CONGO BASIN Reforestation (COMIFAC)

Notes on PRESENTATION BY VARIOUS MINISTERS:

30% of earth is forests
20% of carbon emissions come from cutting down forests
15% of all carbon sinks for human activity are in forests
95% of emissions from developed & emerging nations
Investment now very small (miniscule and whomever is smart enuf to invest will benefit greatly if anyone wants a hot tip) compared to costs to entire biosphere later

Broad consensus emerging
Germany providing significant funding to help Congo, hoping to set an example, facilitation for 2 years (Minister of Germany)
Local implementation part of plan
Ask finance ministers of other countries to help
Grandchildren say our grandparents were at COP and saved forests
Cameroons timber is 25% of export

(I'm in an impossibly uncomfortable position on the floor listening & typing in this packed room, sweating because it's so hot with all these people- Special Effects of Africa at COP)

German pilot project in Cameroon with partners in Bolivia mapping land use changes, measurements of damage factors & biomass emission acountings
Doing GIS workshops in Republic of Congo, Gabon financed by European Space Agency
Practical evaluation of carbon stock to develop capacity
DRC initiatives preparing for REDD
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA): mapping baseline definitions for Congo Basin. Goals: show methodology for reference res to help implementation. Is REDD appropriate? Macroenonomic economic analysis; focusing on impact of internal infrastructure (traffic corridors) drivers & international trade effect, meat consumption, agricultural development/production as it becomes an exporter at the cost of forests resulting in deforestation projected to 2030. Looking at impact 0n food prices (rising). Equipped now to evaluate value of REDD.

Speakers switching between English, French, German. Drums outside (start up for Fossil awards?)

Preparation for monitoring & reporting in Congo & Gabon. $200,000 committed
Surface area 342,000 km 2,900.000 population
22471271 (not sure how to translate these numbers) hectares total forest area
(just asked person in front of me to move packback so I could extend feet- much better but back still quite unhappy)
1/4 of basin based on maps on screen looks like protected & certified forest areas

Tasks:
institutional arrangements & stakeholder analysis
deforestation & degradation mapping

Synergies with donors & stakeholders to avoid duplicating efforts

Principles:
Participation
Transparent
Unique with a consistent plan
Robust science
Regionally integrated

(I just got a chair when the woman next to me left: heaven. What a wonderful invention chairs are)

Conclusions: we need to identify what was accomplished and how to make the achievements durable. We need financial help from other countries.

Questions later. Too bad. Room had to be vacated at 6:PM and I have another commitment.