Congo Basin NGO Declaration on Forests and Climate Change

We, civil society delegates from the Congo Basin attending the meetings on climate change in Accra;*
Concerned that the most devastating impacts of global warming will be borne by the least developed countries and will above all affect the most vulnerable communities in these countries;
Conscious of the importance of the carbon stock sequestered by the forests of the Congo Basin and of the urgent necessity to protect these forests in order to preserve the climate equilibrium of the planet;
Concerned about the degree of poverty among local communities and indigenous peoples living in these forests;
Make the following declaration:
New financial mechanisms that take into account the role of carbon in sustainable forest management (CDM, REDD….) represent an unquestionable opportunity to save the forests of the Congo Basin, and their rich biodiversity, and to ensure that these forests continue to provide environmental services to the populations of the Congo Basin countries and the entire planet. The international community’s increased attention to forests may help to finally put an end to the processes and practices that are currently destroying these unique forest ecosystems, and contribute to the economic development of the local populations and indigenous peoples that live in and depend on them.
The forest concession model that has prevailed in the Congo Basin to date has failed to promote ecological or social sustainability. Given the risk of losing all credibility if they reward those actors who are the central drivers of deforestation, the international community should exclude logging companies and agribusiness from the financial benefits of avoided deforestation. The Parties to the climate change convention are encouraged to adopt firm commitments to avoid leakage or displacement of greenhouse gas emissions within or between countries.
Since the beginning of the colonial era, local and indigenous communities have been marginalized in the management of forest lands and resources. REDD constitutes a new threat to these communities, who run the risk of being dispossessed of their ancestral lands because of carbon speculation linked to current exclusionary forest conservation policies. Any process that takes account of carbon in forest management must necessarily recognize and secure the rights of indigenous and local communities to their lands and resources, and guarantee their full participation in the implementation of any financial mechanism. This is necessary to ensure that it respects their interests, is compatible with their culture, and recognizes their role as the primary protectors of the forest.
The protection of intact natural forests should be given priority and merits greater effort from the international community than do regions where forests are already degraded. Intact forests deserve priority attention not only because of the carbon they contain, but also because of the other functions they provide, which are vital for the local populations and for the planet as a whole.
Payments for the contribution of forests to global climate regulation must not constitute a way for industrialized countries to avoid drastically reducing their own greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, financing for forest protection should not be delivered through debt transfer mechanisms, and must guarantee improved forest governance.
We reaffirm our confidence in our own governments, and encourage them to take our concerns into account in order to ensure that REDD efforts constitute models of environmental and social justice which benefit local and indigenous communities in our countries. In this spirit, we encourage our governments to immediately implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Issued in Accra, August 22 2008
* RDC : Conseil Régional des ONGD de la Province de Bandundu (CRONGD BANDUNDU) ; Dignité Pygmée (DIPY) ; Groupe d’Action pour Sauver l’Homme et son Environnement (GASHE) ; Maniema Liberté (MALI) ; Organisation Concertée des Ecologiste et Amis de la Nature (OCEAN) ; Protection des écorégions de Miombo au Congo (PREMI CONGO) ; Réseau pour la Conservation et la Réhabilitation des Ecosystèmes Forestiers (Réseau CREF) ; Réseau Ressources Naturelles (RRN). République du Congo : Observatoire congolais des droits de l’Homme (OCDH). République Centre Africaine : Maison de l'Enfant et de la Femme Pygmées (MEFP). Cameroun : Forêts et Développement Rural (FODER), Centre pour l’environnement et le développement (CED).