Cameroon has long established legal mechanisms for the redistribution of forest and wildlife revenues by which economic operations are to pay royalties that are transferred to local forest communities. An analysis of forest and wildlife royalties in Cameroon offers several lessons for the future design and implementation of REDD+ benefit sharing. This paper draws on a legal review and field data to assess the implementation processes and outcomes of forest and wildlife revenues in Cameroon, with an emphasis on the socio-distributional aspects. Read more …
Images availables, news about the project, testimonials on: bassinducongo.reddspot.org - AFD-FFEM’ Video : Beyond the maps (Long version)… Read more …
This is a pivotal moment for Brazil to shape its climate and energy future. In the midst of a crucial year of global climate negotiations, as well as national economic crisis, drought and energy uncertainty, climate concerns add an important dimension to Brazil’s national decision-making process. Read more …
Preliminary evidence from an ongoing study by Rainforest Foundation UK(RFUK) suggest Congo Basin protected areas may not be contributing to improvements of livelihoods nor biodiversity as expected. Read more …
After many years of behind-the-scenes work, InfoCongo, a new GeoJournalism website from Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN) that combines interactive maps, visualized data on natural resource issues and traditional journalism stories, is being launched at a ceremony in Kinshasa. Read more …
In Cameroon, the State is unable to enforce respect for biodiversity. "Lack of strategies", "poor capacity of policy makers". This scathing observation is an excerpt from the national action plan developed by the Ministry of the Environment itself. Faced with this situation, citizens are taking action. Profiles of three civil society actors fighting to preserve the environment ... By Alexis Huguet... Read more …
For the first time, the State of Protected Areas in Africa is showcasing all the protected area networks of the Central African countries. The data presented and more so, the gaps in these data, should be the subject of renewed interest on the part of the services in charge of protected areas so that the next EdAP would provide a more complete review... Read more …
The first of its kind, this steering body aims to strengthen the impact of activities under the GIZ project. The first meeting of the strategic decision-making committee of the GIZ regional project to support the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) took place on June 4, 2015 in Yaounde, at the COMIFAC executive secretariat ... Read more …
Various key players have developed a shared vision, based on applicable norms and standards and in light of the significant contribution of Protected Areas (PA) to local development" ... The workshop for strategic reflection on coordination/management of the "Savannah Area" of the Upper Benouè and Mayo Kebbi basin was held with GIZ assistance from June 21 to 24, 2015 at the Garoua School of Wildlife...
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In Cameroon, the State is unable to enforce respect for biodiversity. "Lack of strategies", "poor capacity of policy makers". This scathing observation is an excerpt from the national action plan developed by the Ministry of the Environment itself. Faced with this situation, citizens are taking action. Profiles of three civil society actors fighting to preserve the environment ... By Alexis Huguet...
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The sub-regional symposium of Central African peoples on land security, conservation and climate too place from August 26 to 28, 2015 in the conference room of La Falaise Hotel (Bonanjo) in Douala, Cameroon. Organized by REPALEAC with technical and financial support from the GIZ COMIFAC support program, PREREDD+ and IUCN, the overall objective of the Symposium was to create a forum for discussion and adopt common positions on the concerns of indigenous peoples in Central Africa regarding nature conservation, land tenure and climate change issues. Find out more...
Organized by COMIFAC with GIZ support on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 from 7:45 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., the side event drew close to sixty participants. The central theme of the side event was: Integrated management and monitoring of forests in Central Africa rallies support" Experiences to share for effective governance of forests". The session provided the setting for sharing experiences in the Congo Basin on integrated management and monitoring of forests and for formulating recommendations and thoughts on issues relating to integrated management and monitoring of forests in Central Africa etc... Find out more...
Fifty participants.took part in the side event on Wednesday, September 9, 2015, The session moderated by CIFOR provided yet another opportunity to share Central Africa's experiences in strengthening food security and nutrition, through sustainable management and use of NTFPs and wildlife, and present the strategic options available to COMIFAC in this regard. Find out more...
This COMIFAC side event organized by the
Program for the Promotion of Certified Forests (PPECF) and moderate by Dr Paul Scholt (GIZ Support Program Manager) brought together some fifty participants to present and discuss efforts made by COMIFAC and Central African countries towards sustainable management of Congo basin forests and the well-being of indigenous communities... It specifically aimed to: (i) present initiatives launched by COMIFAC and its partners to promote forest governance in Central Africa; and ii) present efforts made by Central African countries in the area of forest governance; (iii) discuss key related issues, including those relating to markets, legality, participation in and sharing of benefits and new land uses; iv) propose measures to improve and strengthen forest governance for the well-being of communities...
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This was the title of the first side event of the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) held on Monday, September 7, 2015, 12:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. There were close to fifty participants... During the Side Event moderated by Belmond Tchoumba (WWF), the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) reported on various efforts undertaken by its member States to fight climate change. Kindly download the presentations from the ... Find out more...
Central Africa through the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) gathered in a 36 m2 pavilion divided into three sections: COMIFAC documents, non-timber forest products and publications of CBFP partners within COMIFAC. In addition to the Pavilion, COMIFAC successfully organized four high level side events ... Find out more...
The France 24 news bulletin of September 10, 2015 reports on the fourteenth 2015 World Forestry Congress held in Durban (South Africa), the special day devoted to challenges facing Africa and holds an interview with the COMIFAC Executive Secretary, Mr. Raymond Mbitikon. The news item appears after the Burundi news report, 9 minutes after the start of the news bulletin...
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Durban (South Africa), September 10, 2015 - The COMIFAC pavilion at the Durban exhibition center was the venue for an informal consultation meeting of CBFP partners as part of preparations for the Congo Basin's participation in COP 21 in Paris. CBFP partners in attendance included: Germany, the African Development Bank, the World Bank, COMIFAC, the United States, France, the European Union, as well as the CBFP Facilitation. The meeting was chaired by His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel Niyonkuru, Minister of Water, the Environment, Spatial Planning and Urban Planning of Burundi, and Acting President of COMIFAC.Find out more...
The 14th World Forestry Congress 2015 in Durban (South Africa), which meets every six years, was held for the first time in Africa from September 7 to 11, 2015. The congress was entitled: "Forests and people: investing in a sustainable future". A special day was devoted to the challenges confronting Africa. The Congress also coincides with the release of the FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessments report. Central Africa through the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) gathered in a 36 m2 pavilion divided into three sections: COMIFAC documents, non-timber forest products and publications of CBFP partners within COMIFAC. In addition to showcasing products, the COMIFAC pavilion was used to host partners for in-depth consultations. It is noteworthy that the Congo Basin's non-timber forest products were strong attractions which drew all the participants visiting the exhibition center in Durban. Find out more...
Nairobi, Kenya, 15th September 2015—A three-day multi-agency workshop titled “Post COBRA III Operational Review and Training Workshop” was successfully concluded on 4th September 2015 in Arusha, Tanzania. The workshop brought together 42 participants mainly national and international co-ordinators of the global Operation COBRA III drawn from African and Asian countries as well governmental/intergovernmental organizations. Find out more...
The CMS Secretariat is pleased to provide the questionnaire on funding needs for the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Protocols for the seventh replenishment period of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) which the CBD Secretariat has circulated to its Parties. Find out more...
Following the validation by the World Bank of its Readiness Plan Idea Note (R-PIN) in 2008, Cameroon was chosen to be one of twenty countries to receive funding to the tune of USD 200,000 to elaborate its Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP). The document, itself having been approved by donors, captures Cameroon's experience which has become a useful reference for other countries involved in the process. Find out more...
The 14th World Forestry Congress is underway in Durban, South Africa. On Friday, the launch of the collaboration between We Effect and FAO will take place. Opening remarks on this new partnership will be held by Eva Muller (FAO) and George Onyago (We Effect). Comments and remarks will also be delivered by other speakers, such as Jerker Thunberg (SIDA), Mia Crawford (Senior Advisor to the Minister of Rural Affairs in Sweden) and Boaz Kiboi (Farm Forestry Smallholder Producer Association of Kenya). Find out more...
Rwanda president Paul Kagame publicly endorsed a petition to establish World Great Apes Day in his speech at the annual Kwita Izina gorilla naming ceremony on 5 September near Volcanoes National Park. Kagame offered “Rwanda’s support of the proposed 9 September World Great Apes Day,” referring to a recent petition submitted by the Republic of Sierra Leone to the United Nations General Assembly, drawing cheers from the crowd estimated at over 30,000. Find out more...
The fourth NTFPS-SWG meeting held from June 22 to 23, 2015 in Douala, Cameroon, served as an opportunity to: i) present progress on the above-mentioned FAO NTFP project; ii) present the current state of institutional, regulatory and operational frameworks for implementing NTFPs in other member countries aside from those targeted by the ongoing FAO project; iii) technically validate the Forests for Food Security and Nutrition in Central Africa Program ; (iv) present progress on preparations for the participation of COMIFAC and its partners in the next World Forestry Congress, scheduled to hold from September 7 to 11, 2015 in South Africa…. Find out more...
The world of international climate change governance is a maze of policies, acronyms and jargon. The complexity of the current negotiations is unparalleled among multilateral environmental agreements. Never before is it more important to cut through the complexity. The world looks to Paris in December 2015 where countries are to adopt a new climate change agreement. This agreement, if successfully agreed to by 195 states, will guide the future of climate governance and our planet. Find out more...
There will be no agreement at the international climate conference in Paris in December if industrialised countries do not pay the 100 billion euros needed annually to finance the transition to renewable energy in developing countries, French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday. Find out more..
Non-carbon benefits (NCBs) have been given specific focus under the Cancun agreement in 2010 and since the Bonn Conference, accounting for NCB when implementing the activities referred to in decision 1/CP.16, paragraph 70 has become important. However, some questions have now become critical about “what can be considered as NCBs?”, “how may these NCBs be enhanced in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiation process?”... Read out more...
The Responsive Forest Governance Initiative has just released 10 working papers on REDD+, natural resource governance, and the impacts of conservation projects on local communities, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa, including Cameroon and the DRC. Responsive Forest Governance Initiative (RFGI)... Find out more...
Improving the choices we make can minimise the unintended consequences of conservation projects says Gretchen Walters of IUCN’s Global Forest and Climate Change Programme. Despite their good intentions, conservation projects do not always have the desired outcomes for both the environment and local residents. But why not? - Find out more...
This month, some Central African Red List Authority members, in collaboration with Gabon’s national parks agency, and 8 Gabonese, American, British, and Belgian research and botanical institutions, published a study in the journal Oryx demonstrating how Red List assessments were used to delimit a protected area threatened by urban development. In some cases this results in their downgrading, downsizing or degazetting, or better known as PADDD. The paper describes a case of avoided downsizing of a protected area in the Mondah forest of Gabon, north of Libreville.
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ADP 2-10 continued on Thursday, 3 September 2015, in Bonn, Germany. Delegates gathered in facilitated groups on: adaptation and loss and damage, technology, mitigation, transparency, and timeframes in the morning; finance, preamble, implementation and compliance, and capacity building in the afternoon; and general/objective and workstream 2 (pre-2020 ambition) in the evening. Throughout the day, informal meetings of the facilitated groups also took place.
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