About CARPE

Strategic Objective

Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) is currently in the second of three proposed phases. Phase II is specifically concerned with intensive implementation and the establishment of improved natural resource management capacity in order to reduce deforestation and conserve biodiversity.

The strategic objective of CARPE is to reduce the rate of forest degradation and loss of biodiversity in the Congo Basin by increasing local, national, and regional natural resource management capacity.

Intermediate results to be achieved in order to reach this objective involve implementing sustainable forest and biodiversity management practices, strengthening environmental governance, and working to monitor forests and other natural resources throughout the region.

By working to fulfill its objective, CARPE supports broader efforts to alleviate poverty in Central Africa by helping to conserve the biotic resources necessary for sustainable development. CARPE also provides global benefits by contributing to efforts to slow climate change and protect the species and genetic resources of the Congo Basin.

The third Phase of CARPE will be initiated in 2013, for which a single development objective is proposed: "The ecological integrity of the humid forest ecosystem of the Congo Basin is maintained." Phase III will focus on sustainable management of targeted forested landscapes, mitigation of biodiversity threats, establishing policy and regulatory environments to support forest and biodiversity conservation, and strengthening capacity to monitor forests, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity. The objective and rationale for Phase III are more fully described in the Regional Development Cooperation Strategy 2012-2020.

History

The CARPE program was first authorized by the U.S. Government in 1995 and was initially proposed as a 20-year regional initiative divided three strategic phases.

Phase I of CARPE began operating out of Washington, D.C in 1997 and centered on gathering information on the Central African forest ecosystem, while simultaneously building regional human resources and institutional capacity.

The program began in four countries; the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo. Since its beginning five additional countries have been added; Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Sao Tome & Principe.

In 1997, there were no USAID missions in Congo Basin countries and the decision was made to work directly through partner organizations already operating in the region. The first set of ten partners included: the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS); the World Resources Institute (WRI); World Wildlife Fund (WWF); World Learning (later succeeded by Innovative Resource Management (IRM)); the U.S. Forest Service (USFS); the Peace Corps; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)‚ in collaboration with the Universities of Virginia and Maryland. The tenth partner‚ the Biodiversity Support Program (BSP), a USAID-funded consortium of the World Wildlife Fund‚ The Nature Conservancy‚ and the World Resources Institute‚ handled program management until its Global Bureau cooperative agreement ended in December‚ 2001.

Four other partners began participating in CARPE in 2000: the World Conservation Union (IUCN); Conservation International (CI); the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF); and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

In January of 2003, CARPE began its second strategic phase and officially transferred management to the region. CARPE Phase II is being operated as a regional Strategic Objective (SO) managed through the environmental sector of USAID in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Phase II is specifically concerned with supporting sustainable natural resource management in the field, improving environmental governance, and strengthening natural resource monitoring capacity in Central Africa.

The implementation of Phase II corresponded with the launching of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development. At the summit, the U.S. Government (USG) committed $53 million to finance the CBFP's efforts to support sustainable forestry, biodiversity conservation, and poverty alleviation. The USG identified CARPE as the principal mechanism through which these funds would be dispersed.

From 2003-2005 USAID-CARPE dispersed approximately $15 million per year to promote the objectives of the CBFP and the following Administrative and Legislative Priorities: the Congo Basin Forest Partnership Presidential Initiative, the Global Development Alliance, the Presidential Initiative Against Illegal Logging, the Global Climate Change Initiative, the Biodiversity Legislative "earmark" FAA Section 118, the Tropical Forestry Legislative "earmark" FAA Section 119, and the Microenterprise "earmark". In addition to the funds provided through the USG, CARPE requires matching funds from its primary partners amounting in aggregate to more than 50% of USAID's contribution.

USAID has proposed a third CARPE strategic phase that is expected to continue through 2016. Phase III will build on the investments, results and lessons learned from the first two phases, most likely with a strong emphasis on mitigating global climate change through tropical forest conservation, ecosystems services payments systems and executing tropical forest land use plans developed in phase II.

Organization

CARPE was designed as a long-term, regional initiative. It operates as a stand alone Strategic Objective in the environment sector of the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Africa Bureau and is being managed out of the USAID Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. CARPE is the principal mechanism through which the U.S. Government promotes the objectives of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP).

In order to execute effectively this comprehensive program, USAID directly funds multiple partner organizations. These implementing partners include both international conservation organizations and "cross-cutting" service providers.

The majority of CARPE funds are allocated to planning and management activities within the 12 CARPE landscapes. The CARPE Landscape Programs are currently being administered by multiple international conservation organizations functioning as consortia. These consortia are led by a single member and include other international NGOs, local NGOs, government agencies, international research institutions, and specific individuals to implement the landscape programs.

In addition to the landscape programs, CARPE also supports broader cross-cutting activities throughout the Congo Basin. Cross-cutting activities are designed to bring specific expertise to the Congo Basin and are concerned with a wide variety of tasks, including: forestry and natural resources monitoring, improved natural resources governance, policy development, and institutional capacity building.

Finally, to provide additional technical and administrative guidance at the country level, CARPE supports 9 national-level 'Focal Points', one for each of the nine Central African countries where CARPE operates. Focal Points work with local non-governmental organizations, and community-based organizations to increase their capacity to accomplish CARPE activities while convening a range of stakeholders to support an improved policy environment at national level.

CARPE Partners

Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP)

The Congo Basin Forest Partnership is an association between some 30 governmental and non-governmental organizations concerned with the Congo Basin.

The CBFP was launched as a non-binding Type II partnership at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. The partnership's primary aim is to enhance natural resource management and improve the standard of living in the Congo Basin. The members of the CBFP recognize the Central Africa Forest Commission (COMIFAC) as the central policy and decision-making body for conservation and management of Central African forests. The CBFP works to advance COMIFAC priorities by promoting collaboration and communication between its members.

The CBFP was initially facilitated by the U.S. from 2003-2004, by France from 2005-2007, and by Germany from 2008-2010. Canada has facilitated the CBFP since 2010. The U.S. will assume facilitation once again in May 2013. Members of the partnership meet periodically to coordinate priority activities and are encouraged to share information through the CBFP website. Since its inception in 2002, CARPE has been the U.S. government's primary means of administering and funding its CBFP activities.

For more information and the latest CBFP developments, please visit the CBFP website at: http://www.cbfp.org/

Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC)

The Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC) is the primary authority for decision-making and coordination of sub-regional actions and initiatives pertaining to the conservation and sustainable management of the Congo Basin forests.

COMIFAC is made up of the forestry ministers of participating Central African countries and is under the head of a secretariat. The legal basis for the Commission was laid in 1999 when the heads of state of the Republic of the Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome/Principe, Gabon, and the Central African Republic convened and produced the Yaoundé Declaration. The Declaration recognizes the protection of the Congo Basin's ecosystems as an integral component of the development process and reaffirms the signatories' commitments to work cooperatively to promote the sustainable use of the Congo ecosystem in accordance with their social, economic, and environmental agendas.

Since its formation, COMIFAC has met regularly to discuss its agenda and develop an official Plan de Convergence, an action plan that identifies COMIFAC priorities. Based on COMIFAC's Plan de Convergence (2003-2010), the CBFP identifies its major themes as: harmonization of forest policy and taxation, inventory of flora and fauna, ecosystem management, conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of natural resources, capacity building and community participation, research, and innovative financing mechanisms.

Since 1999, the signatories of the Yaoundé Declaration have also worked to overcome variances and formalize their commitments in a treaty. To this end, in February of 2005 a landmark conference was held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. At this conference an official treaty was signed by the heads of state of the Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Sao Tome/Principe, Burundi, and Rwanda. The signatories to the Treaty do not correlate directly with the members of CBFP, but the Treaty demonstrates the active nature of the forestry dialogue in Central Africa of which both the CBFP and COMIFAC play an integral part.

For more information on COMIFAC, please visit the COMIFAC website at: http://www.comifac.org/

Congo Basin

The CARPE program is directly concerned with the sustainable management of the Congo Basin forest ecosystem.

The Congo Basin forest spans across much of Central Africa and is the second largest area of contiguous moist tropical forest left in the world. It covers an area of approximately 1.8 million square kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean's Gulf of Guinea to the mountains of the Albertine Rift. 80% of the forests range in altitude from 300 to 1,000 m and forms the catchment basin of the Congo River.

Representing approximately one fifth of the world's remaining closed canopy tropical forest; the Congo Basin forest is of local, regional, and global environmental significance. The forest serves as critical habitat for biodiversity conservation (home to three of the world's four species of great apes) and provides vital regional and global ecological services. The forest also represents a rich resource in terms of food, shelter, and livelihoods for the over 60 million inhabitants ofthe region. The sustainable management of these resources is seen as critical to the economic development of the region.

The Congo Basin forests, which play a major economic role and ecological role as a carbon sink and a catchment basin, are at risk from a complex set of threats. While much of the forest currently remains intact, many factors contribute to its continual loss. These factors include proximate threats from the persistent unsustainable extraction of timber and mineral resources, agricultural expansion, an active bushmeat trade, poor management, and increasing pressure due to population growth. In addition, the forests of the Congo Basin are vulnerable to more ultimate threats related to regional poverty, weak governance, and civil unrest.

Countries

CARPE was initiated as a regional program because the Congo Basin forest is not contained within a single country, but instead represents a contiguous area of tropical forest that acts as the catchment basin for the Congo River.

The forest spans Central Africa and working to promote its sustainable management involves engaging and supporting cooperation and collaboration between numerous countries.

CARPE is currently working within the following African countries; Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Sao Tome & Principe. The governments of these countries have established their willingness to create a meaningful regional forest dialogue by becoming members of the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC).

CARPE's engagement in each of these countries differs according to their needs and CARPE priorities. CARPE's strategic objective addresses building natural resource management capacity at the local, national, and regional scale. In many of CARPE's partner countries the capacity to sustainably manage natural resources is being improved locally through CARPE's Landscape Programs. At the country scale, CARPE supports many programs to institutionalize natural resource monitoring and strengthen natural resource governance.

Landscapes

The majority of CARPE funds are allocated to support activities in designated landscapes. By implementing a landscape approach to natural resource management, CARPE works to assure that conservation activities are integrated into commercial forest exploitation activities, and address the unsustainable environmental practices of a myriad of local communities subsisting throughout the tropical forest landscapes.