The Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) was launched during the 2015

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

as a collaborative partnership between a coalition of willing donors, six Central African partner countries (

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, the

Republic of Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, the , the

Republic of Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

and the

Gabonese Republic Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

), and Brazil as South-South partner. The donor pool has grown to reach 10 contributing donors by end 2024. CAFI's goals are to "recognize and preserve the value of the forests in the region to

mitigate climate change Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include energy conservation, conserving energy and Fossil fuel phase-out, repl ...

, reduce poverty, and contribute to

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

". These goals will be attained through the implementation of country-led, national scale,

holistic Holism is the interdisciplinary idea that systems possess properties as wholes apart from the properties of their component parts. Julian Tudor Hart (2010''The Political Economy of Health Care''pp.106, 258 The aphorism "The whole is greater than t ...

reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation REDD+ is a voluntary climate mitigation framework developed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It aims to encourage developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation, enhance forest' ...

(REDD+) and low emissions development national investment frameworks (NIFs) which will include policy reforms and other tangible measures to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and promote sustainable development. The rationale for establishing CAFI is that while Central Africa is home to the second-largest

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

in the world, after the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

, ongoing efforts have not prevented

forest loss Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then land conversion, converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or u ...

. The land use and forestry sector is by far the main contributor to

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

gas (GHG) emissions in the region. International investments in REDD+ are not currently at the required scale to affect the necessary change, and donor support in the region has been traditionally fragmented.

Challenges and solutions

The four main direct drivers and their dynamics in the Central African forests are widely recognized: agriculture, wood energy, forestry and infrastructure/mining development. Indirect drivers include rural and urban demographic pressure, weak and inadequate land use planning and land tenure rules, the development of new infrastructure, and inadequate governance. CAFI will seek to support country-led NIFs that tackle one or several drivers at different levels (national and sub-national) to result in, for example: *Sustainable agricultural practices towards less

land conversion Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways, such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpo ...

and increased food security; *Sustainable alternatives to current wood energy practices; *Forestry sector institutions that have the capacity and the legal framework to promote, monitor and enforce sustainable

forest management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, forest protection, and forest regulation. This includes man ...

; *Future

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

and mining projects that minimize their overall footprint; *Land use planning decisions that ensure a balanced representation of sectoral interests and keep forests standing, and better tenure security that does not incentivize conversion by individuals or communities; *Slower

population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The World population, global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to aroun ...

and migration to forests and forest fronts; *Better inter-ministerial coordination and governance resulting in permitting and fiscal regime of economic activities that do not push economic actors to forest conversion and illegal activities. To mitigate the economic impact of the initiative, funds are also dedicated to reducing poverty and creating sustainable development.

Governance

The CAFI Executive Board is the entity through which funding allocation decisions are made to support country-driven National Investment Frameworks. The CAFI Multi-Partner Trust Fund is the principal means of implementing the Central African Forest Initiative. Its initial capitalization target is USD 500 million over the 2015 – 2025 period. The CAFI Secretariat supports the Executive Board, coordinates with CAFI Partner Countries and is responsible for decisions regarding the allocation of resources from the CAFI Fund.

References

External links

* * * * * * *{{cite web, url=http://www.ecorazzi.com/2015/10/02/norway-lends-european-donors-protecting-congo/, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006023240/http://www.ecorazzi.com/2015/10/02/norway-lends-european-donors-protecting-congo/, url-status=usurped, archive-date=October 6, 2015, title=Norway Leads Global Effort to Protect Congo Basin : Ecorazzi, website=Ecorazzi.com, accessdate=14 September 2018 Nature conservation in Africa Environmental organizations established in 2015 Forest conservation organizations Central Africa Forestry in Africa Greenhouse gas emissions