Gabon: Bongo, Macron participate in a summit to guard rainforests

Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba hosted his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Libreville with a number of Central African heads of state at a summit on the safety of tropical rainforests, in the beginning of a four-day tour of the area. “There isn’t any higher funding at present than investing in our forests,” says Bongo on the One Forest Summit, co-organised by France and Gabon.

His feedback got here earlier than a number of heads of state had been resulting from attend the One Forest Summit in Libreville, which can concentrate on preserving rainforests that play an important function within the world local weather system.

The forests of the huge Congo River basin characterize the planet’s second-largest carbon sink after the Amazon.

They’re additionally residence to very large biodiversity together with forest elephants and gorillas, and bear traces of the settlement of early humanity.

However they face threats akin to poaching, deforestation for the oil, palm and rubber industries, and unlawful logging and mineral exploitation.

Different presidents anticipated to attend the summit are host Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon; Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville; Faustin-Archange Touadera of the Central African Republic; Chad’s Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno; and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea.

The gathering kicked off on Wednesday with exchanges between ministers, civil society representatives and consultants.

Macron heads to Angola on Friday, the place he’s set to signal an accord to develop the agricultural sector as a part of a drive to reinforce French ties with anglophone and Portuguese-speaking Africa.

He then stops within the Republic of Congo, the place he’ll meet with president Denis Sassou Nguesso , and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

***AFP***