Message from Hans SCHIPULLE, new German Facilitator for PFBC/CBFP
Dear partners and friends of CBFP!
At the invitation and under the energetic chairmanship of the French Facilitation, the 5th Plenary Meeting of the Congo Basin Forestry Partnership was held at the National History Museum in Paris on 26 October 2007. The presence of a large number of ministers from Congo Basin countries, as well as from France and Germany, together with our voluntary ambassador, Mrs Wangari MAATHAI, and the large delegations representing different stakeholders, all testify, should any proof still be needed, to the dynamic nature of this partnership and to its commitment to reach the ambitious objectives it has set itself in terms of supporting strategies designed to ensure the conservation and responsible use of forest resources in the Congo Basin and the implementation of the COMIFAC Convergence Plan.
One of the key points of the meeting in Paris was the hand-over
of CBFP Facilitation to Germany. In this respect, it has fallen to me
to succeed Mr Laurent STEFANINI, French Ambassador for the Environment,
as CBFP Facilitator for the period 2007-2009. I have already had the
pleasure of meeting several of you during my work at the German Federal
Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) whilst preparing
for this new task, which I consider a great challenge. You have not
only encouraged me, but also offered your advice and experience, notably
concerning the approaches I should adopt in order for this mission to
succeed. And I concur with Mrs MAATHAI, who shares with us her Nobel
Peace Prize-winning optimism, that “failure is not an option!”
During the CBFP meeting in Paris, Germany explained the general direction
it believes cooperation should take within the framework of the partnership
during the next two years. In so doing, it focused on its role as Facilitator
but also and especially sought to encourage all the partners to contribute
to the formulation of the roadmap and its implementation. The fact that
we aim to pursue specific themes, such as capacity building for COMIFAC
and CBFP, better forest governance, implementation of the Convergence
Plan and major international conventions related to forests and environment
and development of transboundary protected areas, clearly shows that
we wish to continue along the paths taken by our American and French
predecessors, to work
- with existing structures and working groups,
- and on the basis of the « cooperation framework » of CBFP
partners, but above all
- with the objective of supporting the countries in the COMIFAC region,
its Executive Secretariat, and the people whose livelihoods are based
on forest resources, in their efforts to conserve and make good use
of their natural heritage.
The debates held in the course of the Paris meeting showed that a general
consensus exists with regard to the priorities of our joint work, particularly
on salient issues relating to the implementation of the COMIFAC Convergence
Plan and its external support, the positioning of the region in international
processes affecting forestry concerns in Central Africa, the options
for consolidating COMIFAC structures, including the implementation of
the Autonomous Financing Mechanism, but also the sound functioning of
our partnership itself.
With regard to the latter, I would like to emphasise the importance
of certain points:
• Existing working groups, or those to be set up as needed,
should continue to play a key role in the identification of joint positions
and diverging view points requiring clarification, so that we can all
progress towards a consensus.
• During large-scale CBFP meetings, greater effort should be made
to mobilise and encourage each and every member to participate in frank
and open discussions by using moderation techniques suitable for large
groups and by scheduling sufficient time.
• Our dialogue could also benefit from strengthening COMIFAC National
Coordination Units by analysing the needs and providing concerted technical
and financial support.
• Internal communication and the external promotion of
the partnership, including via a more interactive website, deserve to
be stepped up amongst partnership members, since we feel there is a
great need to receive more information about each others’ activities,
both successful and unsuccessful, as well as a demand for greater transparency
and exchanges of experience.
• The technical and financial support to implement the monitoring
and evaluation system, validated in 2006, should continue, including
the elaboration of the 2008 Forest Status Report.
• With everyone’s support, we should try to attract more
partners from civil society in the COMIFAC region, as well as from the
donor community, international organisations, the private sector, including
the banking sector, and from amongst new actors in the Congo Basin forest
sector, such as China. I was pleased that we were able to welcome a
representative of the Beijing State Forest Administration to Paris.
Just a few weeks ago, this administration organised a conference between
the European Union and China concerning FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement,
Governance and Trade).
In closing, may I briefly present the small German Facilitation team that is going to serve you over the next two years. This team will also be backed by colleagues working within the cooperation framework with COMIFAC and certain countries in the region. I am therefore pleased to announce that I have as my deputy, Mr Samuel MAKON Wéhiong, who is one of the best known and most experienced and qualified experts in the Congo Basin countries. He will be based in Yaoundé, in his home country of Cameroon, from where he will ensure the Facilitation’s presence in the region and its operations. And in Germany, at GTZ level, Mr Herbert CHRIST is going to support us with his wealth of experience, which he recently demonstrated again in Vietnam.
As agreed in Paris, we are going to finalise the roadmap for the German Facilitation and communicate it to all partners as quickly as possible. With your support, we also want to prepare a plan of operations, for which we propose to identify leaders (“chefs de file”) amongst the partners and to have direct correspondents of the Facilitation within the partnership member countries.
Good cooperation with you all - this is my strongest wish!
Hans Schipulle