The Governing Council of the Congo Basin Forest Fund Meet on 2-3 March 2009 in Kinshasa

27 February 2009
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

The 4th Governing Council meeting of the Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF) will take place on 2 and 3 March 2009, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The order of business will include discussions centred on the establishment of the CBFF Secretariat in the African Development Bank (AfDB) offices in Tunis, Yaoundé and Kinshasa and making decisions on projects proposal to be funded under the 1st Call for Proposals issued in June 2008.

The CBFF aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and poverty through decreasing the rate of deforestation in the Congo Basin. The CBFF will support eligible government, civil society institutions and private sector institutions and partnerships in innovative and transformative initiatives centred on strengthening capacity in sustainable forest management, reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation, livelihood improvements for forest-based communities, and forest-based economic development initiatives.

Paul Martin, Former Canadian Prime Minister and Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, both co-chairs of the Governing Council, will direct the discussions which will also involve Emmanuel Bizot, President of COMIFAC, Louis Sylvain Goma, Executive Secretary of the Communauté économique des États de l'Afrique Centrale (CEEAC), the Central Africa Forestry Commission and representatives from civil society institutions and partners. The AfDB will be presented by Zeinab El Bakri, Vice-President.

The CBFF Governing Council will also be meeting with José Endundo, Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism for the RDC, civil society representatives and technical and financial partners based in the RDC.

The African Development Bank Group has been chosen to host the Congo Basin Forest Fund which currently has an initial contribution of US$ 200 million from the United Kingdom and Norway. The Bank Group strong involvement in the creation of the special fund is an illustration of its commitment to environmental protection which gives priority to the preservation of the regional ecological wealth as a key factor of economic growth.

For more information on the CBFF, please visit the website www.cbf-fund.org or www.afdb.org/congobasin.

Read the original article on African Development Bank (AfDB).

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