The guide on sustainable management and recommendations for certification is a compilation of knowledge on the social and environmental aspects of forest management in the Congo Basin. Read more …
The “University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)” officially joins the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) - Los Angeles (US), January 10th, 2014 – The “University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)” has officially joined the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP). By doing so, The University of California at Los Angeles believes that their activities in Africa are consistent with the very principles within the cooperation framework of CBFP members to advance sustainable management of forest ecosystems and conservation of biodiversity in Central Africa. Find more...
The CBFP website shares success stories and programs of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI)... Find more...
President Idriss Deby Itno marked Zakouma National Park’s 50th anniversary on Friday by setting Chad’s 1.1 ton ivory stockpile alight before bestowing the country’s highest civilian honours, Les Ordres Nationaux du Tchad, on Zakouma park manager Rian Labuschagne and his deputy Babakar Matar Breme for distinguished service to the country. Rian Labuschagne was awarded l’Ordre d’Officier and Babakar Matar Breme l’Ordre de Chevalier in acknowledgement of their conservation achievements at Zakouma under African Parks. Find more...
Following on the heels of the CARPE III Strategic Planning Workshop the week of December 9-13, USAID Bureau for Africa organised a DC CARPE Partners meeting January 27-28, 2014. Find more...
"Hello Partners, It is a pleasure to update you on recent activities of the CBFP Facilitation. Please see below various ongoing and upcoming items of interest."...Find more...
The United States announced a National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking. The Strategy will strengthen U.S. leadership on addressing the serious and urgent conservation and global security threat posed by illegal trade in wildlife... Find more...
Lessons from «Rapid Results Initiatives (RRI )» in Cameroon. Working Paper. Yaoundé, Cameroon - Titles: (1) Corruption: major threat to the poor forest management in Central Africa? Example of racketeering in Cameroon (2) The Fight against Corruption (LCC) "to exit" a forestry sector problem: Test method "Rapid Results Initiative" (RRI) by MINFOF in Cameroon (3) Prospects for forest management improvement in Central Africa in the Fight against Corruption (LCC)... FInd more...
... the analysis and conclusions coming out of this collective work, the projects required for its development, are all potential convergence points between SEEAC and all other stakeholders in sustainable development, hence the need to pool resources to promote Environmental Assessment, both at national and sub -regional level... Read more …
The Global Guide for identifying HCVs was published in October 2013. The French version is now available for download and is provided by the High Conservation Value Resource Network. The HCV Resource Network is currently translating this important document into four other languages: Bahasa, Chinese, Portuguese and Russian. Find more...
Beijing(China), Feb 28th 2014- The “Environomist China Carbon Market Research Report 2014”, conducted by one of the most professional consulting companies Environomist Ltd. and its partners, was launched at the UNDP building in Beijing. FInd more...
In the several weeks leading up to the recent publication by the European Commission of its proposed 2030 Climate and Energy package, the IDDRI initiated the debate around the framework and possible and desirable contents of the package. As part of the deliberations, several policy briefs were written from late 2013 to early 2014 ... Available on CBFP’s website... Find more...
From 24 to 28 February 2014, the third meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their Utilization (NHIC 3) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) took place in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea. In a peculiar move, the high-level meeting was preceded on the eve by an important capacity-building workshop on access and benefit sharing(ABS). Learn more ...
PEFC, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, is pleased to announce the global public consultation on the compliance of the Russian National Voluntary Forest Certification System with PEFC’s Sustainability Benchmarks. The Russian National Voluntary Forest Certification System was first endorsed by PEFC in 2009. However, with PEFC limiting the validity of endorsements to five years, national systems must be revised in multi-stakeholder processes and apply for re-endorsement to continue benefitting from PEFC recognition. The consultation is part of the independent assessment of the Russian System. Find more...
... the analysis and conclusions of this collective work, the projects that went into its development, are all possible meeting points between SEEAC and all other stakeholders in sustainable development, hence the need to pool resources to promote Environmental Assessment, both at national and sub -regional level...Find more...
In the DRC, Jean-Christophe Bokika and the inhabitants of the Bolobo area have proposed an eco-tourism project set in the "Mbou-Mon-Tour" farm to protect the Bonobos. Find more...
In this issue: Editorial: SEEAC commemorates the end of PAANEEAC - SEEAC in 2013 : Overview of actions carried out to promote Environmental Assessment - SEEAC : Strategic Planning - A tool for management and implementation at SEEAC : Administrative and financial procedure manual - 5th International Seminar of SEEAC : an event with a wealth of lessons and recommendations - the launch of RACEEAC : an ongoing regional study - environmental assessment profiles of Central and West African countries updated with the collaboration of SEEAC - UNESCO- SEEAC : a promising future - SEEAC signs a contract with IFDD to conduct a mission to strengthen the regulatory framework for environmental assessment of The Comoros - Greetings from SEEAC to all its partners---Find more...
Go tou Course - Want to learn about the basics of climate change? Or simply test your knowledge? Take the UN CC:Learn e-course! It's free, self-paced and takes only 6 x 2 hours. Find more...
The EU FAO FLEGT Programme is now accepting project proposals from government institutions, civil society and private sector organizations in eligible timber-producing countries not already engaged in Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs). Grants of up to €100 000 are available through the call. Proposals should address one of the programme’s eight thematic areas of support. Find more...
Dan Rugabira, FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for Central Africa and FAO Representative to Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe --- Season’s greetings to InfoNews readers from Libreville, Gabon. Serving in this sub-region takes me back to 1990 when, as a young FAO Forestry Operations Officer, I was tasked with running a support programme at the then African Timber Organization based in Libreville, Gabon. My assignment in this sub-region having come full circle, I can now look back at FAO Forestry’s achievements in the Congo Basin over the last two decades and draw some preliminary conclusions with a view to the future. Find more...
This module is designed for training involving a mix of participants interested in contributing to more effective forest tenure policy and programmes. The overall objective of the module is to enable facilitators of forest tenure development processes to identify the needs for strengthening forest tenure systems and governance, and to explore strategies and tools to address these needs. The module also allows space for policy dialogue with decision-makers on key forest tenure related issues. Find more...
The Common Guidance for HCV Identification was published in October 2013. The French version of this document is now available for downalod. The HCV Resource Network is now working on translating this important document into four more languages: Bahasa, Chinese, Portuguese and Russian. Find more...
WASHINGTON (USA) - February 20, 2014—the World Resources Institute (WRI), Google, and a group of more than 40 partners launched Global Forest Watch (GFW), a dynamic online forest monitoring and alert system that empowers people everywhere to better manage forests. For the first time, Global Forest Watch unites the latest satellite technology, open data, and crowdsourcing to guarantee access to timely and reliable information about forests. Find more...
February 13, 2014 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced an additional contribution in emergency funding to combat wildlife trafficking in Eastern Africa. Baird is attending the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade from February 13 to 14, 2014. Find more...
During the conference, 46 countries agreed on a strong declaration to tackle the illegal wildlife trade that is killing thousands of elephants, rhinos and other endangered species each year. The London declaration include three aspects: (1) strengthening law enforcement and the criminal justice system (2) reducing demand for illegal wildlife products (3) supporting the development of sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by illegal wildlife trade. Find more...
The apeAPP is available free to download from both the iTunes store and Google Play, and is configured for the iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets. Find more...
The COMIFAC Executive Secretariat has published its Annual Work Plan 2014 (AWP). The document outlines the actions to be undertaken in 2014 by the Executive Secretariat of the Central Africa Forest Commission (COMIFAC) based on contributions from member countries and partner support. Find more...
Illegal transnational wildlife trade is currently attracting considerable international attention. This is partly due to conservation concerns but also to suggestions of links with organised crime and militant groups. The attention afforded to this issue is much needed and the various international initiatives that have emerged rightly take a multi-faceted approach. But they tend to emphasise law enforcement and demand reduction, with considerably less focus on effective incentives for community-based and private sector management. Find more...
his statement records the decision of the UK National Contact Point (NCP) to accept for further consideration a complaint from WWF International against SOCO International plc, a UK company operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Find more...
London (Great Britain) - A summit convened by Prime Minister David Cameron was held on 12 and 13 February 2014, on smuggling of wild fauna and flora products. Prince Charles and his son William, who have been very active in the fight for biodiversity conservation, seized the occasion to broadcast a video in which they appealed for people to save elephants and other endangered species. Find more...
A senior CNN TV investigative team visited Zakouma National Park in Chad last week to produce two special news reports, scheduled to begin screening on CNN International on Wednesday, 12 February ... Find more...
Deforestation in Central Africa’s Congo Basin is lower than the average rate across Africa — but that is not likely to hold true for long, according to two recent papers that enable a better understanding of past trends while looking to the future. Find more...
The blog was originally published in English on the website of Berkeley University’s (UC) Environmental Leadership Program, and remains available in English. The following text presents (i) the United States’ earlier role in establishing the CBFP ten years ago, (ii) ongoing challenges in the region, (iii) how the United States will plan its strategic responses through the CBFP over the next two years... Find more...
Drawing on the example of Central Africa, this book is a trailblazer which brings together top experts in relevant disciplines. It seeks to provoke reflection and action in the field of forestry and adaptation to change. With respect to the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the book focuses on adaptation at a time when reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation as well as increasing forest carbon stocks (REDD +) are topping the agenda in the sub-region. Find more...
The discussions that followed the different presentations helped to harmonize the participants’ understanding, thus enabling them to define the scope of and shape the sub-regional wildlife management strategy to be developed. After the exchanges, the meeting moved into breakout group sessions that also allowed participants to define the vision, overall objective, specific objectives and 7 priority axes of the Wildlife Management Strategy Paper. Find more...
