The Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) is a sub-regional institution directed by the forest ministers of its 10 member states in Central Africa (Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Sao Tomé & Principe). COMIFAC coordinates all activities related to sustainable forest management, forest biodiversity and illegal logging. The COMIFAC Convergence Plan, adopted by the Central COMIFAC Council of Ministers, defines the common intervention strategies for states and development partners working to achieve sustainable forest management in Central Africa.

As part of the follow-up to the African Ministerial Conference on FLEG, efforts have been made to integrate AFLEG-related objectives and actions into existing initiatives. In this sense, the establishment of the AFLEG/FLEGT Task Force is an outcome of the AFLEG process and one approach to supporting stakeholder efforts to improve FLEG in Central Africa.

IUCN’s Role

With financial support from the German development organization Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and on the initiative of the Executive Secretary of COMIFAC, IUCN organized a workshop in Bafoussam, Cameroon, in December 2005. The aim of the workshop was to establish an AFLEG/FLEGT Task Force geared towards the development of an action plan for implementing the COMIFAC Convergence Plan. Participants included representatives of national and sub-regional government organizations, civil society and the media. Work proceedings took place in a plenary and participatory manner.

Achievements

The workshop enabled significant progress toward the establishment of the AFLEG/FLEGT Task Force. The initial version of the Terms of Reference for the Task Force, drawn up earlier in 2005, were re-examined and amended considerably. The global mandate of the Task Force was reiterated and the specific mandate centered on 11 items compared with the original 12. Membership of the AFLEG/FLEGT Task Force was doubled, from 15 to 30 members, to ensure that a broad range of key stakeholders including Central African states, civil society, the private sector and development partners, were adequately represented. Activities to be carried out in the short, medium and long terms were specified, key roles were identified and timeframes for implementation were established for short and medium term activities. Workshop discussions also led to a recommendation that the Convergence Plan be referred to the Facilitation Agency of the Nine-Country Conference on Central African Moist Forest Ecosystems (CEFDHAC) to be analysed from the perspective of the AFLEG process.

The Bafoussam workshop contributed to improved understanding by a range of stakeholders of AFLEG/FLEGT processes. It also paved the way for the next phases and in particular the formalization of the Task Force, the definition of its operating mode and the sensitizing of key stakeholder to the existence of the Task Force, setting the stage for more effective implementation of the actions to improve forest management in Central Africa that are laid out in Convergence Plan.

To see the “Note on the Establishment of an AFLEG/FLEGT Task Force” and the amended version of the AFLEG/FLEGT Task Force Terms of Reference, click here (available in French only).

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