Download the final Communiqué including Streams recommendations…

Pleniere/MOP 17-CBFP- Final communiqué-Final-EN.pdf

 

 

From 24 to 27 October 2017, the Parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) convened in Douala, Cameroon, for their 17th meeting.

 

Parties expressed their sincere appreciation to the Cameroonian authorities for their hospitality and for their contribution to the successful outcome of the meeting.

 

The main outcomes of the proceedings were as follows:

 

-  Parties noted the significant progress made towards achieving the objective of reinvigorating CBFP cooperation, by highlighting the added value of the Partnership, by giving greater credit and visibility to this common regional platform, and by taking common responsibility for its functioning and development;

 

- Parties noted in particular the significant increase in the number of CBFP members and welcomed that the new cooperation structures, the CBFP colleges and Council, are now well anchored and have started to function as intended in accordance with the updated Cooperation framework adopted at the 16th Meeting of Parties in Kigali last November. These structures have reinforced the possibilities for structured dialogue and efficient exchanges within this fast-growing partnership.

 

-  Parties expressed their satisfaction with and appreciation of the achievements of the European Union Facilitation, which ends in December 2017, and welcomed the confirmation that the European Union will remain an engaged and active member of CBFP. Parties expressed their hope that the next Facilitation would continue to work in the spirit of the outgoing European Facilitation and would capitalize and build on its achievements. Parties stressed the need to find a constructive and effective solution to the issue of the next Facilitation in time to ensure a smooth transition when the European Union Facilitation comes to an end.

 

- On the basis of a structured dialogue within the CBFP colleges and Council, Parties adopted a set of Medium-Term Priorities, which provides a clear description of the priorities on which partners agreed to focus CBFP cooperation during the period 2018-2022.

 

 

-     Parties also agreed to introduce, on a pilot basis, a system of annual CBFP priorities and to select the following two priorities to be implemented on this basis until their 18th meeting:

 

 

• Strengthening the integration of the security dimension in wildlife management. In this context, Parties, including donors, noted the resolutions of the Extraordinary Ministerial Conference of the OCSFA member countries held in Douala on 26 October 2017.

 

 

• Building a database to monitor implementation and results of activities carried out by CBFP partners

 

 

-    Parties called for further efforts to promote the following two objectives identified during their 16th meeting;

 

 

• Seek ways of engaging with other key sectors beyond forestry and environment, such as agriculture, mining, petroleum exploration and exploitation;

 

• Promote a significantly strengthened engagement of the Partnership with private sector entities.

-    The thematic streams produced a number of recommendations on the key issues of relevance to the protection and sustainable management of Congo Basin forests, including climate change, as well as a number of other documents and tools of value to CBFP partners. The main recommendations are set out below.

 

Download the final Communiqué including Streams recommendations…