The “International Institute of Tropical Agriculture” (IITA) officially joins the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) - Croydon (UK), October 13th 2014 – The “International Institute of Tropical Agriculture” (IITA) joins the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP). IITA has submitted the required documentation and thus agrees to abide by the CBFP cooperation framework to advance sustainable management of forest ecosystems in Central Africa. Read more...
IUCN CEESP/SSC Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group (SULi), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Austrian Ministry for the Environment, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) and TRAFFIC are holding a symposium ...Read more …
On the last day of the fiftieth session of the International Tropical Timber Council, delegates discussed at length, and into the evening, how to proceed with the election of the next ITTO Executive Director. Proposals were made to postpone the decision to the next session of the ITTC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November 2015, or to an extraordinary session to be held much earlier...Read more …
From 10 to 11 October, the city of Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo hosted the launch workshop of the Observatory for Protected Areas and Biodiversity in West and Central Africa which aimed to formalize the establishment of the BIOPAMA Observatory for the regions of Central and West Africa...Read more …
WCS: CREATING AND MANAGING – PARKS TO SAVE WILDLIFE a call to action - Friday, The Fourteenth of November: 18.30-20.30 at Novotel Sydney Olympic Park - Olympic Boulevard. Freschwater Ballroom – Sydney Olympic Park NSW 212 (By Invitation only / Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE): An IUCN World Parks Congress Stream 5 Side Event Reconciling Development Challenges - November 14, 2014 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Hall 4 Nth Pod...Read more …
ATIBT-Nogent-sur-Marne (France) / 10 November 2014 - Consumer trust is key to making tropical wood’s true colours shine. Because consumers have a vital role to play in forest protection, through the choices they make, affirmed 150 participants in the international forum on “Strengthening Trust in Tropical Wood” held from 5 to 7 November 2014 in Amsterdam (the Netherlands)... Read more …
As part of implementation of the Protected Area and Biodiversity Management Program, funded by the EU using ACP funds, a workshop on capacity building for management of Protected Areas and Biodiversity was held in Brazzaville from October 12 to 14, 2014. The workshop objectives were to: Collect the attendees' recommendations for improving the capacity building strategy of the BIOPAMA IUCN program, validate the strategy, rally stakeholder support for the implementation of the strategy, define the next steps in the implementation of the strategy over the next 18 months and identify ways of ensuring sustainability of gains beyond the 18 month period...Read more …
Carefully read this opportunity as recent changes have been incorporated! Funding will only be considered for projects that impact wildlife populations in the following countries: Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Please review each funding opportunity below for specific details... Read more …
On 30 October 2014 the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) hosted its 16th Dialogue on Forests, Governance and Climate Change in Lima, Peru, in partnership with the Instituto del Bien Comun (IBC). Over 100 participants took part in four separate panel-led discussions, featuring key representatives from governmental, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations. In addition, proceedings were made available via live webcast. Read more...
The 40th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-40) opened at the Tivoli Conference Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, to consider and finalize the Synthesis Report (SYR), which integrates the findings from the three working group reports that together comprise the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). During the session, the Panel is expected to approve, line by line, the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) and adopt the longer SYR section by section. Find more...
On Wednesday, 29 October 2014, the 47th meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council convened for a second day. The following Executive Secretaries of four conventions addressed the Council during the morning: Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions; and Fatoumata Keita Ouane, Executive Secretary of the Interim Secretariat, Minamata Convention. Find more...
At a glance : (1)
- The Green Climate Fund has developed the draft of a logic model and a performance measurement framework for ex-post REDD+ results-based payments, which is in accordance with the Warsaw framework on REDD+ (2)
An expert said that the GCF’s draft framework is maintaining “rhetorical parity between the five REDD+ activities, for now.” (3)
- A negotiator from a developing country said the logic model, which has yet to be approved, can help establish predictability and sustainability in REDD+ finance if its does not create further requirements for accessing REDD+ funds... Read more...
Formalization processes come with both benefits and risks, which require ongoing assessment, monitoring and mitigation. Case studies of formalization conducted in other natural resource sectors indicate that even well-intentioned processes can lead to exclusion, criminalization, barriers to entry and elite capture, which could disproportionally and negatively affect smallholders and operators, together with negative environmental impacts. If well-conceived and monitored, formalization could increase transparency and clarity of users rights, reduce conflict and improve working conditions and local economic benefits. Find more...
The Rapid Response Facility (RRF) has launched an emergency appeal for funds to tackle an upswing in poaching activity in Garamba National Park in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a World Heritage site inscribed on the World Heritage List in Danger. The World Heritage Centre is concerned about the increase of poaching and attacks by armed groups in the National Park in recent months. Read more...
On September 15 and 16, 2014, Qingdao, China provided the setting for the International Timber and Wood Products Trade Conference. Marking its fourth installment, the conference organized by the China Timber and Wood Products Distribution Association aimed to enhance understanding and trade ties between Chinese timber industry players and the international community. Find more...
The Global Gender Gap Report 2014 emphasizes persisting gender gap divides across and within regions. Based on the nine years of data available for the 111 countries that have been part of the report since its inception, the world has seen only a small improvement in equality for women in the workplace. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2014, launched today, the gender gap for economic participation and opportunity now stands at 60% worldwide, having closed by 4% from 56% in 2006.The gender gap is narrowest in terms of health and survival with a gap standing at 96% globally, with 35 countries having closed the gap entirely. Despite all this, it is the only subindex which declined over the course of the past nine year. The educational attainment gap is the next narrowest, standing at 94% globally. Here, 25 countries have closed the gap entirely. While the gender gap for economic participation and opportunity lags stubbornly behind, the gap for political empowerment, the fourth pillar measured, remains wider still, standing at 21%, although this area has seen the most improvement since 2006. Find more...
The Conference of ECCAS Ministers of Economy and Finance on the Fund for the Green Economy in Central Africa (FEVAC) and the structural transformation of the economy was held from October 27 to 30, 2014 in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), chaired by His Excellency Daniel MUKOKO SAMBA, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Budget, who was representing the Prime Minister, Head of Government. The get-together aimed to encourage the structural transformation of the Natural Resources Economy System in general and the Timber Economy System in particular, to adopt the text establishing the Fund for the Green Economy in Central Africa (FEVAC), a tool for the development and promotion of the Green Economy System in Central Africa (SEVAC). Find more...
In Central Africa, while logging under sustainable management was the predominant form of forest area management for many decades, several concurrent activities were taking ever-growing proportions. This is particularly true for industrial and peasant agriculture. In Cameroon, in the medium term there are 10 forest concessions, forest reserves and 14 national parks which 6 that stand to impacted by the expansion of existing agribusiness plantations. The scope of the phenomenon is lesser in Congo with only two significant cocoa and oil palm development projects. Read more...
The third quarter was marked by a series of activities, training of Dja biosphere conservation officers in the use of the spatial monitoring and reporting tool (SMART). The tool is designed to enhance the anti-poaching techniques used up till now to combat poaching in the Dja Biosphere Reserve (DBR). Read more...
Climate change has become a major political issue and has become the subject of discussion and debate at all levels and throughout the world. Central Africa, which harbours the second largest forest in the world, is equally at the centre of debates on the role of forests in the fight against climate change. Consequently, workshops on climate change are very common in this region. This study was carried out by Center for International Forestry Research and aimed to understand how people with professional interest in adaptation and REDD+ in Central Africa comprehend key concepts of climate change. Questionnaires on basic knowledge of key climate change concepts were answered by 138 stakeholders from several Central African countries. These tests were intended to establish a baseline from which a programme of capacity-building could be developed. Read more...
The Rainforest Alliance (www.rainforest-alliance.org) is an international non-profit organization that works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. We envision a world where people can work their land without degrading or depleting natural resources and biodiversity, and earn a viable income from their labor. Through partnerships with communities, government and companies, we work to develop and implement sustainability practices that deliver value to the economy, to local people and to a healthy and productive landscape. Today, there is a growing commitment by industry leaders to support production systems that produce high quality goods and services and provide a decent quality of life to producers. By harnessing this commitment and building the tools and abilities for local people to implement sustainable farm and forest management systems, the Rainforest Alliance is facilitating positive economic, social and environmental change throughout the value chains, from the crop to the consumer. Read more...
...The study concludes that there is a need for environmental science in educational curricula in the region, for training of journalists and communicators on climate change themes, and for more channels for raising public awareness on environmental issues. But it also reveals an important need to provide decision-makers in the Congo Basin with regular updates on climate change concepts, thinking and terminology, essential if they are to have the knowledge to develop and implement the policies that will best serve the interests of the people and forests of Central Africa... Read more...
Hangzhou, China, October 2014—Nine of the leading online retail sites in China, including Alibaba, Tencent, Sina, Airmedia, SMG and arton.net agreed earlier this month not to provide opportunities for promotion or trade of illegal wildlife products on their platforms. The internet giants also called on more enterprises to join them, and appealed to the public to boycott the buying of illegal wildlife products... Read more...
Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, October 2014—A new Plant Conservation Report 2014, launched at the start of the twelfth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD CoP12), which concluded last week in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, finds that several of the 16 Aichi Biodiversity Targets on global plant conservation are unlikely to be met by 2020. The Plant Conservation Report 2014 (PDF) details the value of wild plants both to the global economy and to local communities, and presents an assessment of their conservation status around the world, based on information generated through the mid-term review of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). Read more...
The other day, whilst I was helping my children do a research for school, I found Ulysses’ exhortation to his fellow mariners to embark without fear on a journey that would lead them to new horizons. The ATIBT Forum that is about to be held in Amsterdam, is one step in a journey across stormy seas, aiming to strengthen market confidence in tropical wood. We all know how expensive it is to produce wood that is both certified and in accordance to European laws and how responsible forest industries have decided to embrace that cost. Read more...
The Conference of Ministers of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) slated for October 30 in Kinshasa, will establish the Central African Green Economy Fund (Fevac), said on Monday, Bavon N'Sa Mputu Elima, Congolese Minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism, at the opening session of the technical segment held ahead of the meeting. Read more...
The twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 12) was held from 6-17 October 2014, in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea. The first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (NP COP/MOP 1) was held during the second week of CBD COP 12, from 13-17 October 2014. A High-Level Segment (HLS) was held from 15-17 October 2014, under the theme “Biodiversity for Sustainable Development.” Other parallel meetings included: the Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) Fair; the Rio Conventions Pavilion; and the Biodiversity Summit for Cities and Sub-national Governments. Find more...
The First African Mountains Regional Forum themed “Towards a Shared Mountain Agenda for Africa,” convened in Arusha, Tanzania, from 22-24 October 2014. The meeting was organized by the Albertine Rift Conservation Society and the Africa Mountain Partnership Champions Committee, in partnership with the East African Community, the UN Environment Programme, the Austrian Development Cooperation, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The meeting brought together over 100 participants representing, inter alia, government, academia, research institutions, intergovernmental organizations and civil society. Find more...
We, the Civil Society organizations of Central Africa gathered within the Conference on Dense and Humid Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa (CEFDHAC) who participated in the REDD + capacity building workshops from October 6 to 7, 2014 in Brazzaville, ahead of the CBFP meeting and the market of ideas held during session 6 of the CBFP’s deliberations, hereby release the statement below. Read more...
21 October 2014: Mandated by the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 12) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the CBD Secretariat will be cooperating with the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management to prepare technical guidance on the role of sustainable wildlife management in the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, and prepare an analysis of the impacts of 'subsistence use' of wildlife on the survival and regeneration of wild species, as well as support Parties in developing and implementing integrated sustainable wildlife management programmes. Read more...
