Exchange between Civil Society and a German delegation on environmental issues and CLPA

The consortium of organizations Brainforest, Minapyga, and Keva Initiative engaged with a significant delegation from the Federal Republic of Germany led by Horst GRUNER, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Gabon, on issues related to the environment, Community Forests, mangroves, Local Communities, and Indigenous Peoples. This meeting took place at the headquarters of Brainforest.

During this exchange, the present NGOs were introduced, followed by a discussion about the project "Greening the land rights of forest communities in the Gabonese Republic." Regarding Brainforest, Marc ONA recalled the history, objectives, missions, and areas of intervention of the Organization. Indeed, Brainforest is a Gabonese NGO that has been in existence for over 20 years, established since 1998, with a mission to inform, train, and support local communities and indigenous peoples for sustainable and equitable management of natural resources in Gabon and now in the Congo Basin.

Martial DJINANG, program coordinator at Brainforest, in the same spirit of presenting the organization, recalled the four main axes of the NGO: "promotion of the rights of communities in the forestry sector; support for economic alternatives in rural areas through income-generating activities; support for participatory governance, transparency, and Independent Observation missions; and promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples," he indicated. It was following this presentation that he introduced the VERDIR project, which aims to promote the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples over land and natural resources to improve their living conditions and combat deforestation. This project is executed in partnership with the NGOs Keva Initiative and MINAPYGA.

Keva Initiative is an environmental NGO focused on land use and allocation, mangrove protection, community rights, sustainable agriculture, and local development. MINAPYGA, on the other hand, is an NGO that supports the so-called pygmy peoples (indigenous peoples) of Gabon in understanding and recognizing their rights in general.

After these various presentations, the Director of German International Cooperation thanked his hosts for the warm welcome and all these presentations: "We have heard a lot about Brainforest since our arrival during our various exchanges. At the Prime Minister's Office, at the Ministries of Water and Forests, and of the Environment. Even among the communities we visited when we were in Oyem," he expressed. Thus, several questions were posed to the three organizations. Regarding Brainforest: "Are there other organizations working in the same field as you? How do you finance yourselves?" questioned the Director of German International Cooperation.

In response, the program coordinator indicated that there are indeed other NGOs at the national level working on the Forest-Environment issue. Regarding funding, the organization survives through submissions to project calls or tenders and through consultations or service provisions. However, it should be noted that there is a significant problem with funding for organizations, and "the State does not finance NGOs," added Marc ONA. Regarding Keva, the guest wanted to know if there was a mapping of the mangroves and how their reforestation was carried out. According to Charles ZOUKOUBADI, representative of Keva Initiative, there is a mapping of the mangroves, but it needs to be updated. The planting method used for the reforestation of mangroves is the one employed, and communities find interest through the awareness-raising done on this subject. Finally, regarding MINAPYGA, the ambassador's question was to know the current situation of the Bakas (indigenous peoples), "Do they want to modernize?".

For Jilles, the representative of MINAPYGA, the situation of pygmies in general is not positive and does not seem to be improving. They are losing their culture, and they lack schools and hospitals. They do want to modernize, but while remaining attached to their traditions.

The discussions continued on other topics, and after exhausting the agenda, the German delegation was invited to share a cocktail in a friendly atmosphere.