At subregional workshop in Yaounde: Stakeholders brainstorm on reducing forest conversion in Congo Basin.

This was at a two-day regional workshop on forest conversion, which closed Wednesday August 19. The Yaounde forum was organised by the environmental organisation, Green Development Advocates, GDA.

The workshop brought together participants such as national and regional policy-makers, representatives of international NGOs, technical and financial partners, researchers, scholars, indigenous community representatives and civil society leaders from DR Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Congo.

Discursions at the workshop, which ends August 19, was placed under the theme: “Regional governance and cooperation on forest conversion in the Congo Basin”.

According to experts, the forests cover of the Congo Basin, estimated at nearly 300 million hectares of primary or naturally regenerated forests, are home to thousands of plant and animal species, some of which are endemic.

However, over recent decades, the Congo Basin forests have come under increasing pressure due to the conversion of forestland to other uses. 

The Coordinator of GDA, Aristide Chacgom Fokam, explained that during the two-day gathering they will analyse the dynamics and impacts of forest conversion in the Congo Basin, strengthen coordination and develop coherent regional strategies to combat deforestation and forest degradation.

He added that they also highlight innovative tools and traditional knowledge for the monitoring and sustainable management of forests. 

“Forest conversion is the process of transforming a natural forest into non-forest land,” he said.

He then explained that: “We invited representatives from countries in the sub-region to examine what is happening in their respective countries and, together, identify strategies that could be put in place to reverse these trends or, where necessary, to ensure that community rights are better taken into account when conversion takes place in the different countries”.

GDA at 15

The workshop also coincided with the 15th anniversary of Green Development Advocate. The organisation was founded by prominent environmental lawyer and social justice activist, Dr Djeukam Robinson, on June 30, 2011. 

The GDA Coordinator revealed that the theme of the workshop was strategically chosen in the spirit of the anniversary. 

“GDA has had its ups and downs, but it remains deeply committed to preserving the forests of the Congo Basin,” Chacgom said, while assessing the organisation’s impact so far.  

He assured that GDA is resolute to its vision of thriving for an ever-greener Congo Basin. 

“We promote sustainable development that takes forest conservation into account, as well as the rights of communities, especially the rights of indigenous peoples, who live from the forest and whose practices do not harm the forest, including the Baka, Bagyéli/Bakola, Bedzang, Montagnards and Mbororo,” he stressed.

Balancing development and conservation

According to one of the facilitators, Dr Mala A. William, Interim Managing Director of RainForest Alliance, it is important to strike a balance between forest conservation and development needs. 

He advocated a shift toward integrated land-use planning where all sectors need to exist in order to build growth. 

“Growth creates added value and jobs. Sectors must be integrated and integration begins with recognising that all sectors are important for a country’s development,” Dr Mala said. 

“If we take the case of Cameroon, the public investment budget is important. It is nearly 1.4 trillion FCFA, perhaps 1.5 trillion FCFA. This public investment budget should be aligned with greening,” he noted.

‘Forest represent everything to communities’

One of the participants from Republic of Congo, Guy Moussele Diséke, said the forest represents everything to local communities. Going by civil society leader of the organisation called Bomassa Association for the Promotion of Culture and Protection of Biodiversity, ABPCPB, the forests serve the communities for various uses including pharmaceutics, source of livelihood, culture and tradition, which are now being threatened by increasing conversion of the forest. 

“In the specific case of the Republic of Congo, the country is 65% forested, yet at least 94% of its forests have already been allocated to logging, mining, or agricultural operators,” Diséke told The Guardian Post. 

He added that: “In some areas, land that was already granted to a forest concessionaire for logging has since been granted to another operator for mining. There is a real overlapping of concessions across the forests”.

He then used the opportunity to glorify the memory of Dr Djeukam whom he described as a “great leader and mentor” who groomed several CSOs across the six countries of the sub-region.

“He was a great teacher who guided us towards the recognition of rights and, above all, the protection of biodiversity. He was an eminent jurist who truly enabled us to be effective in the work we continue to carry out in his memory,” the Congolese activist added. 

It is important to note that a recent study estimates that between 1990 and 2020, the Congo basin lost more than 352,000km² of forest cover, representing approximately 8.5 per cent of its total area. 

The study attributed this trend to agricultural expansion, mining, infrastructure development, industrial logging and large-scale agro-industrial projects among the main drivers of the conversion.  

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3883 of Wednesday August 19, 2026