Please download below: Afrique Environnement plus magazine, special edition with feature on CBFP Brussels 2018...

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Editorial

The Brussels meeting, one of the activities of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, was a time for discussion, forecasts, analysis, soul searching, but also an opportunity for advocacy on the part of various partners who believe in the future of the Congo Basin forests, the world’s second ecological lung, after the Amazon. 

So many themes targeting a single goal: preserving the Congo Basin ecosystems. One might ask: should the future of Congo Basin forests be discussed far from the Central African region? For some so-called "conservatives", the Congo Basin is the only place where issues relating to the survival of these ecosystems should be debated. Others however think the place matters little, what does matter is finding appropriate solutions to the issues plaguing the region.

Over and above various considerations or positions, one thing is clear: the partners, from Central Africa, Europe, State institutions, NGOs and civil society, scientific, gathered in Brussels at the 18th Meeting of the Parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, have unanimously pledged to keep fighting to find ways to preserve these ecosystems.

Some have recognized that sustainable management of Congo Basin forests is a more pressing issue that ever and that these forests will help support the lifestyle of people living around forests. Wood products contribute significantly to the national economy meaning that economic and social development is sustainable as long as forest resources are protected.

The partnership currently mobilizes concrete financial contributions from the European Union. Thus, as part of a continued commitment to preserving the Congo Basin forests, conventions were signed, on the sidelines of this meeting, between the European Union and ECCAS, in the presence of COMIFAC. These conventions are funded exclusively by the European Union to the tune of 20 million Euro, which goes into implementing projects aimed at combating the illegal exploitation of fauna and flora in the Congo Basin.

In light of this reality, developing countries are generally the first to be impacted with the Congo Basin being the center of gravity, considering all the challenges its forests face in helping protect the global environment. Hence the commitment of all development, technical and financial partners to help the sub-region’s countries to sustainably manage their forests. These considerations inspired the participants to adopt a strategy paper called the “Brussels Declaration".

Raoul SIEMENI

Please download below: Afrique Environnement plus magazine, special edition with feature on CBFP Brussels 2018...