Posted on June, 22 2006

Washington/Paris/Yaoundé – France and Cameroon signed the first ever Central African debt-for-nature swap today, which will see at least US$25 million over the next five years invested in protecting parts of the Congo River Basin, the world’s second largest tropical forest.

The agreement was initiated by France’s Debt Development Contract (C2D) under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative (HIPC) — a joint initiative of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The HIPC’s goal is to reduce the excessive debt faced by the world’s poorest nations. The goal of the C2D is to provide 100 per cent debt relief of the concessional loans France contracted to other countries. Twenty-two countries are eligible for C2D, with the the total amount of C2D debt relief estimated at US$4.6 billion.

The agreement requires Cameroon to earmark funds among four different sectors: education, health, infrastructure and natural resources. This is the first C2D agreement to allocate funds to natural resources. Previously funding had only been allocated to the education and health sectors, but an emphasis has been placed on the environment at the request of French president Jacques Chirac last July.

“The importance of this unique and history making agreement lies in the combination of debt forgiveness and investment in forest conservation and local communities,” said Laurent Some, Director of WWF’s Central African Regional Programme Office, based in Cameroon.

The investment funds will be used to better manage protected areas, wildlife and forest production and increase community forest resources and research capacity. Ultimately, they will help reduce poverty while protecting and managing natural forestry resources.

WWF sees this debt-for-nature swap as a concrete example of the commitment expressed by the region’s heads of state at the Brazzaville Summit in February 2005, and looks to other nations to follow France and Cameroon’s lead.

END NOTES:

• In February 2005, Cenetral African Heads of States signed the first ever region-wide conservation treaty, and an agreement to protect over seven per cent of the Congo Basin forests, the second largest rainforest after the Amazon.

• A massive forest expanse covering 1.5 million km², the Congo River Basin spreads across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), most of Congo-Brazzaville, the southeastern reaches of Cameroon, southern Central African Republic (CAR), Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

For further information:
Laurent Somé, Director
WWF Central African Regional Programme Office
Tel: +237 221 70 84
E-mail: lsome@wwfcarpo.org

Peter N'Gea, Communications Manager
WWF Central African Regional Programme Office
Tel: +237 221 70 84
E-mail: pngea@wwfcarpo.org