Gabon

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Continuing the Congo forest basin, Gabon has 23.53 million hectares of forest cover, or 88.97% of its total land area. Of these millions of hectares, 11% are made up of a mosaic of forest-savannah and swamp areas, with a high level of endemism and biological diversity.

The country's ecosystems are home to a high level of specific biodiversity: 10,000 plant species (15% of which are endemic), 139 species of mammalian fauna and 749 bird species.

Depuis les années 1960, l’émergence des activités forestières, du secteur pétrolier et de l’exploitation du bois ont eu une telle emprise territoriale que 70% de la surface des forêts denses du Gabon sont désormais couvertes de concessions forestières (Karsenty, 2020). En parallèle, l’urbanisation du littoral a grandement impacté les forêts de mangroves gabonnaises, qui ont une importance structurelle dans la séquestration de carbone, les nurseries d’espèces et l’équilibre des fleuves et annexes hydrauliques.

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In Gabon, consultations were held with the members of the Steering Committee (COPIL) concerned with the agriculture and mining sectors, as well as working meetings with the sectoral Ministries. These consultations were conducted in close collaboration with the Direction Générale de l'Environnement et de la Protection de la Nature (DGEPN), which reports to the Ministère des Eaux, des Forêts, de la Mer, de l'Environnement chargé du Plan Climat et du Plan d'Affectation des Terres (MEFMEPCPAT). The COPIL also included representatives of civil society, such as the Centre National de Recherche Scientifiques et Technologiques, and Omar Bongo University.

In addition to these activities, bilateral meetings were held with representatives of the OLAM Group (active in the palm oil and rubber sectors) and Société équatoriale des mines (SEM).

Options chosen and scenarios discussed

The scenarios identified during the dialogue process are the same as the solutions envisaged for the agricultural and mining sectors.

Country profiles IPPS

After supporting the 15 countries in the identification of priority sectors, and facilitating the commitment of private-sector players to biodiversity, BIODEV2030 will build on the momentum created to roll out the voluntary commitments on a pilot territory scale, and to strengthen the integration of biodiversity into countries' sectoral public policies.

Les secteur ciblés pour la phase II sont l’orpaillage et l’agriculture. 

In order to identify the most relevant sectoral public policy instruments (IPPS) to be created, abolished or modified, BIODEV2030 has called on Altai Consulting. This support is intended to contribute to the coherence of economic, sectoral (agriculture, mining, fisheries, forestry, etc.) and environmental (particularly biodiversity-related) policies, a key aspect of the mainstreaming approach. This global integration of biodiversity helps to prevent economic and sectoral policies from encouraging actors (producers) to adopt production practices that are harmful to nature, in contradiction with a country's biodiversity commitments.

Altai has developedIPPS sheets for each country. The Gabon sheet is available via the button above.

Le dialogue de BIODEV2030 au niveau national a permis de promouvoir la création d’un Comité National Biodiversité, mobilisé notamment sur la révision de la Stratégie Nationale Biodiversité.

Concept Notes

With the aim of helping stakeholders in pilot areas (private, public, CSOs) to collectively define actions to reduce pressures on biodiversity, transition projects towards nature-positive practices, or even nature-based solutions, will be developed on the basis of the change actions identified during the multi-stakeholder dialogue, and then brought to the attention of potential funders.

Le dialogue territorial a été organisé à Makokou, dans la province de l’Ougooué-Ivindo, représentatif des enjeux de biodiversité, miniers, et d’orpaillage.

L’objectif du projet pilote développé est renforcer la durabilité de l’exploitation minière industrielle et de l’orpaillage, tout en contribuant au développement local.