Advancing South-South Exchange in the Conservation of Critical Forests Landscapes in the Congo Basin and Guinean Forests of Central and West Africa
15-20 June 2025; Kribi, Cameroon
The 2025 Annual Conference is Africa’s first South-South learning and knowledge exchange regional forum on the GEF-funded Critical Forests Biomes Integrated Programmes. The conference focuses on advancing the Conservation of Intact Forests in the Congo Basin and Guinean Forests of West Africa.
The objectives of the conference are:
- Showcase the transformational changes resulting from the GEF-7 Congo Integrated Programme (Phase 1) through case studies from the Congo Basin Regional Coordination Project and its country-level projects'
- Launch two GEF-funded Critical Forest Biomes Integrated Programmes targeting the Congo Basin and Guinean Forest Intact Forest Landscapes: the GEF-8 Congo Basin Integrated Programme (Phase 2), led by UNEP, and the flagship GEF-8 Guinean Forests Integrated Programme, led by Conservation International (CI) in partnership with BirdLife International;
- Establish frameworks to enhance knowledge exchange, collaboration and coordination between the Congo Basin and Guinean Forests Integrated Programmes;
- Planning for the Future (GEF-9): Key priorities for the GEF, defining actionable steps for the next phase of the Critical Forests Integrated Programmes under GEF-9.
For more information contact: unep-ecosystems-congoforests@un.org
Background and context
Genesis of the GEF’s integrated Programs
Building on GEF-6 Integrated Approach Pilots, the seventh replenishment cycle (GEF-7) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) introduced a programmatic approach combined with focal area actions to address global environmental challenges on a large scale. This marked the launch of the GEF’s Impact Program model, which included three Impact Programs, one of which was the Sustainable Forest Management Impact Program, in which the GEF-7 Congo Basin Impact Program is embedded.
Building on the success of the GEF-7 impact program model, the eighth replenishment cycle (GEF-8) expanded the approach to include integrated programming and focal area actions. This culminated in the launch of eleven Integrated Programmes, including the Amazon, Congo, and Critical Forest Biomes Integrated Programmes (IPs), which incorporate five critical forest landscapes biomes as distinct IPs. These IPs are led by the following GEF implementing agencies: World Bank for the Amazon IP (led by the World Bank), UNEP for the Congo Basin IP (led by UNEP), Conservation International for the Guinean Forests IP (led by Conservation International), IUCN and FAO for the Indo-Malay IP (led by IUCN and FAO), and IUCN for the Meso-America IP (led by IUCN). Overall, the cumulative outcome of the five IPs will “increase and strengthen the protection and governance of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs), tackling the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation at jurisdictional or landscape level” (GEF, 2022).
About the Guinean Forests Integrated Programme (GEF-8)
In 2022, Conservation International (CI) was competitively selected by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to lead the GEF-8 Guinean Forests Integrated Program. This Program serves as a regional platform for engaging governments and non-state actors in the West Africa region to protect and improve the effective governance of the Guinean Forests. Specifically:
The GEF-8 Guinean Forests Integrated Programme comprises five national projects and one Regional Coordination, covering the period from 2025 to 2031 (with national projects having different start and end dates within this period).
CI, in partnership with BirdLife International, ECOWAS (The Economic Community of West African States), MRU (Mano River Union) and other partners, will lead the execution of the GEF-8 Regional Coordination Project, whose objective is to enhance and catalyze effective transboundary and biome-wide forest governance through a coordinated programmatic approach that entails learning and knowledge, capacity building, leveraging partnerships, regional policy coherence, sustainable financing solutions, and innovation.