The 13th Forest Governance Forum (FGF) was held from the 23rd-24th May 2022 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. The first in-person FGF since the pandemic welcomed over 200 participants from the Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Coast, and the UK.
Mme Rosalie MATONDO, the Minister of the Forestry Economy in Congo, who placed the Forum under her patronage, launched a call for strengthening the collaboration between stakeholders involved in fighting climate change, in her opening speech of the Forum. In that framework, she indicated she “was pleased to note that, thanks to the convincing results of the 12th Forest Governance Forum held in Brazzaville in 2018, Congo has once again been selected to host this 13th Forum”.
During the high-level panel that kicked of the Forum, Mr Pierre TATY, representative of HE the Minister for the Forestry Economy, highlighted the current challenges facing the Congolese government, such as the development of forest concessions, increasing and diversifying revenues, combating climate change and valuing payments for ecosystem services.
HE Giacomo DURAZZO, the Head of the EU delegation in Congo, highlighted the main areas of intervention of the EU in Congo, while stressing the need to establish a more solid partnership with the Congolese government. These areas include “accelerating the implementation of the VPA-FLEGT”. In that framework, the Ambassador flagged that “an initiative called ‘Partnership for Forests’ is envisaged with the ambition to improve cooperation on forest-related aspects of the Republic of Congo, including forest governance, the development of a sustainable and job-creating forest economy, and the preservation of biodiversity”.
Mrs Inès Gady MVOUKANI from Comptoir Juridique Junior (CJJ), highlighted that the work done by Congolese civil society in favour of the rights of local communities and indigenous populations and in the implementation of the new forest law. She stated, “There is no sustainability without local communities and indigenous peoples benefiting from tangible revenues”.
The Forest Governance Forum discussed a wide range of relevant and important issues, including:
- The regional forest governance processes and FLEGT
- Combating deforestation and forest degradation in the Congo Basin
- Independent forest monitoring initiatives
- A special Session on China-Africa Cooperation to Promote Sustainable Forest Products Trade and Green Investments
- Strengthening law enforcement and the fight against forest crime
- The Sustainable Wildlife Management Program in the Republic of Congo
- Effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities
- Gender mainstreaming in forest governance
- and much more.
Watch again
The event was broadcast live and the recordings are now available along with downloads. Click here to watch now.
The FGF was co-organised by the Centre for international Development and Training (CIDT) at the University of Wolverhampton, and Comptoire Juridique Junior (CJJ) with the financial support of the European Union (EU), Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and other partners.
