The GEF-funded Congo Basin IP project works in Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon with external partners who provide technical support on different themes: USFS and UNEP-WCMC provide support on land-use planning methodology, UNODC and CITES-MIKE on wildlife crime control, University of Liverpool on sustainable vegetable oil development, Re:wild on the impact of infrastructure and extractive industries on great apes, WCS on animal disease surveillance, and Rainforest Alliance and REPALEAC on strengthening indigenous peoples rights.
Objective:
By promoting much-needed regional collaboration and action under the five components, the regional project will contribute to the long-term goal of healthy and thriving forest ecosystems in the Congo Basin, such that large patches of forest cover and peatlands in key transboundary landscapes are protected, connectivity of large blocks of forest maintained, wildlife populations are stable, forest dependent people are empowered to manage their lands and improve their livelihoods, and exploitation of natural resources is sustainable with cross-sectoral and transboundary land-use planning in place.
The regional project works with other external partners who provide technical support on different themes: USFS and UNEP-WCMC on land-use planning methodology, UNODC and CITES-MIKE on wildlife crime control, University of Liverpool on sustainable vegetable oil development, Re:wild on the impact of infrastructure and extractive industries on great apes, WCS on animal disease surveillance, and Rainforest Alliance and REPALEAC on strengthening indigenous peoples rights.
Furthermore, to strengthen cooperation and maximise the impacts of the programme, the regional project encourages consultation and active participation of existing regional institutions and initiatives such as COMIFAC, ECCAS, CBFP, CAFI, as well as other key actors (networks, civil society, private sector, researchers, other donors).
CAMEROON
Integrated management of Cameroon’s forest landscapes in the Congo Basin
Implementing agency: WWF-US
Objective:
The project’s objective is to strengthen the integrated management of Cameroon’s globally important forest landscapes in the Congo Basin to secure its biological integrity and increase economic and livelihood opportunities for forest dependent people.
The project targets Cameroon’s southern trans-frontier forest belt, which stretches from the Rio Campo seascape on the coast, across the Cameroon segments of the Tri-National Dja- Odzala-Minkebe (TRIDOM) and Sangha Tri-National (TNS) landscapes towards the east. With a 97% forest cover and a deforestation rate of 0.2% per decade (1990-2010) the Campo-TRIDOM-TNS landscape represents one of the most intact forest blocks in the Congo Basin, locking up vast amounts of carbon and hosting rich biodiversity. The landscape includes diverse habitats such as tropical forests and wetlands (including swamp forests and periodically flooded forests), viable populations of faunal assemblages, and rare and endangered species such as forest elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, and several antelope species. Throughout the project area, local communities and indigenous people depend heavily on forest resources. This includes both Indigenous groups and other community groups. Their way of life is inextricably linked to the forest. Women and girls, in particular, are closely dependent on natural resources, yet are weakly associated with the management of the resources and the decision-making processes that affect them.
The project will address the above issues through mainstreaming integrated land use planning (LUP) and management, Improving management effectiveness and governance of high conservation value forests, and targeted interventions to protect their endangered species, advancing sustainable forest management (SFM) through nontimber forest product (NTFP) and hardwood value chains, increasing benefit generation from biodiversity through tourism development and regional coordination with other Congo Basin countries.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Scaling up ecological corridors and transboundary connectivity through integrated natural resources management in the Ngotto Forest landscape and Mbaéré-Bodingué National Park
Implementing agency: World Bank
Objective:
The main objective is to improve governance and strengthen capacity in the forest and mining sectors in the Central African Republic. Overall Goal of the project is to improve integrated natural resources management and sustainable rural livelihoods in the Ngotto Forest landscape and Mbaéré-Bodingué National Park.
The project will promote integration and ecological connectivity across sectors and land-uses (forestry, biodiversity, mining, etc.) within the landscape. Connectivity between forested areas and biodiversity-rich protected areas is increased, and wildlife management, governance, and management effectiveness of existing protected areas are improved in collaboration with local communities and forest-dependent peoples. Sustainable forest-related value chains are promoted by empowering local communities, forest dependent people, and partnering with the private sector. Interventions improve national and regional inter-agency coordination on efforts to maintain forest resources, protect biodiversity, enhance forest management, and restore forest ecosystems through enhanced knowledge and financing.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Community-based management of land and forests in the Grand Kivu and Lac Télé-Tumba landscapes in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Implementing agency: UNEP
Objective:
The objective of this project is to scale up and improve the management of peatlands and forest landscapes through Community Based Natural Resources Management in targeted transboundary landscapes. This will benefit not only the people in these landscapes, but also the country as a whole, the Congo Basin region, and the global community. It will do so by helping to conserve the forests and other biological resources that are essential for economic development in these landscapes through cross-sectoral integration of sustainable land management into plans, policies, strategies, funding mechanisms and multi-sectoral stakeholder groups. Direct beneficiaries include millions of people whose social and economic wellbeing depend on the forests in these landscapes. Additionally, the project will empower direct resource users and other stakeholders to participate directly in the conception, monitoring and adaptive management of land and resources – with special attention of the vulnerable in society (women and indigenous groups).
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Scaling up sustainable forest management through integrated land use planning, improved livelihoods and biodiversity conservation in the Monte Alen and Rio Campo transboundary landscapes in Equatorial Guinea
Implementing agency: IUCN
Objective:
The main objective of the project is to conserve and sustainably manage biodiversity and forest ecosystems in the Monte Alen and Rio Campo landscapes in Equatorial Guinea through an inclusive landscape approach, effective land use planning, enhanced management of protected areas and the promotion of local governance and sustainable livelihood options.
In achieving this goal, the degradation of terrestrial ecosystems will be reduced and there will be a multiplication of co-benefits. The project interventions will lead to improved community livelihoods through the diversification of income-generating sources, increased direct economic value and benefits from natural resources, and increased resilience to the effects associated with climate change. At the national level, baseline information gathered on natural resources and other variables as well as capacity building will contribute to sound and efficient decision making in Equatorial Guinea with regards to land use and natural resources. The project interventions will also contribute to informing meta-analyses at the regional level, thereby supporting the sustainable management of natural resources in the Congo Basin as a whole. In addition, the project will promote and support conservation activities, including transboundary collaboration, and improved governance of protected areas.
GABON
Implementing agency: UNDP
Objective:
The project aims, first, to conserve high biodiversity, high carbon stock landscapes in Gabon and secondly, to achieve this simultaneously with a strengthening of livelihood opportunities and resulting socioeconomic benefits for the forest dwelling and other forest dependent local communities in the project area – the latter for its intrinsic value (i.e., human development) as well as linkages and contributions between poverty and environment.
This will be achieved through (i) improved governance; (ii) enhanced environmental monitoring and integrated land and resource use perspectives stemming from a landscape-level vision; (iii) strengthened community enterprises and livelihood and (iv) project-based learning and knowledge exchange, regional coordination, gender mainstreaming, along with constructive project monitoring and evaluation.
REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Integrated Community - Based Conservation of Peatlands Ecosystems and Promotion of Ecotourism in Lac Télé Landscape of Republic of Congo
Implementing agency: UNEP
Objective:
The goal of this project is to enhance sustainable peatland management and avoid potential risk of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions from peatlands in the Republic of Congo, while enhancing the health of biological diversity by taking measures against Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT). The project objective is to promote a model for integrated community-based conservation and protected area management applied to the peatland area and its forest ecosystem of the Republic of Congo’s Lac Télé Landscape. This project will therefore contribute to promoting sustainable peatland management, securing carbon stocks, and conserving biodiversity while improving the living standards of local communities. This will be achieved by: (i) capacity building for sustainable peatland management; (ii) reducing peatland degradation and fires; and (iii) adopting best practices for integrated, sustainable management of peatlands at a landscape level through enhanced engagement of the private sector and local communities. These will be complemented with project management and monitoring & evaluation sub-components.
