At the end of the plenary and group sessions, important recommendations were made during the 17th meeting of the Working Group on Biodiversity (GTBAC) of the various stakeholders involved in GTBAC, namely the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat, members of GTBAC, Governments, Partners, PF CBD / ABS and GTBAC

 

Kindly download:

♦  Communiqué final de la 17^ième  Réunion du GTBAC

♦  Feuille de route 2013 du GTBAC

 

From 2 to 5 July 2013, the Santana Hotel of Ndjamena in Chad hosted the 17th GTBAC meeting organized by the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat bitch with GIZ financing entitled "Support to COMIFAC" and JICA funding.

 

The meeting had the following objectives: 

 

♦ to conduct a mid-term assessment of the GTBAC roadmap;

♦ to assess progress of activities relating to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their utilization (ABS) in various COMIFAC countries in order to find ways to build capacities for implementation of the Protocol at national level;

♦ to review progress of activities related to the process of revision of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBASPs);

♦ to assess progress in drafting the fifth national reports on the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) ;

♦ to prepare for the seventeenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-17).

 

It was attended by representatives of the COMIFAC countries’ focal points: Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, DRC, Sao Tome and Principe, Chad, international organizations and civil society (REFADD, RAPAC, IUCN) as well as the members of the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat.

 

 Chaired by Mr Raymond MBITIKON, the COMIFAC Executive Secretary and moderated by Ms Prudence GALEGA, the GTBAC Chair, CBD Focal Point of the Republic of Cameroon, assisted by Mr. Chouaibou NCHOUTPOUEN, the meeting had four major highlights:

 

The opening ceremony: participants listened to three statements, made by Madam Chairperson of GTBAC, the COMIFAC Executive Secretary and Ms Esther NENODJI MADINGAR, Secretary General of the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources of Chad. It emerged from these statements that the guests were grateful both to the Republic of Chad for the reception and hospitality extended to them and to GIZ and JICA for providing funds for the meeting. The speeches equally highlighted the importance of the meeting as a gathering to assess the GTBAC as a tool to polish COMIFAC’s image at the international, regional, sub-regional and national levels.

 

 

Plenary and group sessions: Participants were treated to presentations, which were mainly reports of workshops and conferences held at sub-regional and international level, and also reports of activities undertaken by subregional bodies such as the CBD, NBSAP, ABS, IPBES. The papers also expounded on preparations for future events, namely: 17th SBSTTA JAPIV.

 

 Following the different presentations, participants were allowed to ask questions to enhance their understanding of these topics. Group work followed, dealing with the following: contributions to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi targets by scientific and technical means and the issue of IPBES. 

 

At the end of these plenary and group sessions, important recommendations were addressed to various stakeholders of GTBAC. Namely:

 

 ♦ The COMIFAC Executive Secretariat, to ease information exchange between members of GTBAC and for participation in meetings organized by other networks,

♦ The members of GTBAC, for better information-sharing,

♦ The Governments, for their involvement in the IPBES platform.

♦ The Partners, for better resource mobilization and involvement in the IPBES platform.

♦ The CBD / ABS FP, to develop a better strategy to redeploy the NBSAP during its revision, taking into account gender, the private sector and AMEs,

♦ GTBAC: to evaluate the roadmap 2013 which incorporates the roadmaps of the sub working groups into GTBAC’s global roadmap.

 

The participants’ visit to the N’djamena green belt included a tree-planting exercise.  

 

The closing ceremony which crowned the four days of work provided an opportunity for participants to express their satisfaction with the progress of the deliberations, with the hope that the 18th GTBAC meeting to be held in Bata (Equatorial Guinea) will reveal significant advances within GTBAC and other agencies.

 

For further information, please download (In FRench only):

 

♦  Communiqué final de la 17^ième  Réunion du GTBAC

 

♦  Feuille de route 2013 du GTBAC

 

♦  Communiqué final de l’ATELIER SOUS REGIONAL DES PAYS DE L’ESPACE COMIFAC SUR LES AIRES PROTEGEES ET LA FAUNE SAUVAGE. Brazzaville-République du Congo, les 29 et 30 avril 2013

♦ Feuille de route du sous-groupe de travail sur la faune sauvage et les aires protégées

♦  Mise en œuvre des décisions de la COP11 et MOP6

♦  Rapport final : ATELIER SOUS-REGIONAL DE SENSIBILISATION ET DE REFLEXION DES PARLEMENTAIRES SUR LA PROBLEMATIQUE DE L’APA, Par Chouaibou NCHOUTPOUEN

♦  Rapport final : Atelier de renforcement de capacités des membres du Réseau des Femmes Africaines sur le Développement Durable (REFADD) sur le thème : « Femmes et processus APA en Afrique centrale : comment influencer la mise en œuvre au niveau national ? »