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CBFP Belgium Facilitation Roadmap_EN.pdf (61.7 KiB)

The Kingdom of Belgium believes, as do the CBFP’s other partners, that there is a need to maintain and strengthen international support for steps taken by Central African countries to sustainably exploit their natural resources . Sustainably valuing the incredibly  beautiful forests these countries harbor is one of the keys to their future development. Preserving their unique biodiversity and controlling their carbon stocks are also global challenges, which call for global solutions.

If these solutions are to be implemented, it is key that all the actors involved consult with each other so as to develop strategic, relevant and realistic guidelines that will actually translate into concrete action on the ground. The CBFP is a key initiative in this respect.

  i.  The Belgian Facilitation of the CBFP is fully committed to consolidating the results obtained in the framework of CBFP governance reform initiated by the EU Facilitation and all the partners during the period 2016-­‐17. It will rely on the smooth functioning of the CBFP Council  and partners’ colleges, as well as the effective organization of annual meetings of CBFP partners in 2018 and in 2019;

ii. A key objective of the Belgian Facilitation will be to promote stronger and more adequate political leadership of the Partnership. It is important to mobilize political representatives, not only at country and subregional level but also among their international partners, to help them get a better grasp of guidelines discussed within the CBFP and  strengthen impacts on the ground, including through the relevant regional institutions (COMIFAC and ECCAS);

iii. The Belgian Facilitation will continue to actively implement the thematic commitments adopted by the CBFP partners during the 17th Meeting of the Parties held in Douala in October 2017, particularly with respect to: 

• Combating climate change. Exchanges between countries in the sub-­‐region will be supported in order to promote a concerted, relevant and effective approach to finalizing their NDCs on the one hand (follow-­‐up  to the Paris Agreement), and accessing climate finance and their commitments to forest landscape restoration on the other hand (Bonn Challenge); 

• Stepping  up  anti-­‐poaching  efforts.  High  level  political  consultations  will  be organized with a view to adopting relevant cross-­‐border strategies to address the most pressing poaching and security issues in and around protected areas;

• Adopting appropriate strategies to ensure effective and fair economic valuing of wood resources (taxation and community forestry);

•  Strengthening  regional  capacities  for  data  coordination  and  management, in particular through OFAC -­‐   the technical arm of COMIFAC.

iv. The Belgian Facilitation intends to foster stronger political leadership of the CBFP by organizing a high level political segment during the 18th Meeting of the Parties, which it plans to host in Brussels during the week of 26 November 2018. Meanwhile, a CBFP council will be held in Brazzaville during the last week of May 2018, and technical preparatory sessions will be held in view of the 18th MOP to be organized in Central Africa within the colleges, with the Facilitator actively participating to the extent possible. Additional information on the meetings of 2019 will follow in due time.

v. The Belgian Facilitation will seek to foster greater involvement of the private sector in policy and technical dialogue within the CBFP. This increased involvement will be encouraged primarily by supporting measures to strengthen best practices, promoting Due Diligence (transparent and sustainable supply chains), and by fostering corporate social and environmental responsibility.

vi. Based on  the current dynamic, the Belgian Facilitation aims to encourage closer collaboration between scientific research and training institutions involved in international initiatives to preserve and sustainably manage Congo Basin forests. The Facilitation will equally back efforts to establish a Euro-­‐African forest research network which can actively engage with the United States academic consortium

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