PARTICIPATORY MAPPING IN THE CONGO BASIN PROJECT - CAR WORKSHOP

First Central African Republic National workshop on Community Forestry: Bangui, August 19-20 2010.

Today, a national workshop on community forestry has begun in the Central African Republic. Supported by the Rainforest Foundation UK, this workshop is an initiative of CAR civil society, in coordination with the Ministry of Water, Forests, Hunting and Fishing.

This workshop represents an important step forward in the CAR as civil society and Government are working together to produce guidelines on community forests to ensure that the communities concerned are able to have the maximum benefit from them. The workshop aims to put in place the foundations for a participatory and collaborative approach to community forests, also drawing on positive and negative lessons from other countries in the Congo basin region.

"Today, I can feel happy because this first national workshop on Community Forestry in CAR is a concrete response to my desire to see civil society working to support local and indigenous communities to manage their forests and improve their living conditions." Nambaii Rubens, Ministry of Water, Forests, Hunting and Fishing, Central African Republic (pictured).

We hope that at the end of this workshop, participants will have a better understanding of the present legal framework for community forests, and are able to develop clearer guidelines for their allocation to communities. Another important aspect of the discussions will be based on the need to develop simplified procedures that allow forest communities to apply for and obtain community forests, and the need to ensure that the management of these forests is based on communities'own traditions.

The workshop is being attended by 116 participants. The community representatives present at the workshop have highlighted the imrpotance of the workshop as it open the way for the more direct involvement of communities in the management of forests in CAR.