Libreville, 29 July 2016 - The "Central Africa Protected Areas Network (RAPAC)" has officially joined the 82 members of the Congo Basin Forests Partnership (CBFP). As part of the accession process, RAPAC submitted the required documents and agreed to abide by the CBFP members’ cooperation framework in promoting sustainable management of forest ecosystems in Central Africa.

The work and approach of the "Central African Protected Areas Network", abbreviated in French as RAPAC, fall squarely in line with the CBFP cooperation framework, as they share the vision that Central Africa’s natural heritage must be preserved, respected and valued by present and future generations. 

RAPAC is a subregional non-profit technical and scientific association with an environmental focus, with members representing governments and civil society from eight (8) countries in the region: Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe as well as Chad. The accession of a representative of a 9th country, Rwanda, is underway.

The umbrella network serves as an exchange and support platform for all protected area actors across Central Africa. Since 2004, it has been mandated by COMIFAC (Central African Forests Commission) to implement  Axis 4 of the sub-regional Convergence Plan  (now axis 3 under the revised Plan 2015-2025), on  biodiversity conservation.

 RAPAC’s core mission is to support conservation in and around the protected areas of Central Africa by building an efficient and supportive network of actors driven by the promotion of professional governance and harmonization of management policies and instruments.

More specifically, RAPAC’s strategy 2016-2020 aims to achieve the following 3 specific outcomes:

1. The management quality of the network and Central Africa’s protected areas is recognized as high by experts (in summary: “technical credibility");
2. The value and management of the network and Central Africa’s protected areas are recognized as high by experts (in summary: “socio-economic and cultural legitimacy");
3. Public commitment to the network and Central Africa’s protected areas is high (in summary: “High public profile")

Examples of RAPAC’s concrete roles, either traditional or new ones initiated with the ongoing reform, include:

• Harmonization of laws and institutions relating to protected areas, notably cross-border zones (see publications released in collaboration with COMIFAC);

• Supporting the conduct of resource inventories on pilot sites to improve and update knowledge of their potential;

• Establishing a data base on PAs and their peripheries, in partnership with OFAC and national institutions in charge of protected areas;

• Supporting construction/refurbishing of access and accommodation infrastructure to enhance the value of sites;

• Supporting the scale-up of natural resources to enable PAs to contribute to community development, poverty reduction, management and good governance of territories;

• Supporting the professionnalisation of managers and eco-guards (See 09 July 2013 Libreville call to upgrade the occupation of ecoguard) within the Network’s parks and pilot reserves, with a view to certification of sound management.

The European Facilitation of the Congo Basin Forests Partnership is very pleased to welcome RAPAC as a new CBFP member. Welcome to our new partner the "Central African Protected Areas Network (RAPAC)"!

 Contact:

Mr. Jean Damascène HAKUZIMANA, in charge of RAPAC’s profile and CBFP-RAPAC focal point.

Email : hakuzadamas@gmail.com

For more information, please visit the RAPAC web site