| Fact Sheet Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Washington, DC August 12, 2003 Congo Basin Forest Partnership: U.S. Contribution
Partners: Governments: Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Germany, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, and European Commission. International Organizations: World Bank, International Tropical Timber Organization, and World Conservation Union. Civil Society: American Forest & Paper Association, Association Technique Internationale des Bois Tropicaux-ATIBT, Center for International Forestry Research, Conservation International, Forest Trends, Jane Goodall Institute, Society of American Foresters, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Resources Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund. Partnership Efforts to Date: Secretary Powell launched the Congo Basin Forest Partnership at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg on September 4, 2002, and traveled to Gabon September 5 for the inauguration of Gabon’s national park system. Partners met in Paris in January 2003 to exchange program information and build a collaborative process, with the U.S. named as facilitator through 2004. Outcomes from the January meeting include agreement that the Council of Ministers in charge of the Forests of Central Africa (COMIFAC) is recognized as a central policy and technical decision-making body for the conservation and sustainable management of forests in Central Africa. CBPF partners also recognized that the Central African governments’ Plan of Convergence -- a series of activities to be undertaken at the subregional level to protect the biodiversity and resources of the Congo Basin -- is a reference framework for future partnership actions. CBFP partners agreed to strengthen bilateral and multi-partner cooperation, and affirmed the sovereign character of national policies on conservation and sustainable forest management. The U.S. currently is supporting the construction of a CBFP web page with data links to all partners, and an inventory of programs, projects, and training facilities to enhance partnership collaborative efforts that should be available by the next international CBFP meeting tentatively scheduled for Fall 2003, in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The Congo Basin Forest landscapes will be among the priority areas for actions developed under the President’s Initiative Against Illegal Logging, which was launched on July 28, 2003. This initiative aims to assist developing countries in their efforts to combat illegal logging, including the sale and export of illegally harvested timber, and in fighting corruption in the forest sector. The four key strategies under this initiative are good governance, community-based actions, technology transfer, and harnessing market forces to address the problems associated with illegal logging. USG Points of Contact: Department of State -- Christopher Ellis (Phone: 202/647-3078; E-mail: EllisCA3@state.gov) and Agency for International Development -- John Flynn (Phone: 202/216-6240; E-mail: joflynn@usaid.gov)
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