History of Regional Partnership
Regional collaboration in the Congo Basin was first formalized in 1996, when Forests and Environment Ministers, NGOs and international organizations signed a declaration on forest conservation - The Brazzaville Process.
This was followed by the Yaoundé Forest Summit in 1999, which elevated forest conservation in the region to a higher political level. At the end of the summit, the Heads of State from six Central African nations - Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) - signed the Yaoundé Declaration in the presence of representatives from the international community notably the World Bank, United Nations and European Commission.
The 2nd Central Africa Heads of State Forest Summit (Yaoundé +5) was held in Brazzaville to assess what has been done for the Congo Basin forests since the first summit and celebrate achievements which came from that original meeting. In addition, it allowed participating countries to define new directions and make further commitments to safeguard this rich world natural heritage for both people and wildlife. Containing commitments to forest conservation and sustainable forest management, the Declaration has resulted in solid conservation achievements, including the setting up of millions of hectares of new forest protected areas, increased funding, cross-border conservation cooperation, and establishment of a regional body, the Commission of Ministers in charge of Forests in Central Africa (COMIFAC), to coordinate regional conservation initiatives.
A seventh Central African nation, the Democratic Republic of Congo, has since signed the Yaoundé Declaration.