RFI- Congo-Brazzaville: Global Witness alarmed by oil projects underway in Northern region

In a report based on a joint investigation by Mediapat, a digital newspaper, and German daily Der Spiegel, the British NGO, Global Witness, sounds the alarm over oil projects underway in peatlands in the north of the Congo, in the region known as the Cuvette Centrale.

Tampering with the peatlands could set off a climate bomb, says Colin Robertson, a Global Witness researcher. The vast swathes of rainforest located in the North of the Congo hold an estimated 30 billion tonnes of carbon, equivalent to three years’ worth of global emissions. Yet a Congolese-owned company, PEPA, controlled by billionaire, Claude Wilfrid Etoka, claims to have discovered 360 million barrels of oil in the region. A “miraculous discovery” which according to Mediapart, a co-author of an investigation published jointly with the British NGO, is “grossly embellished at best and totally phony as worst”.

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CBFP News

27-05-2020 13:20

WWF: Rainforest deforestation more than doubled under cover of coronavirus -DW

Tropical rainforests shrank by 6,500 square kilometers in March — an area seven times the size of Berlin. Criminal groups are taking advantage of the pandemic and the unemployed are getting desperate, the WWF said.

27-05-2020 13:01

Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park Monthly update April 2020

"At a time when many countries are beginning their gradual deconfinement and when there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon of returning to normal life, I wanted to share with you some good news that also fills us with hope for the future of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park."

25-05-2020 12:27

Resources and follow-up from the virtual FAO-EcoAgriculture Partners Roundtable

Last April 30th FAO and EcoAgriculture Partners organized a virtual Roundtable on Territorial Perspectives for Development, in which over 170 people participated.

25-05-2020 11:45

Start of the Support Project for the Development of Continuing Training in the Forest-Woods Sector in Central Africa (Appui au Développement de la Formation Continue dans la Filière Forêt-Bois en Afrique Centrale -ADEFAC) - ATIBT

The aim of the project is to contribute to the sustainable management of the forests of the Congo Basin, through the development of a continuous training offer for the forest-wood sector (upstream and downstream) in Central African countries.

25-05-2020 11:12

ATIBT -CBFP: Private Sector mobilized around the CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany

ATIBT co-facilitated the mobilization of the private sector of the timber sector to participate in the first meeting of the private sector college of Congo Basin Forest Partnership with the new facilitator Dr Christian Ruck and his team German Facilitation.

25-05-2020 10:01

Development and institutionalization of a PAFC certification system for the Congo basin: opening of the second public consultation on Sustainable Forest Management Certification Standard, 23 May 2020 - 22 June 2020

This second public consultation will be open for a period of 30 days from tomorrow Saturday the 23rd of May 2020 and will be closed on Monday the 22nd of June 2020. The public consultation is open to all stakeholders of forest management in the Congo Basin interested in participating to the PAFC Congo Basin certification standards development process.

22-05-2020 11:43

Forest defenders on the COVID-19 frontline stand ready to assist the global EU response – Fern

These efforts go hand in hand with ensuring continued responsible management of natural resources and preventing unsustainably and illegally sourced forest commodities. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, forest-monitoring organisations Observatoire de la Gouvernance Forestière (OGF) and Réseau des observateurs indépendants des ressources naturelles (RENOI) are set to carry out COVID awareness-raising in at-risk forest areas, and will also assess COVID’s impact on forest management and governance commitments under the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). Across the Congo Basin, fears that a proper lack of oversight may put forests and forest peoples in danger are looming despite emerging initiatives.

22-05-2020 11:22

22 May 2020 International Day for Biological Diversity

The theme of the 2020 International Day for Biological Diversity is “Our Solutions are in Nature”. It shows that "Biodiversity remains the answer to a number of sustainable development challenges that we all face. From nature-based solutions to climate, to food and water security, and sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity remains the basis for a sustainable future."

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