KIGALI, Rwanda (PAMACC News) - It is time to face the fact that the Congo Basin forests will increasingly be threatened as development needs of member countries surges if urgent measures are not put in place to harmonise development challenges and conservation, experts have warned.The Congo Basin forest which holds more than 25 billion tons of carbon and thousands of animal and plant species is today impacted directly and indirectly by industrialisation, with palm oil plantations taking the lead.“We need to step out of the conservation box and work with the different stakeholders to balance environmental needs with socioeconomic requirements,” pointed out Jef Dupain, Regional Director, Central and Western Africa at the African Wildlife Foundation.Speaking at a panel discussion on industrial agriculture and Apes Conservation at the Congo Basin Forest Partnership meeting in Kigali, experts agreed there was a need to guide development actions and encourage best practices for sustainable resource conservation.“The expansion of industrial palm oil plantations into the habitat of endangered animal species like apes in the Congo Basin forest area has become evident,” said Bas Verhage of WWF citing the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo.The discussions were held against the backdrop of the publication of the second volume of the book “State of the Apes: Industrial Agriculture and Ape Conservation,” by Arcus Foundation. The book accordingly examines the interface between ape conservation and industrial agriculture in the Congo Basin and West Africa and notes that Ape habitats like that of other species in sub-Saharan Africa are seriously threatened. It more specifically explores the drivers behind the agricultural expansion and addresses ways to minimize and mitigate its impact on biodiversity.In Cameroon for example, the Dja forest reserve in the South of the country is seriously under threats from an expanding rubber plantation just like the Ebo forest in the Littoral region is facing challenges from growing palms plantation.The case of some 142,000-hectare Ebo forest that sits less than 150 kilometers from the capital of Cameroon, Yaounde and even closer to Douala, both cities with populations of over 2 million, is seriously under threat. Like Korup National Park and the Dja Reserve, Ebo is also home to a wide variety of wildlife, including the rare Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee and the drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus), a highly endangered baboon-like monkey that, until the 1980s, scientists had written off as extinct.The conservation actors at the panel discussion called for an integrated cross-sector approach to national management that factor in development and conservation needs through building bridges and linkages between protected areas, spaces designed for production, infrastructure and mining activity.“There is an urgent need to work towards reconciling the conservation and development visions so as to optimise land use. The concept of protecting of Congo Basin should also include opportunities for development and job creation. Conservation and development are closely linked rather than conflicting concepts. Thus conservation projects should be tailored and harnessed to provide solutions to development and employment challenges,” says Andreas Athanas, Program Design Director, AWF, in an interview.Experts agree…

KIGALI, Rwanda (PAMACC News) - The 16th Meeting of Parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) kicks off in Kigali, Rwanda on November 21, with over 500 delegates from governments, organisations – both the public and private sectors, representatives from civil society and the academic and scientific community looking forward to developing policies and other means of dealing with the challenges facing the Congo Basin forests.Other issues to be discussed include land use planning, conservation and sustainable use of wildlife resources, including the fight against wildlife trafficking, climate change, sustainable economic development and private sector knowledge-based decision-making among others.So far, Heads of State and Government of the Congo Basin countries have confirmed their commitment to the principles of conservation of the biodiversity and the sustainable management of Central African forest ecosystems, the fundamental rights of their populations to benefit from forest resources and the imperative to reconcile development needs with conservation within the framework of international cooperation.The Kigali conference comes at a time when the Congo Basin forests are facing challenges of growing complexity and gravity.However, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) points out that in the recent past, there has been substantial progress in conservation activities within the basin. The organization works in four priority landscapes in the CBFP which include Maringa-Lopori-Wamba and Bili Uele landscapes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dja Fauna Reserve and Campo Ma’an Park in Cameroon.The Congo Basin Forest covers approximately 180 million hectares and accounts for 30% of plant cover on the African continent, and 19% of the world’s tropical rainforests according to statistics from the African Forest Fotum. The Basin accordingly hosts significant biodiversity and provides key habitat to some of Africa’s most unique and threatened wildlife, including the forest elephant, okapi, and four great ape species: bonobo, chimpanzee, eastern gorilla and western gorilla. It hosts approximately 10,000 plant, 1000 bird, 400 mammal, and 700 fish species, many of which are unique to the Basin. Currently, CBFP comprises more than eighty African and international partner countries and organisations from both the public and private sectors as well as from civil society and the academic and scientific community. It is the most comprehensive regional platform dealing with the challenges facing the Congo Basin forests.Cooperation within CBFP accordingly, aims to support the shared vision of the Central African Heads of State, notably, improving measures taken, including technical and financial support measures, to promote the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable management of forest ecosystems, to combat climate change and to alleviate poverty in Central African countries in line with the COMIFAC Convergence Plan.

MARRAKECH, Morocco (PAMACC News) - Security experts have called on world leaders to address climate risk in their national, regional and international security planning.Speaking at UN climate change conference in Marrakech in Morocco, they noted that climate change is already contributing to social upheaval and even violent conflict by making bad situations worse."It places stress on water, food and energy resources. It interacts with existing stresses like poverty, marginalisation, ethnic strife, resource stress and religious differences to drive instability. As competition for already scarce resources increases, climate change could halt or even reverse peace and development gains made over the past decade," said Retired Admiral Chris Barrie, Royal Australian Navy Honorary Professor, Strategic and Defence StudiesCentre, Australian National University.Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney of the US said climate change promises to make many of the complex crises the world currently facesmuch harder to solve. "Unchecked, the effects of a warming climate will force people from their homes, destabilise societies and markets, create new sources of social and political tension, and even contribute to state fragility and failure. All of this can providea vacuum for extremist groups to thrive," he said.Retired US Marine Corps Former Inspector General and CEO, The American Security Project noted that climate change increases in disasters will place additional strain on military and civil response capabilities – often the first responders. Overstretched governments, militaries andhumanitarian teams will struggle to respond to supercharged natural disasters. "Extreme disasters provide an additional, preventable risk that could drive further fragility and conflict in vulnerable regions, and make existing conflicts harder to stabilise," he said.Nick Mabey, Co-Founding Director and Chief Executive E3G, United Kingdom called for integration of climate risk across the whole of government and the holistic management of crises as this will help maintain stability in the face of the worsening impacts of climate change and ongoing security challenges, and can help protect and improve people's safety, health and livelihoods.Dan Smith, Director Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said geopolitical dynamics may change and domestic contexts may shift, but robust security within nations, across borders, and around the world is impossible without building climate resilience, and incorporating climate risk into military operations, tactics, strategy and training."Addressing climate security risks in alliances and major international forums is essential: in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the African Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Organization of American States, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the UN Security Council, as well as building on the efforts of the G7 foreign ministers through the A New Climate for Peace project," he said.Retired Lieutenant General Balananda Sharma, Royal Nepalese Army called on world leaders to build on the exemplary international action on climate change achieved in 2015. "We must think beyond energy policy, and integrate climate risk into national, regional and international security planning in a way that is commensurate with the risks," he said.The experts belong to the Climate Security Working Group-International, an international forum of security experts and professionals focused on…

MARRAKECH, Morocco (PAMACC News) - The World Bank and Ithmar Capital have announced the creation of the Green Growth Infrastructure Facility, the first green fund dedicated to Africa. The World Bank Group and Ithmar Capital, have entered into a memorandum of understanding relating to the setting up of a Green Growth Infrastructure Facility for Africa ("GGIF Africa") which primary objective is to catalyse the transition in Africa to a green economy. The two institutions will be supporting resource efficient, low carbon, inclusive growth within the ecological limits of the planet, clean energy and improved energy access, low carbon transportation and logistics including ICT and efficient utilisation of water resources. GGIF AFRICA's intermediate objective is to catalyse and leverage private capital flows for investment in efficient, sustainable, low carbon intensity infrastructure in Africa. World Bank President Dr Jim Yong Kim said climate change is the most significant environmental, economic and social challenges of our time. It poses a substantive threat to the well-being and standard of living today, and for future generations. The COP 22 is mobilising stronger and more ambitious climate action by all Parties and non-Party stakeholders," Kim said. WB's Climate Change Action Plan focus is on the total resources mobilised and catalysed not only on its own account lending, and adjust internal processes and incentives accordingly. "Africa has become a "strategic priority for Morocco''. Relying on its growing economy and European proximity, the Kingdom is working towards becoming a competitive African hub. Morocco is today a key economic and strategic partner for most African economies, as is evidenced by the exponential rise in direct investments in high-value added sectors such as banking, insurance, telecommunications, energy agriculture and social housing," said King Mohammed VI. He added that as the world mobilises to fight climate change and transition to a green economy, it is clear that available public capital would fall far short of the amount needed to avoid a major rise in temperatures. "In this context, GGIF Africa would mobilize capital from the private sector, through public-private partnerships ("PPP") structures at GGIF Africa and project's levels. Public financial contributions would be designed to maximize private investment. The main focus for the GGIF Africa would be deployment of private capital for commercially bankable PPPs, and de-risking marginally non-bankable projects to render them viable. Tools may include innovative mechanisms for project preparation and deal structuring, and strategic design of fund and project capital structures," he said. The World Bank and Ithmar Capital intend to work in close partnership with a broad range of public and private investors, including regional development banks, global and regional institutional investors with the objective to increase private capital participation in green infrastructure investments and achieve resource efficient, low-carbon, low impact and resilient growth in Africa. Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) said Africa's infrastructure agenda requires a regional approach as there are a large number of national economies under US$10 billion GDP (31), landlocked countries (15) and trans-boundary rivers (60 basins), and…