VZCZCXRO5344
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0432 1361439
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151439Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7998
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000432 
 
Dept also for USAID (U.S. Forestry Service) 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID EAGR PGOV PREL CG
SUBJECT:  USAID, U.S. Forestry Service support planning seminar to 
develop strategic vision for exploitation and protection of Congo's 
forests 
 
¶1.  From May 8 - 10 a workshop entitled "Forest Planning: Tool for 
Sustainable Management of the Forests of the Democratic Republic of 
Congo" was hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation of 
Nature and Tourism in Kinshasa.  Supported by USAID/CARPE and the US 
Forest Service, the workshop objectives were to bring diverse actors 
involved with forest planning at various scales throughout the DRC 
into the same room to discuss methodologies and approaches currently 
in use.  This workshop was a launching point for the Ministry of 
Environment as they move forward in designing a national level 
process for large scale, multiple-use forest planning.  Co-sponsors 
of the event were the World Bank, the African Wildlife Foundation 
(AWF), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Rainforest Foundation and 
the World Conservation Union (IUCN).  Participants represented 
several national and provincial level Ministries, the private 
sector, civil society, research organizations, national and 
international non-governmental organizations, provincial 
governments, donors and diplomatic missions. 
 
¶2.  During the span of the three day process, participants listened 
to presentations from those organizations active in forest 
management planning throughout the DRC, from community level mapping 
to planning logging operations as well as the CARPE landscape scale 
integrated land use planning.  Methodologies and processes used, as 
well as results achieved to date, by these partners were 
demonstrated through their presentations.  Several implementing NGOs 
of the USAID/CARPE program - including AWF, WWF and WCS - summarized 
their land use planning activities and approaches on landscapes of 
the DRC.  Additionally, a representative of the US Forest Service 
International Programs office, a CARPE technical assistance partner, 
delivered a presentation on large scale, multiple-use forest 
planning approaches employed in the United States and how those 
approaches have been adapted with CARPE and its implementing 
partners into land use planning guides tailored to the context of 
the DRC. 
 
¶3.  During the second and third days of the workshop, participants 
were divided into working groups to discuss such topics as conflicts 
in existing laws of the DRC related to land use and natural resource 
management, proposals of appropriate methodologies for the DRC to 
adapt as a national forest planning process, the composition of the 
technical committee which will be charged with developing this 
process, and the creation of a road map for moving forward and 
maintaining momentum on this topic upon completion of the workshop. 
 
 
¶4.  All of the primary objectives for the workshop were accomplished 
during these three days.  Participants were given a clear 
introduction to the topic of large scale land use planning for 
multiple use forests and had the opportunity, as a group, to think 
through the issues and challenges facing the Ministry of Environment 
in moving ahead with this process.  Following the workshop a 
technical committee will be formed which will be charged with 
examining the outcomes of this three day exercise and developing a 
national land use planning methodology based on those lessons that 
are being learned by participants actively conducting planning 
processes throughout the country. 
 
¶5.  Comment:  This workshop coincided with a decree by the Minister 
of Environment to establish an inter-ministerial committee to review 
the applications of logging concessions for conversion under the 
2002 forest code.  These events signal the start of a long-awaited 
process led by the Ministry of Environment of the DRC and supported 
by a number of donors to launch a long-term process that will is 
hoped will lead to creation and execution of a large scale forest 
planning methodology for the country.  The creation of a harmonized 
forest planning methodology is a necessary pre-requisite for 
effective, long term and sustainable management of this largest 
piece of the Congo Basin forest and is but a first yet important 
step toward sustaining the local and global environmental benefits 
generated by the DRC forest.  End Comment. 
 
BROCK