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Central Africa: FCFA 100 Billion for Congo Basin Rainforest
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The Post (Buea)
25 July 2008
Posted to the web 25 July 2008
Nformi Sonde Kinsai
The Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Prof. Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, has disclosed that FCFA 108 billion has been contributed for the Congo Basin Forest Fund abbreviated in French as CBFF.
The money raised at an official launch of the fund last June 16 and 17 in London is geared at ensuring a sustainable management of the Congo Basin Rainforest considered as one of the most important carbon absorbents of the world.
Prof. Ngolle Ngolle made the disclosure at an academic forum organised in Yaounde by the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, IRIC. The forum placed under the theme: Forests; Global Challenge of the 21st Century had the Forestry and Wildlife Minister as the guest speaker.
Ngolle Ngolle said contributions into the fund spearheaded by Britain and Norway with the participation of all the ministers in charge of forests in the Congo Basin is an indication of the global importance attached to that forest. He said money from the fund would be used in the conservation efforts of the Congo Basin Forests as well as in financing alternative activities of other partners in the sector.
He noted that of the 3.8 billion hectares of world forest, the Congo Basin Forest occupies 22.5 million hectares and containing some 11000 vegetal species, amphibians and diverse mammals. He stated that of the 65 million people living in the Congo Basin, 3 million of them are the Bakas who depend solely on the forest.
The Minister cautioned that if the forest is not well managed, it can be a source of global conflict. He mentioned the contribution of deforestation to climatic change with its global negative effects.
Highlighting why the forest must be judiciously managed, Ngolle Ngolle, noted that about 90 percent of the world's poor countries depend totally or partially on the forest for their livelihoods while forest products contribute some US $130 billion to the world's economy, annually.
Coupled with this, he said about 47 million job opportunities are offered by forest related industries while 46 percent of the carbon emitted is absorbed by the forest.He said the services being provided by the forest is now at risk because of unsustainable agricultural activities, forest exploitation and natural catastrophes.
Going by WWF and FAO statistics, he revealed that 28 hectares of the world forest is destroyed every minute with some 137 tree species facing the risk of disappearance due to deforestation each year. He, however, added that deforestation contributes 20 to 25 percent of the total carbon emissions.
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According to the Minister, only improvements in forest governance can guarantee resources for future generations. The academic discourse was marked by a question and answer session moderated by the Director of IRIC, Prof. Narcisse Mouelle Kombi.
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