The Innovation Alley is an exciting, participation-fueled experience where you can quickly join a number of presentations in a short timeframe.  The approach is similar to speed-dating. Seventeen organizations make brief presentations of their projects to small groups of participants. The Innovation Alley is a kind of springboard for discussing a number of successful programs that promote sustainable development in the Congo Basin. Find more...

• EAGLE: Back to Back to Back to Action!

• The SNV REDD+ Corner, Issue #5, October 2014 :...Converting palm oil into clean energy: A waste-to-energy process through the re-utilisation of POME...New publication: An approach to promote REDD+ compatible wood-fuel value chains...

In this edition of the newsletter we give particular attention to the use of biomass for energy consumption. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 93 per cent of households in rural areas rely on wood-fuel as the primary energy source. SNV has developed an approach to better understand the wood-fuel value chain and to target interventions in ways that reduce forest degradation and alleviate poverty. We are also looking at how agricultural waste can be converted to energy production. In this edition we also outline the country-led safeguards approach – new guidelines shaping safeguards thinking and action which are gaining interest from many countries. Find more...

• CBFP Partners' Meeting: Report - Market place of ideas No: 4 - Adaptation and Mitigation

Central Topic : “Opportunities and Challenges for emerging themes on climate change in Central Africa” - Part one: presentations: Timber production and REDD+ in Central Africa (Richard Eba’a Atyi, CIFOR) - Synergies between adaptation and mitigation in Central Africa : Realities from community forest and pilot projects. (Eugene Chia & Alba Saray Perez Teran, CIFOR) -Agriculture and climate change responses in Central Africa (Rachid Hanna, IITA) - Mangrove and lowlands in the face of climate change in Central Africa (Jason Ko, USFS)  - MRV in arid and semi-arid areas of Central Africa (Cleto Ndikumagenge & Herve Maidou, FAO & Banque Mondiale) - Overall key messages from panel discussions and session... FInd more...

• Bouba Ndjida National Park: State actors united against wildlife crime

The city of Garoua, Cameroon, provided the venue for a major training workshop of State actors on anti-poaching laws and regulations, hosted by IUCN from August 27 to 28, 2014, as part of implementation of the "Capacity Building / Sensitization of Actors of North Savanna Ecosystems in Central Africa in the fight against poaching" Project, funded by ECCAS / EU. Find more...

• BAT CONSERVATION AFRICA (BCA): Position Statement on Bats and Ebola

Available under the CBFP Website a position statement on Ebolavirus from Bat Conservation Africa, a network of individuals that promotes conservation of almost 300 species of African bat species and a partner of USFWS Africa Programs. Co-chaired by Dr. Webala of Kenya and Mr. Keita of Guinea, BCA is an African voice for bats and is attempting to counter misconceptions and to provide better information about the role of bats, or lack thereof, in the current outbreak in West Africa...Find more...

• A gender-based REDD + and Climate Change adaptation strategy in Central Africa

The African Women's Network for Sustainable Development (REFADD) has recently developed a regional gender-based strategy for REDD + and climate change adaptation, with technical and financial support from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The strategy is a reference tool to help Congo Basin stakeholders mainstream gender into policies and programs to ensure active participation of women in the process. Find more...

• CIFOR: Palm oil doesn’t have to spell disaster for forests

Experts: Controversial crop can be sustainable with proper ecological planning, management - BOGOR, Indonesia — Palm oil—used around the world in everything from foods to cosmetics to biofuels—can be developed without destroying vast stretches of tropical forests with the right planning and methods. Find more...

• REDD +: REFADD strengthens its capacities for pilot project development

• CIFOR - Forest s News: ‘Let them eat cake’: A dangerous approach to bushmeat and Ebola

“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”—Let them eat cake—is the phrase supposedly uttered by a great princess (though often attributed to Marie Antoinette) upon learning that France’s peasants had no bread. This is a similar response, in our estimation, to what seems to be permeating from certain quarters with respect to the consumption of bushmeat and its links to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever). Find more...

• COMIFAC-FAO-FFBC: Moving into Phase two of the National M & MRV with a regional approach Project, what was achieved in Phase 1?

From September 17 to 18, 2014, the third meeting of the Steering Committee (COPIL) of the «National Monitoring and MRVs with a regional approach in Congo Basin countries" Project, was held in Douala. The meeting brought together representatives of 9 COMIFAC countries, FAO, members of the Project’s technical team in Rome, the Representative of ADB-CBFF and of the REDD + COMIFAC Regional Project and national consultants from ten countries invited to attend as observers. The purpose of the meeting was to assess progress achieved by the project. Find more...

• Dr Denis Sonwa: The US-Africa Leaders Summit: Perspectives from the Congo Basin

Without a permanent source of income to sustain biodiversity conservation in and around protected areas, it remains difficult to effectively combat wildlife trafficking in Central Africa"... This session was an occasion for the US to underscore its efforts in trying to combat illegal trafficking, including its Wildlife Enforcement Network (WEN) in the Horn of Africa. The US is seeking to eventually extend the WEN to Central Africa. An important aspect of this initiative—and a fitting approach to the “next generation” theme of the summit—is the recruitment of youths as park rangers and in natural resources management. Find more...

• Report on the UN Climate Summit - Major Forest Announcements at UN Climate Summit

• Detailed report of 1st GTGF-COMIFAC Expert Committee meeting now available

Forest governance frameworks in COMIFAC countries, the GTGF-COMIFAC (COMIFAC Forest Governance Working Group) was established to help raise the profile of and capitalize efforts made by COMIFAC Member States, with a view to good forest governance. Find more...

• Will Soco oil company vacate the Virunga National Park ?

Located in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Virunga National Park,  Africa’s oldest natural reserve was established in 1925 and spans over 800,000 hectares. It is found in North Kivu in DRC, sharing borders with Uganda and Rwanda. The area is featured on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites. Though vulnerable due to the civil wars besetting the region, the reserve remains a favorite haven for certain protected species such as the mountain gorilla species. It is one of the few areas in the world that still have rainforests. Find more...

• CIFOR: Climate Summit statements: Agriculture + Forests = Landscapes?

Six ‘big ideas’ on forests and climate - 

Six global thought leaders presented their big ideas on changing the future of forests and climate research at the Colloquium on Forests and Climate, a special high-level scientific debate hosted by CIFOR, the Earth Institute and Columbia University. Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:   

JOHN HOLDREN: “Expanded access to clean energy has to be at the heart of any international development agenda.” 

• CARLOS NOBRE: “Innovation would come  from emergence of a new, transformative economic paradigm for the global tropics.” 

CHERYL PALM: “Bioversity is becoming more important than the carbon story.” Find more...

NEW YORK—For forests, it was a historic moment -  The New York Declaration on Forests, signed last week at the UN Climate Summit, was notable not just for its ambition—halving deforestation by 2020 and ending it by 2030—but also for its broad-based support from governments, corporations and indigenous groups. History will show whether the pact can actually deliver, said experts who lauded the aims of the declaration but expressed concerns about some of its limitations. Read more...

The answer to this question emanates from the Forest Carbon, Markets and Communities (FCMC) Program which, thanks to financial support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has conducted a study on lessons learned from community forestry in Africa. The study report was recently published in French and English, analyzes the experiences and key lessons learned over the three decades since the introduction of political and legal reforms promoting community forest management. The study showcases some key lessons learned from community forestry that are highly relevant for REDD + (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). Read more...

• FAO short films covering the whole landscape

In this Edition: Vietnam is increasing its forest area by one percent every year. In Finland, one of the leading countries of sustainable forest management...Forestry and the forest industry in a green economy ... Mapping Forests — The Path to Green Growth… Forests for food security and nutrition… Russia’s Far East: pathway to sustainable forest industry… Soil carbon and climate change… Adaptation to climate change through land and water management… Changing Landscapes of the Mediterranean… Taking stock of Panama’s forests... Find more...

• CIFOR: T20Q - top twenty questions for forestry and landscapes is a project within the broader Evidence-Based Forestry (EBF)

• initiative, led by CIFOR and its partners.

T20Q is a global project that allows you to have your say about issues of importance. Many believe that too few people are involved in setting research and policy agendas. T20Q is a vehicle for your voice. From May to October 2014 we will be collecting your ideas in a variety of ways, including workshops, online surveys and social media. Find more...

• UNEP: Momentum Building for a Greener and more Inclusive Economy

London, 1 September 2014 – Green economy policies are spreading worldwide at an increasing pace, with more than 65 countries now actively pursuing green economy policies and 48 of them taking steps to develop national green economy plans. These figures were presented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at the Green Economy Coalition’s first public annual meeting, which is assessing the status of green economy around the world and particularly progress towards financial reform.  Read more...

• It will soon be spoken of in the past, if nothing is done…
• DRC’s indigenous peoples await law protecting their rights
• Cameroon - Tribune: Poaching makes alarming breakthroughs in the South