Supporting forest and biodiversity preservation in the Congo Basin

Context

Central Africa is home to the second largest contiguous area of tropical forest in the world. Its preservation is important to the climate and biodiversity.

The Congo Basin covers 520 million hectares of land, almost half of which is forest. The Congo Basin’s forests account for nearly a quarter of the CO2 storage capacity of tropical forests worldwide. Despite this, the destruction of the rainforest is on the rise due to conversion into arable land, mining activities and the demand for land and firewood from a growing population.

With its large number of diverse members, the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) has the opportunity to make an effective regional contribution to forest preservation.

Objective

The members of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership receive support in their efforts to protect and utilise forest resources in the Congo Basin in an environmentally friendly and coordinated manner.

Approach

The project organises regular exchange and networking events for the 136 members of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership from politics, the private sector, academia and civil society.

The various exchange formats offer new approaches and identify the need for advice on environmentally friendly management as well as forest and biodiversity protection. They also represent the issues and concerns of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership at other international conferences, such as the Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the UN Climate Change Conference and other important major conferences on forests, climate change and biodiversity.

Ministers from the donor countries and the countries bordering the Congo Basin meet at the conferences, which makes it possible for significant project results to be identified, developed and followed up on. This allows the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to remain informed about the needs and objectives of the countries in the Congo Basin.

Last update: March 2024