Conservation Groups Release "State of the Forest" Report

After achieving a number of critical first steps in the effort to safeguard the second largest swath of rain forest on the planet, the Congo Basin Forest Partnership -- an alliance of some thirty governmental and non-governmental organizations -- is under threat from a proposed 25-35 percent cut in funding from the United States government for the next fiscal year.

In response to the proposed decrease, conservation groups have just released Forests of the Congo Basin: State of the Forest 2006, a comprehensive report on the progress already achieved by the 4-year-old partnership in protecting Africa's rain forests as well as future recommendations that may go unfulfilled if funding cuts are made.

"The State of the Forest report is a timely and critical first step in understanding the value of the Congo Basin forests as a connected series of landscapes and the alarming threats facing them," said Dr. Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and U.N. Messenger of Peace. "I also believe policymakers will see that this incredibly diverse and large forest habitat has important implications for climate change, the spread of infectious disease, and even global security."

Goodall was joined by representatives of African Wildlife Foundation, Conservation International, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund and other partners of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership.

Funding for the partnership -- currently approximately $17.5 million allocated for FY 2006 -- may be decreased to $11 million, if current proposals made by the Administration go through.

The report represents an effort to combine all available information on the status of natural resources in the region, to gauge the effectiveness of conservation projects and actions undertaken by partnership members to date, and to prioritize future activities to improve the balance between environmental stewardship and sustainable development.

Launched at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Congo Basin Forest Partnership has served to bring world attention to the plight of Africa's rain forests and to coordinate the management of the forests by governmental and non-governmental organizations on both regional and international levels. In addition to protecting existing parks and resources, the partnership has succeeded in creating new protected areas as well, most notably the creation of 13 new national parks in the nation of Gabon, some 10 percent of that country's land area. Wildlife Conservation Society film producer Josh Ponte highlighted these parks and their animal denizens -- forest elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, hippos, and other charismatic species -- in a short film that recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

"The proposed cuts to this program would deeply affect the people, wildlife, and forest ecosystem of the Congo Basin," said Dr. Helen Gichohi, President of the African Wildlife Foundation. "The Congo Basin Forest Partnership is an impressive show of unity among NGOs and cuts to the program will weaken leadership in the region."

> Download the State of the Forests Report

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For more information, contact Kaddu Sebunya at ksebunya@awf.org