Organized by KfW on the occasion of the mission in Yaounde of the CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck, this meeting was in line with the meetings of the Consultation Circle of MINFOF and MINEPDED Partners (CCPM), whose activities were re-launched after a slowdown due mainly to the COVID crisis. It took place on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 at Hotel La Falaise in Yaoundé, still within the framework of the visit of the CBFP facilitator to Cameroon.
About fifty participants took part in both face-to-face and online sessions, including representatives of the European Union Delegation, the United States Embassy, the French Embassy, GIZ ProFE, GIZ BSB Yamoussa, the World Bank, AFD, KfW, CIFOR/ICRAF, FAO, IUCN, ZSL, WWF, NOE, AWF, Global Conservation Cameroon, JICA, TRAFFIC, the UK/FCDO, the CAFI Secretariat, CBFP, etc.
The Director of KfW, Mr. Bruno SCHOEN, who moderated the session, recalled the context of the meeting before welcoming all participants.
After the round table discussion, which allowed the participants to introduce themselves, Mr. Bruno SCHOEN reviewed the agenda of the session, which was immediately validated.
When he took the floor, the CBFP facilitator from the Federal Republic of Germany extended his greetings and thanks to the participants, before presenting the progress of the implementation of the three main axes of the facilitation roadmap. Thus concerning :
- Dialogue with China: a large triangular project Germany-China-Central Africa) on the international market of tropical wood to fight against illegal exploitation was
- Improving the participation of the Congo Basin in international events, particularly in climate negotiations: great progress has been made. A participatory process resulted in a common position of the COMIFAC countries in the form of a Declaration (Kinshasa, Berlin and Douala), which served as a basis for the negotiations in Glasgow.
It should be noted that the participation of COMIFAC countries in Glasgow was a success: about 60 side events were organized in the COMIFAC pavilion (CAFI, CBFP, and GIZ COMIFAC), as well as high-level dialogues bringing together different donors. Connectivity between tropical forest countries was strengthened, but more importantly, a commitment of at least $1.5 billion in funding between 2021 and 2025 for the Congo Basin was taken.
Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck said that the Fair Deal which is the heart of the Declaration must be embody a balance between good governance, sustainable development in the Congo Basin so that the region receives an adequate percentage of global climate finance commensurate with its conservation efforts.
- The follow-up of the Ndjamena Declaration with the issues of transhumance and the organization in July of a big conference on transhumance.
What do we know exactly: after the success of Ndjamena 1, organized by the Belgian CBFP Facilitation and which culminated in the Ndjamena Declaration, the point was moving from the document to concerted actions. One of the most significant actions is the creation of three geographical blocks (Central, Western, and Eastern) for the follow-up and implementation of the Ndjamena Declaration. Political actions are underway to organize the second conference on transhumance in Cameroon. The Facilitator has held several meetings in this regard with the high authorities of Cameroon. He noted the support and the great involvement of the State of Cameroon in the process. The conference, initially scheduled for June, will be held in July 2023 in Cameroon, the venue is still being discussed with the Cameroonian authorities. The conference will be the occasion to present to the leaders of the countries concerned by transhumance, the actions and solutions for the implementation of the Ndjamena Declaration. This conference will be preceded by the meeting of the three geographical blocks of the CBFP.
Important work of coordination of donors (EU, USA, Germany, etc.) is being done to achieve it. The support of all the Partners is requested for the success of the conference.
The facilitator announced that on the sidelines of the transhumance conference, Germany will hand over the facilitation to the duo France & Gabon.
Beyond these points addressed by the facilitator, other points were discussed by the Partners during the CCPM. These included the Libreville conference (one forest summit, the project for an interactive and itinerant exhibition on tropical rainforests in Central Africa; the visit of the European Ambassadors to the Far North region; Ebo news (continuation of the Ambassadors' letters), and the latest developments of the CAFI initiative in Cameroon.
After the place and date of the next JPAC meeting was determined, the CBFP Facilitator from the Federal Republic of Germany, Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck, closed the July 27, 2023 meeting of the Partners' Consultation Circle of MINFOF and MINEPDED (JPAC).
It is worth reminding that the CCPM (Cercle de Concertation des Partenaires du MINFOF et du MINEPDED) is an informal body that brings together donors and international organizations supporting MINFOF and MINEPDED. It was set up to facilitate regular consultation between MINFOF's and MINEPDED's financial and technical partners in order to optimize their support to the forestry administration.
