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Congo nations reach rainforest accord
African leaders agree on steps to use and keep rainforests
02-05-2005, 23h01
Desirey Minkoh - (AFP)
BRAZZAVILLE (AFP) - The leaders of seven central African nations met with international officials and drew up a 10-year plan to tackle threats facing the region's vast forest expanses, one of the world's two lungs.
The talks in the Congolese capital brought together heads of state and government, civil society, African and Western logging companies with the aim of coordinating local and global efforts to preserve Africa's rainforests.
"The summit supported the principle of imposing a financing mechanism based on taxing the export of forest products to guarantee funds" for conservation projects, said the gathering's closing statement.
French President Jacques Chirac, who attended the summit as part of an African tour, was the only industrialized country leader at the one-day talks and stressed that tackling illegal logging was the "priority objective."
Almost six years after a first such summit in Yaounde, Cameroon's President Paul Biya said "we can draw some pride" from steps "taking us in the right direction", but regional leaders were outspoken in saying the industrialized world should help.
The participants signed a treaty giving legal backing to Comifac, a grouping of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, which together make up the forest tracts, the second biggest in the world after the Amazon.
Practical measures included a recommendation formally presented by the host country Congo, that a certification scheme be introduced for timber just as one has for diamonds, in a bid to eradicate illegal logging the way the other measure clamps down on a "blood trade" in gems for weapons.
Comifac, the Conference of Ministers in charge of Central African Forests, was launched in Yaounde in 1999, but made little progress on the ground, having failed to win financial support from Western donors and creditors.
"We need to be able to count on the backing of the international community," Biya stressed. "As it is, of the three big forested areas in the world, ours is the one that gets the least of the international capital flow."
Gabon's Omar Bongo, whose country became the chair of Comifac, described financial support as "compensation".
"Until now, our countries have been able to preserve this heritage without compensation ... and forestry conservation deprives our states of revenue," he said, "but our debt is still there and gets heavier and heavier."
"It would be just and fair if the world community acknowledged the efforts made," Bongo went on to thunderous applause. "We don't want charity, but we ask for understanding and that we be given justice".
With chaotic and unlicensed timber production come inroads into forests which endanger wildlife, a key issue for non-governmental organisations with a stake in the talks.
Africa's tropical forest stretches over 2.3 million square kilometres (890,000 square miles), making it the planet's second oxygen lung. But it is shrinking at a rate of 8,000 square kilometres per year, plagued by illegal logging, excessive poaching and ecological damage.
Chirac spoke as France took over from the United States as partnership coordinator of Comifac, which includes representatives of the seven African countries, timber companies and ecological associations.
The French leader said surveillance of illegal logging would be stepped up, with customs controls at entry and departure points for forestry operators.
"In the Congo basin, 800,000 hectares (two million acres) of forest are destroyed each year and this rate will increase because of population growth and economic development," he said.
African leaders recommitted to cooperation at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2001, but disagreements over funding have held back its implementation.
"Basically, countries from the region want to manage aid directly, while international creditors want to maintain control over their contributions," one expert told AFP.
The ambitious proposals made under the scheme were based on a projected budget of 1.25 billion euros (1.6 billion dollars) for the period running from 2004 to 2013. Only France and the United States have contributed to the programme, donating 50 million euros and 53 million dollars respectively.
Three new countries joined Comifac: Rwanda, Burundi, and Sao Tome and Principe.
Copyright � 2004 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.
African Leaders Sign Rain-Forest Treaty
Sunday February 6, 2005 12:31 PM
By BRYAN MEALER
Associated Press Writer
BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) - Leaders of seven Central African countries signed a landmark treaty on Saturday to work together to help save the world's second-largest rain forest.
French President Jacques Chirac attended the ceremony, which concluded a two-day summit focusing on threats to the great forests of the Congo Basin.
The forests make up very heart of Africa, encompassing 500 million acres stretching though 10 countries. They are also home to more than half Africa's animal species, including the world's entire population of lowland gorillas. Nearly 20 million people depend on the forests for food and shelter.
But illegal logging, poaching, ivory trafficking and a rampant bushmeat trade are destroying the forests at alarming rate. Environmentalists say 3.7 million acres of land in the Congo Basin are lost each year.
``We are gathered here to ensure the preservation of a priceless heritage, the greatest wealth of the Congo Basin, the forest,'' said Chirac, addressing Brazzaville's parliament house, where giant colorful paintings of elephants, cheetahs and monkeys hung from the vaulted walls. ``The protection of these forests cannot wait.''
Chirac was in Brazzaville as part of a brief tour of the Republic of Congo and Senegal, both former French colonies.
Sitting alongside the French president were leaders from the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Chad and Central African Republic - which make up the bulk of the Congo Basin.
The treaty will make it easier for countries to jointly track and combat poachers, who easily slip across Africa's remote borders. It will also help provide funds for training and conservation, and harmonize laws in different countries that regulate logging.
The treaty is the long-fought result of a 1999 meeting between Central African leaders in Yaounde, Cameroon.
Environmental groups attending the summit hailed the treaty as a triumphant victory.
``You're finally seeing a commonality in what people are saying that was unthinkable 10 years ago,'' said Claude Martin, head of the World Wildlife Fund. ``The leaders here are seeing how the exploitation of their forests will not contribute to their economies, poverty reduction and future prospects.''
CONTENT COPYRIGHT the AP and AFP
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