CBFF Governing Council Holds Two-Day Meeting in DRC

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 from 2-3 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 by decreasing the rate of deforestation in the Congo Basin. The CBFF will support eligible government, civil society institutions and private sector organizations as well as partnerships in innovative and transformative initiatives that aim at strengthening capacity in sustainable forest management, reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation, improving livelihood for forest-based communities and forest-based economic development initiatives.

Former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Wangari Maathai, both will chair 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 of civil society institutions and partners. The AfDB will be represented by Zeinab El Bakri, Vice-President.

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

The AfDB 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 region's ecological wealth as a key factor of economic growth.

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

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

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