Congo Forest Expert Group (COFEX)

In April 2007 WIx started the Congo Forest Expert Group, in  reaction to the invitation of the Dutch Minister of Development Cooperation Bert Koenders to contribute ideas how to save the forests of Congo.

COFEX came up with Ten Tips to Save the Forests of Congo:

1     Congo helps Congo. Mobilize Congolese experts living in Europe;

2     The Ghana-Congo Connection. Hire Anglophone forestry experts from other African countries to do the job; 

3     Enforcement through Transparency.  Publish all available information on natural resources on internet.  Build a ‘real-time forest monitoring system’ in Google Earth; 

4     Develop the forestry sector bottom-up. Start at village level and reinforce local management capacity; 

5     Start pilot projects in similar forest in Congo-Brazzaville and Uganda. Let DRC become envious; 

6     Let parliament and councils control the governments.   Empower them and work along with them to get laws and regulations right; 

7     Let the women do the banking. Pay them the money directly; 

8     Install village chiefs as landlords of the forest; 

9     Develop Green business plans with fiscal benefits in Europe, instead of aid; 

10    Promote empowering technology such as GPS, satellite telephone, WIMAX internet, media to empower the people living in the forest.

Key COFEX experts:

 Patrice Yamba T. Kantu, Brussels

Chantal Shalukoma, Conservation & Development expert, Brussels and Bukavu

Corneille Ewango, Forest Conservation expert, Wageningen and Ituri

Erwin Brouwers, Local capacity building expert, The Hague

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