Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE)
From TrustAfrica wiki - African Regional Organizations
CARPE Regional Office
John B. Flynn
CARPE Director
USAID Bureau for Africa
Office Address: 198 Isiro Ave., Kinshasa, Gombe
Mailing Address: USAID-Kinshasa
Unit 31550, APO AE 09828
Kinshasa DRC
Tel: 243 81-700-570
Email: joflynn@usaid.gov
Nicodème Tchamou, Regional Coordinator, ntchamou@usaid.gov, Tel: 243 81-700-7195
Description
The Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) is a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) initiative aimed at promoting sustainable natural resource management in the Congo Basin. CARPE was designed as a long-term, regional initiative. It operates as a stand alone Strategic Objective in the environment sector of the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Africa Bureau and is being managed out of the USAID Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Congo Basin forest is the second largest contiguous moist tropical forest in the world and plays a key role in securing the livelihoods of Central African citizens. The forest provides critical habitat for biodiversity conservation and supplies vital regional and worldwide ecological services. In recognition of the important role of the Congo Basin forest and amidst the increasing pressures facing the Congo Basin forest, CARPE works to reduce the rate of forest degradation and loss of biodiversity by supporting increased local, national, and regional natural resource management capacity.
The CARPE program was first authorized by the U.S. Government in 1995 and was initially proposed as a 20-year regional initiative divided into three strategic phases.
Phase I of CARPE began operating out of Washington, D.C., in 1997 and centered on gathering information on the Central African forest ecosystem, while simultaneously building regional human resources and institutional capacity. Targeted countries were the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo and later on Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Sao Tome & Principe were added.
In 1997, there were no USAID missions in Congo Basin countries and the decision was made to work directly through partner organizations already operating in the region. The first set of ten partners included: the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS); the World Resources Institute (WRI); World Wildlife Fund (WWF); World Learning (later succeeded by Innovative Resource Management (IRM)); the U.S. Forest Service (USFS); the Peace Corps; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)‚ in collaboration with the Universities of Virginia and Maryland. The tenth partner‚ the Biodiversity Support Program (BSP), a USAID-funded consortium of the World Wildlife Fund‚ The Nature Conservancy‚ and the World Resources Institute‚ handled program management until its Global Bureau cooperative agreement ended in December‚ 2001. Four other partners began participating in CARPE in 2000: the World Conservation Union (IUCN); Conservation International (CI); the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF); and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
CARPE’s partners in climate change activities include: African Wildlife Federation (AWF); Conservation International (CI); Conference of Ministers of Forestry in Central Africa (COMIFAC); Regional Ministries of Environment; U.S. Forest Service (USFS); Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS); World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
From 2003–2005, USAID-CARPE dispersed approximately $15 million per year to promote the objectives of the CBFP and the following Administrative and Legislative Priorities: the Congo Basin Forest Partnership Presidential Initiative, the Global Development Alliance, the Presidential Initiative Against Illegal Logging, the Global Climate Change Initiative, the Biodiversity Legislative "earmark" FAA Section 118, the Tropical Forestry Legislative "earmark" FAA Section 119, and the Microenterprise "earmark". In addition to the funds provided through the USG, CARPE requires matching funds from its primary partners amounting in aggregate to more than 50 percent of USAID's contribution. Thus far, the primary partners serving as executing agencies have been successful at leveraging approximately $150 million in support from international donors and non-USG sources.
Track Record
The Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) has focused on mitigating the effects of global climate change by protecting the forest resources of Central Africa. Working with local partners in nine Central African countries, CARPE is helping to preserve the region’s vast carbon sinks with significant climate change benefits.
CARPE’s work is also important in addressing climate change. With its vast forest reserves, Central Africa is the most important sub-region of Africa for storing carbon and mitigating carbon dioxide emissions. As a result, maintaining the carbon “sink” potential of the region is a key objective of USAID’s climate change program. In working toward this objective, CARPE uses local knowledge to identify ways to limit deforestation and retain the forest as a significant global carbon sink.
Since its inception in 1995, CARPE has facilitated dialogue between NGOs, timber companies, and national governments to improve overall forest protection. This effort has resulted in better forest management practices, a decrease in illegal logging, and a corporate sector reform initiative. CARPE has also supported studies to determine the effects climate change might have in the region, with a particular focus on the loss of the forest in the Congo Basin. Analyses show that without the forest, climatic patterns in the region would be severely altered and could lead to drought and major increases in temperature. The work of CARPE has therefore been vital in mitigating these effects and seeking solutions for the area’s climate change challenges.
One result emerging from “lessons learned” by CARPE is the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) of 29 governments, international environmental associates, and business interests. The partnership supports a network of national parks, protected areas, and forestry concessions, and assists communities that depend upon the conservation of forest and wildlife resources. The CARPE mechanism has been selected by the U.S. government to serve as the primary implementation mode for its activities associated with the CBFP.
USAID’s support for CARPE has proved beneficial not only to the countries of Central Africa but to the rest of the world as well. Preserving the vast carbon sinks of the countries in the Congo Basin is significantly mitigating the effects of climate change and protecting vital reservoirs of biodiversity.
Landscapes: The majority of CARPE funds are allocated to support activities in designated landscapes. By implementing a landscape approach to natural resource management, CARPE works to integrate conservation objectives with objectives concerning the subsistence of human populations, commercial exploitation and agriculture, industry and urban development.
CARPE currently works within 12 key biodiversity landscapes in seven countries. Several of CARPE’s landscapes are trans-boundary and are recognized by international agreements promoting cooperation on environmental monitoring and law enforcement. These 12 landscapes form the pillar of CARPE's regional conservation strategy and cover an area of 680,300 km².
CARPE landscapes were identified as appropriate conservation targets at a 2000 Conservation Priority-Setting Workshop for Central Africa. The workshop was organized by the World Wildlife Fund and brought together over 160 biologists and socio-economic experts to carry out a region-wide evaluation. The 12 landscapes were recognized as priority areas for conservation based on their relative taxonomic importance, their overall integrity, and the resilience of ecological processes represented. In accordance with principles of integrated conservation initiatives and broad-scale land management, each landscape is divided into different categories of management areas, including: protected areas, community-based natural resource management zones, and extractive zones. Within these zones, CARPE and its partners are working to implement sustainable natural resource management practices at the local scale.
Challenges
The Congo Basin forests, which play a major economic role and ecological role as a carbon sink and a catchment basin, are at risk from a complex set of threats. While much of the forest currently remains intact, many factors contribute to its continual loss. These factors include proximate threats from the persistent unsustainable extraction of timber and mineral resources, agricultural expansion, an active bushmeat trade, poor management, and increasing pressure due to population growth. In addition, the forests of the Congo Basin are vulnerable to more ultimate threats related to regional poverty, weak governance, and civil unrest.
Illegal logging activities. Logging activities are increasing in many countries of the Congo Basin; more companies are investing in the forest sector, more concessions are being allocated, many governments are diversifying their economies which often implicates the forest sector, and many countries have implemented or are implementing new forestry laws which integrate new concession management guidelines. As more pressure is placed on the forest sector, all the more need for improved management of the resource.
Opportunities
Based on the principle of working effectively through partnerships, CARPE has opportunities to Partner with local, national and international organizations active in Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Through CARPE, Organizations can be able to establish training and capacity-building programs in the region, and also work together in monitoring forest health in relation to human development activities.
CARPE also presents opportunities for organizations to complement other partners' programs, especially in the areas of satellite image interpretation, and sustainable forest management. CARPE works with local non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations to increase their capacity to accomplish CARPE activities.
