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Fern and 15 EU NGOs working on climate, environment, social justice and sustainable development issues have come together to welcome EU support for partner countries. The NGO statement in support of local communities, vulnerable groups and those on the frontlines of the pandemic in partner countries asks the EU global response to reinforce the Green Deal, and calls for solidarity, transparency, inclusiveness and equity at all stages of the response. Importantly, NGO partners in target regions stand ready to help.
Since the pandemic broke out, European leaders have agreed the Global EU response to COVID-19, recovery, and stimulus packages to mitigate the social, economic and health impacts of the crisis in partner countries. A growing number of stakeholders, including EU environment ministers and the European Parliament are asking that the initiative be complemented by stronger measures on climate and the environment.
The links between environmental destruction, human encroachment into habitat and viral diseases has been recognised for years. Increasingly, the world’s land is being used for agriculture, mining and infrastructure, with tropical forests bearing the brunt of the dramatic changes, suffering high rates of agricultural conversion. Any EU support for recovery in partner countries must therefore integrate climate, biodiversity objectives and Sustainable Development Goals.
As EU NGOs have indicated, local communities and civil society groups should be closely involved in monitoring progress to ensure that commitments become concrete action, to avoid duplication and to improve accountability.
Fern’s partners are ready to offer their help: by giving practical advice, opening their address books, relaying information to far-flung communities and ensuring those playing a crucial role maintaining households throughout the crisis are fully involved.
Foundation for Community Initiatives (FCI) and SDI Liberia providing Covid-19 care packages to rural forest communities
Partner NGOs already have networks that could be put in motion to contribute to the COVID response. For instance, across the four forest regions of the Central African Republic, a heavily aid-dependent and post-conflict country, Centre pour l’Environnement et le Développement Durable (CIEDD) is coordinating members of a civil society platform (Gestion Durable des Ressources Naturelles et de l’Environnement: GDRNE) to build on existing ties with Indigenous and local communities not only to exchange information on ongoing consultations for the Voluntary Partnership Agreement, REDD+ and Nationally Determined Contributions but also to inform them of the pandemic and help them prepare. In Liberia, the Foundation for Community Initiatives and Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) are now working with some 50 communities in Sinoe, Grand Bassa, Grand Gedeh, Margibi, Gbarpulo, Nimba, Lofa and Rivercess Counties to create awareness and help with COVID-19 response. In Cameroon, the Centre pour l’Environnement et le Développement (CED) has approached 20 rural communities in Southern Dja and in the Ocean. Such efforts exist in other regions also.
These efforts go hand in hand with ensuring continued responsible management of natural resources and preventing unsustainably and illegally sourced forest commodities. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, forest-monitoring organisations Observatoire de la Gouvernance Forestière (OGF) and Réseau des observateurs indépendants des ressources naturelles (RENOI) are set to carry out COVID awareness-raising in at-risk forest areas, and will also assess COVID’s impact on forest management and governance commitments under the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). Across the Congo Basin, fears that a proper lack of oversight may put forests and forest peoples in danger are looming despite emerging initiatives.
(Business in Cameroon) - On September 4, 2020, the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Jules Doret Ndongo, signed two decrees temporarily suspending the operations of about twenty wood processing units in the Littoral region.
Here are some key elements on the update of the EUTR (European Timber Regulation) through the action of the European Union and EU member States to ensure its proper application, as well as an overview of the new Chinese forest law.
The Office on the Commemoration of the UN’s 75th Anniversary issued an update on the results of a global consultation on people’s fears and hopes for the future, on which respondents are “remarkably unified” across the world. Since January 2020, over one million respondents have participated, covering all UN Member States and Observer States.
Cameroon withdraws the decree of 14 July 2020 "classifying a 68,385 hectare portion of forest as State property, constituted as a forest management unit called FMU 07 006, located in the Nkam and Sanaga Maritime Divisions, Littoral Region".
Guillaume Manjolo recalled that Germany already supported the DRC in the years 1972 and 1982, in the construction of the Inga 1 site. Germany is coming back this time with an important dimension of strategy for the development of the energy sector in the DRC.
At the invitation of His Excellency Ali BONGO ONDIMBA, President of the Gabonese Republic, current President of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the XVllth Ordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government was held on 30 July, 2020 by videoconference
At the invitation of Mr. Jules Doret NDONGO, Cameroon Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, current President of the Council of Ministers in charge of Forestry and/or Environment of COMIFAC member countries was held on 20 August 2020 by videoconference.
To read: EU and UK launch consultations on policies to reduce deforestation in supply chains; A win for Ebo forest, an unsettling broader picture in Cameroon; Mercosur disarray exposes EU Trade policy weakness...
This week saw the launch of the 5th edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-5), the flagship publication of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). It is a periodic report that summarises the latest data on the status and trends of biodiversity and draws conclusions relevant to the further implementation of the Convention.
To read: British actor Peter Egan became the first ambassador of the Limbe Wildlife Centre; MINFOF-ZSL-LWC joint operation to rescue 8 endangered African grey parrots in South; Mandrill: Opened access to the densely grassed strip left fallow...
The experience of the BSB Yamoussa Binational Complex with the use of the Integrated Management Effectiveness tool. An integrated vision of the BSB Yamoussa Binational Complex, consisting of the parks of Bouba Ndjidda, in Cameroon, and Sena Oura, in Chad, fol-lowed by a critical analysis of the state of the sites, allowed effi nition of tai-lor-made interventions.
Following its Communication on Stepping up EU Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests in 2019, the European Commission has finally opened a questionnaire-based consultation on policies needed to reduce deforestation and forest degradation associated with EU consumption of forest-risk commodities.
This online course organized by IFED in partnership with Queen's University of Canada will be delivered by high level lecturers. Professionals with positive experiences on REDD++ management and PES will also share their experiences you learners. Please also see hereafter the poster which summarizes the articulations of this training that scheduled from 05 to 09 October 2020.
Top 10 Lenders & Underwriters (2016-2020 April): See the 10 banks and investors with the highest financial exposure in loans and underwriting to forest-risk sector companies in Southeast Asia, Central and West Africa and Brazil. These findings are based on research carried out by forestsandfinance.org using this methodology to identify corporate loans, credit and underwriting facilities provided to the selected companies.
DAKAR (Reuters) - Cameroon has backtracked on a decision to allow industrial logging in one of the region’s least exploited rainforests, home to rare gorillas, tool-wielding chimpanzees and giant frogs.
I have been following with keen interest the ongoing debate on Ebo Forest. It represents the struggle of a country trying to balance developmental aspirations with ecological and cultural identity.
The Global Center on Adaptation today announced the launch of its regional office in Côte d’Ivoire. Hosted by the African Development Bank at its headquarters in the Ivorian capital Abidjan, GCA Africa will work with partners across the continent to scale and accelerate adaptation action that protects African communities from the impacts of climate change.
In view of the sanitary situation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, France and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have decided to postpone the IUCN World Conservation Congress, which was to be held in January 2021 in Marseille. New dates for the event will be announced in due course.
FOREST EDUCATION here is related to FORESTS, TREES OUTSIDE FORESTS, AND OTHER WOODED LAND (i.e., natural forests, forest plantations, woodlands, agroforestry systems and urban forests). It includes education delivered through programmes of forestry and forest sciences as well as programmes of broader scope, (e.g., natural resource management, environmental sciences).
The Strategy -Halting the dramatic loss of biodiversity requires a bold new approach for protected areas in terms of scope, structure, accountability and financing. As an instrument to serve this strategy we introduce the Legacy Landscapes Fund.
Following a negotiation process which was begun at the G7 Biarritz summit, then at the United Nations General Assembly, and spearheaded by our country, France and its partners, countries in the Amazon Basin, Congo Basin and South-East Asia, and European donor countries agreed on the text of a Charter establishing the Alliance for Rainforests.
One hundred twenty-eight environmental and human rights NGOs and experts today warn that a United Nations drive to increase global protected areas such as national parks could lead to severe human rights violations and cause irreversible social harm for some of the world’s poorest people.
To read: ATIBT welcomes RIFFEAC !; Deforestation is a political choice, but not a goal; PARTNERSHIP MFLS FOREZIENNE AND ISELI; ATIBT is relaying two EU public consultations including one on the EUTR. You can answer until November 26, 2020…
Increased efforts are required to prevent further losses to terrestrial biodiversity and the ecosystem services that it provides1,2. Ambitious targets have been proposed, such as reversing the declining trends in biodiversity3; however, just feeding the growing human population will make this a challenge4.
Wildlife populations have fallen by more than two-thirds in less than 50 years, according to a major report by the conservation group WWF. The report says this "catastrophic decline" shows no sign of slowing.
To read: ITTO Fellowship Programme is open for applications; Nominations open for 2021 Wangari Maathai award; Air your views on future of forest education—deadline extended to participate in global survey…
´The science is clear, and the world’s top economic authorities agree: To safeguard human civilization as we know it, we must fundamentally change the way our societies and economies operate´.
To read: A new report from EcoAgriculture Partners reviews models of integrated landscape finance; Leaders of 1000 Landscapes Hold Strategy Workshop; Using Integrated Landscape Management to Scale Agroforestry: Examples from Ecuador.
Already in the late 1970s, EcoAgriculture Partners´ Sara Scherr and Louise Buck experienced the promise that agroforestry holds: improving livelihood security for smallholders, especially women and children. As they were working with the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry’ (ICRAF) in Kenya, they were studying and promoting agroforestry as an approach to farming that integrates production and conservation functions.
To read: WFC 2021 in Seoul : Building a green, healthy and resilient future with forests; Gabon : Inauguration of the new Precious Woods CEB factory by Minister Lee White; Important update - Study Overview of the private sector in the Republic of Congo…
There is less than a month to go before the UN General Assembly High-Level week which will, for the first time in history, be largely online. The UN Global Compact is inviting our entire network to attend Uniting Business LIVE, an online gathering of global business and sustainability leaders on the sidelines of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly from 21–23 September.
To read : Implementation of FLEGT REDD CERTIFICATION project activities in the DRC; Continuation of TRACER-DR project Communication in Gabon with FRMI and BRAINFOREST; ATIBT publishes its study on the impact of COVID-19 on the forest sector in the Republic of Congo…
Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, 17th August 2020—Congolese artisanal fishers are increasingly turning to shark fishing because of increased scarcity of other stocks overfished by industrial fisheries: urgent legislative and management improvements are needed to prevent a collapse of shark fishing and protect local livelihoods finds a new TRAFFIC report.
Enrico Celio is a senior scientist with the chair “Planning of Landscape and Urban Systems” at ETH Zürich, and was a visiting fellow at EcoAgriculture Partners in 2018 in Washington, DC. He is interested in understanding how landscapes can be developed and managed in an inclusive and process-oriented way.
To read: Wildlife- We observed an unusual inter-group interaction between the Makumba and Mata habituated gorilla groups in Bai Hokou during which Mio, a young male from the Mata group spent all the time playing with Inguka, one of the twins in the Makumba group.