The Minister in charge of the Environment chaired the launch of the Global Biodiversity Framework Early Action Support Project (AFRICA4) on Tuesday, November 21 in Mbankomo.

This is a project that is part of the implementation of the New Global Biodiversity Framework for the post-2020 period, adopted in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. It aims to accelerate the preparation and the first actions for the revision of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAP) by certain countries, especially those under development.

Cameroon, a country party to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, is committed, like any other country party, to revise its NBSAPs in order to comply with the terms of the New Global Biodiversity Framework. The Africa 4 Project Launch Workshop this Tuesday in Mbankomo is more about NBSAP II and it is therefore a question of revising the National Targets in line with both the new Global Framework and the National Development Strategy 2020-2030 (SND 30).

To do this, under the coordination of MINEPDED, the Workshop brought together various national biodiversity stakeholders, i.e. several dozen people: sectoral administrations, research institutions, parliamentarians, representatives of the private sector, civil society, as well as networks of Traditional and Youth Leaders.

In detail, it aims to inform these national stakeholders about the project, present the elements to be taken into consideration when revising the National Targets (gender, the commitments of non-state actors, the management of the Cameroon - CAR- Congo Transboundary zone), present the methodology that will be used to plan the revision of the NBSAP, and adopt a road map to be followed by the Standing National Committee on Biodiversity.

Minister HELE Pierre, in the presence of his Deputy Minister, the Mayor of the Commune of Mbankomo, the Representative of UNEP and the Secretaries General of sectoral administrations, invited the participants to invest actively and effectively in the Work: “I therefore invite you to participate actively in the Work in order to meet the challenge of developing and submitting our national biodiversity objectives in line with international and national strategic guidelines within the allotted time frame”.

Note that the AFRICA 4 Project is set up by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its implementing agencies: the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Before the next Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity, which will see the Parties present their revised NBSAPs, Cameroon must revise its National Targets to align them with the New Global Framework.