ECOFAC

Central Africa is home to the second largest area of tropical forest on earth after that of the Amazon. The riches of its unparalleled biodiversity remain largely unexplored. The forest is a vital resource for the people who live in and around it; exploited rationally, it can be a real vector for development. But it is also an ensemble whose stability depends on the multitude of inter—relationships between plants and animals. Loss of the latter impoverishes the forest and impairs its capacity to regenerate. The ECOFAC programme combines two basic and complementary principles: conservation and development. It is a tangible expression of the European Union's commitment to the protection and rational utilization of Central Africa's forest ecosystems. It also fully involves the forest dwelling people in its activities. Some figures The six countries covered by the programme have a combined population of 20 million, which is growing by 3.2% yearly. Tropical rainforest stretches over about 670,000 km2 of these countries' territory but this area is dwindling at a rate of almost 1% a year. The European Union's commitment The signing of the third Lomé Convention in 1984 marked the European Union's commitment to a sustainable exploitation of natural resources, including tropical forests. In response to a resolution of the European Parliament calling for the implementation of the recommendations of the Tropical Forest Action Plan (TFAP) in ACP-EC cooperation, the governments of a number of Central African countries proposed that a substantial portion of the regional funds available under the sixth European Development Fund (EDF) should be allocated to the conservation of forest ecosystems. The Programme for Conservation and Rational Utilization of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa, known as ECOFAC, started in 1992 and has received some 40 million ECU under the 6th and 7th EDFs.