GTBAC 16 through exchanges, group work and plenary discussions identifies activities arising from the decisions of CoP-MoP CoP 6 and 11 to be conducted at national and regional level, adopts the 2013 GTBAC Roadmap after evaluating the 2012 roadmap, seeks to strengthen capacities for implementing the Nagoya Protocol at national level, and conducts an inventory of activities relating to the revision of NBSAPs.

Kindly download the Communiqué Final du GTBAC 16

From 29 to 31 January 2013, the sixteenth meeting of the Central African Biodiversity Working Group was held in Sao Tome (Sao Tome and Principe).  Under the high patronage of His Excellency Antonio Alvaro Dias, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, the meeting was organized by the Executive Secretariat of COMIFAC with financial support from the GIZ project «COMIFAC Support program " and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). It was chaired by Mr. Martin TADOUM, Deputy Executive Secretary of COMIFAC and moderated by Ms. Prudence Galega, Focal Point of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for the Republic of Cameroon, GTBAC Chair and assisted by Mr. Chouaibou Nchoutpouen, Officer in charge of biodiversity and the fight against desertification at the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat.

The specific objectives of GTBAC 16 were: (1) to review the decisions taken by the 6th Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CoP-MoP 6) and the 11th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CoP 11) and identify activities required at national and regional level to implement these decisions, (2) assess the GTBAC 2012 roadmap and adopt the 2013 roadmap (3) conduct an inventory of activities relating to access and benefit sharing (ABS) in various COMIFAC countries and explore ways of building capacity to implement the Nagoya Protocol at national level (4) carry out an inventory of activities related to the process of revision of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAP). 

The three-day meeting was articulated around three highlights which culminated in the adoption of resolutions and recommendations: (1) the opening ceremony which was punctuated by four speeches delivered by: His Excellency Antonio Alvaro Dias, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, the GTBAC chair, the GIZ project representative and the Deputy Executive Secretary of COMIFAC. (2) The plenary session was marked by presentations and country contributions focusing on lessons learned from the COMIFAC countries' participation in the deliberations of the CoP-MoP 6 and CoP 11 which were held respectively from 1 to 5 and 8 to 19 October 2012 in Hyderabad, India, and equally dealt with the inventory of activities related to the revision and update of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAP). (3) Group work involved 4 groups which considered the decisions of CoP11 and CoP/MoP6 that are relevant to the sub-region in order to propose the following for each action: the expected result, the performance indicator, actions to be carried out, the person in charge, schedule and potential partners.

The recommendations and resolutions focused on: participation in the CoP-MoP 6 and CoP 11, consideration of recommendations made by GTBAC 15, the COMIFAC Council of Ministers’ meeting, the SATOYAMA Initiative, revision of the NBSAPs, Nagoya Protocol-related activities, assessment of the 2012 Roadmap, the terms of reference for the study on bioprospecting in COMIFAC countries, and the GTBAC 2013 roadmap. These recommendations were addressed among others to: (1) the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat which is expected to organize the preparatory meeting well ahead of time to prepare all the requisite documentation for the next CoP-MoP and CoP, circulate correspondence to the Ministers notifying them of resolutions and recommendations formulated by the GTBAC meetings, forward reports of Ministers’ meetings as well as COMIFAC national coordinators’ meetings to the CBD Focal Points, work with partners to mobilize funding for nationwide in-depth studies on bioprospecting, (2) the Japanese Agency for International Cooperation (JICA) which is requested to consider the possibility of conducting  capacity building activities for CBD focal Points to help them better understand this initiative and how it works, (3) CBD Focal Points which are invited to respond to information requests from the CBD Executive Secretariat relating to the NBSAP, to respond on the ABS-related requests for information from the CBD Executive Secretariat regarding the Nagoya Protocol, and translate the subregional roadmap into an annual work plan of activities to be carried out at national level. 

Kindly download the Communiqué Final du GTBAC 16