Roundup: Environmentalists push for protection of Congo Basin forests

Environment experts have called for concrete measures to protect the mammoth Congo Basin rainforests from deforestation and slow climate change.

They made the call on Wednesday during the 16th meeting of parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) that started on Monday at the Kigali Convention Center, in Capital Kigali.

Rwanda hosts the regional forest conservation meeting, from November 21 to 26, with a focus on developing policies, sustainable forest management strategies, economic and development objectives in dealing with challenges facing the Congo Basin forests.

Speaking at the meeting, Andrea Athanas, program design director at African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), said that much effort is needed to protect Congo Basin forest cover from depletion by encroachers.

"The Congo rainforest has been degraded to the point where it is losing its ability to provide shelter to wildlife species inhabiting the forest. Protection and sustainable management of forests and the entire biodiversity in the Central Africa region is paramount towards addressing climate change impact," he noted, "We are looking forward to ensure that the green heart of Africa continues to remain green -- benefiting not only its own people and species, but the entire globe."

The one week-long conference has attracted conservation experts and scientists from governments, organizations, civil society and the academia from states that are party to the Central Africa Forests Commission (COMIFAC) Treaty.

The meeting will discuss and exchange on a variety of topics related to the protection and sustainable management of the Congo Basin forests.

According to organizers, delegates are expected to produce concrete outputs of direct relevance and value to CBFP members and practitioners in the field as well as key recommendations addressed to policymakers on a limited and well-focused set of crucial issues.

Jef Dupain, Regional Director, Central and Western Africa, at the AWF said that Congo basin forest cover wields significant influence on regional and world climates and so protecting it is of vital importance to the world.

"We want to conserve biodiversity, maintain the Congo rain forest with a maximum level of conservation and by lowering deforestation rates. This is possible if we strengthen our efforts backed by political will," he added.

Since the adoption of the sub-regional COMIFAC Convergence Plan in 2005 in Brazzaville, the heads of state and government of the Congo Basin countries confirmed their commitment to the principles of conservation of the biodiversity and the sustainable management of Central African forest ecosystems, the fundamental rights of their populations to benefit from forest resources.

The Congo Basin holds the second-largest bank of rainforest on the planet after the Amazon in South America. That's about 300 million hectares, but only about 13 percent of it is protected, according to CBFP.

The forest cover is known for its high levels of biodiversity, including more than 600 tree species and 10,000 animal species.

Ten countries are included in the regional CBFP discussion are Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Sao Tome and Principe, Burundi and Rwanda. Other governments, representing the EU and the United States, as well NGOs round out the 85 members of the group.

The 15th meeting of Parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) was held in Yaounde, Cameroon, last year. Endit