Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba received his French colleague Emmanuel Macron in Libreville, together with numerous Central African heads of state, at the commencement of a four-day trip to the area. “There is no better investment today than investing in our forests,” Bongo remarked at the One Forest Summit, which France and Gabon co-organize.
His remarks came just days before numerous heads of state were scheduled to attend the One Forest Summit in Libreville, which would focus on preserving rainforests, which play an important part in the global climate system.
After the Amazon, the woods of the huge Congo River basin are the planet’s second-largest carbon sink.
They also support a diverse range of wildlife, including forest elephants and gorillas, and bear evidence of early human occupation.
They are, however, threatened by poaching, deforestation for the oil, palm, and rubber industries, as well as illegal logging and mineral extraction.
Other presidents slated to attend the meeting include Gabon’s Ali Bongo Ondimba, Congo-Denis Brazzaville’s Sassou Nguesso, the Central African Republic’s Faustin-Archange Touadera, Chad’s Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, and Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
The meeting began on Wednesday with discussions between ministers, civil society representatives, and experts.
Macron will travel to Angola on Friday to sign an agreement to improve the agricultural sector as part of a push to strengthen French links with anglophone and Portuguese-speaking Africa.
He will then visit the Republic of Congo, where he will meet with President Denis Sassou Nguesso, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
