WWF signs agreement with CBP
16-08-2012
WWF has signed an agreement with IDH and FORM International to promote FSC certification and responsible forest management in the Congo Basin.
WWF, through GFTN, will advise IDH’s Congo Basin Program on promoting FSC and public-private partnerships in the region. In addition, GFTN will help identify service providers and assist the CBP in monitoring progress in the region. Finally, the organizations will collaborate on creating an enabling environment for FSC certification in the region, such as supporting finalization of the regional/national FSC standards and strengthening governance.
GFTN has been operating in Central Africa since 2003 and currently has operations in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and the Republic of Congo. GFTN supports and guides logging companies that understand how responsible logging practices and trade can lead to important advantages in the international market. It has played an important role in promoting FSC certification in the region, ensuring that credible certification systems are established and endorsed, facilitating access to markets where logging companies can sell their goods, and providing technical support to achieve certification.
The Congo Basin Program is very happy to have this close collaboration with WWF/GFTN. The knowledge, experience and network of GFTN in the region is of utmost importance for an effective and successful roll-out of the Congo Basin Program.
Program director Tieme Wanders explains: “For a 5-year program like the Congo Basin Program it is important to have key organizations supporting it. The working relation with GFTN is already existing from the very beginning, but we foresee an even closer collaboration now with the formalization of this MoU”.
