then presented a map of the three geographical blocks, as well as aspects relating to data monitoring. Finally, each leader presented an inventory of their block (GIZ for the West block, WCS for the Central block and APN for the East block). At the end of these presentations, three working groups following the geographical blocks were set up to make amendments to the logical framework.
