The steering committee of the Conference of the Dense Forest and Humid Ecosystems of Central Africa (CEFDHAC) was created this month in Bangui.

Actors involved in the conservation, management and exploitation of the Congo Basin forest ecosystems meeting in Bangui, Central African Republic from August 5-8, 2009 created the Steering Committee of the civil society organisation, CEFDHAC that oversees the forest management, with Cameroonian-born, Hon. Louis Roger Essola Etoa, the pioneer chairperson. CEFDHAC, created during the Brazzaville conference in May 1996, is an initiative of the different sub-regional actors and development partners to put in place a framework for dialogue and exchanges through the management of the Congo Basin forest resources.

The pioneer Chairman of the CEFDHAC Steering Committee, Hon. Louis Roger Essola Etoa, yesterday, August 20, 2009 at a press conference in Yaounde, disclosed the road map of the organ. The six-point road map states that the committee has to elaborate the specifications for the facilitation agency, put in place mechanisms for the autonomous financing of CEFDHAC, mobilise financial support from other resources, organise forums and networks to render participatory debate within CEFDHAC more dynamic. The Steering Committee also sets out to contribute to rendering operational the CEFDHAC 2009-2011 convergence plan and participate in different consultations and other platforms on issues of governance linked to the policies of sustainable natural resources management, climate change and alternative energy sources. The work of the Steering Committee, coupled with other organisational and functional reforms are intended to get the Conference of the Dense Forest and Humid Ecosystems of Central Africa out of the lethargy in which it has been for sometime.

The regional coordinator of the Network of Parliamentarians for the Sustainable Management of the Forest and Humid Ecosystems of Central Africa (REPAR), Hon. Jean Jacques Zam joined the Steering Committee chairman of CEFDHAC to answer questions from journalists.