State of the Forests of the Congo Basin 2025

The most recent and directly relevant flagship: published in 2026, this edition focuses on the implementation of 13 international and regional legal frameworks in Central Africa, covering Rio Conventions and biodiversity instruments, with analysis of structural barriers including insufficient national capacity, lack of funding, and standards ill-suited to local realities.

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State of the forests of East and Southern Africa

This publication offers a comprehensive, evidence-based assessment of the status, trends and governance of forests across Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. Drawing on regional data, national forest inventories, geospatial analyses and policy reviews, the report examines how forests continue to underpin livelihoods, economies, biodiversity and climate resilience – while facing mounting pressure from deforestation, degradation and competing land uses.

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community forestry, deforestation, degradation, forest conservation, forest management, fuelwood, market, redd-plus, timber, women’s participation  

ArcX Biodiversity & Forest Component page

Covers all 3 RCoEs - this includes a StoryMap on RCoE impact and achievement, datasets, and the IMET tool.

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RCoE-East and Southern Africa Map Book

Interactive online spanning 24 countries, highlighting biodiversity hotspots, protected and conserved areas, and transboundary conservation networks.

Delegates at Africa Regional Centers of Excellence forum

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Data sharing governance workshop in Comoros

Group discussion on how the national level data sharing protocol framework will look like.

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CBD Technical Centers exchange at Nairobi

TSC Exchange Workshop held at ICRAF Campus Nairobi in September 2025, which surfaced both concrete RCoE achievements and unresolved systemic barriers across data governance, institutional sustainability, partnerships, and financing, accross Three regional spotlights

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Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodiversity and Forests

Africa’s forests and biodiversity are critical for climate stability, food security, livelihoods and sustainable development. Yet these vital ecosystems face increasing pressure from deforestation, land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss. The Regional Centres of Excellence for Biodiversity and Forests (RCoE) initiative is a bold response to these challenges. The primary objective of the initiative is to ensure that Africa’s forests, ecosystems and biodiversity are sustainably managed through data-driven, science-backed solutions and approaches. This will enable these ecosystems to continue providing essential services — such as food, water, fuel and shelter — that contribute to the wellbeing of local populations, while supporting economic growth and sustainable development across the continent. The RCoE initiative is funded by the European Union and implemented by CIFOR-ICRAF, in collaboration with the Centre de Suivi Écologique (CSE) in West Africa, the Central Africa Forest Observatory (OFAC) in Central Africa, and the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) in Eastern and Southern Africa, among other partners.

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#RCoE #BiodiversityAndForests #AfricaForests #Forests #BiodiversityAfrica #ForestConservation #ClimateResilience #naturebasedsolutions  

Conserving Marine Ecosystems in Africa

Marine ecosystems across Africa are lifelines for millions of people. They provide food security, protect coastlines, tackle climate change, support household incomes and improve livelihoods. Through our EU-funded Regional Centres of Excellence (RCoE) initiative, we are championing effective policies and actions that promote the sustainable management of these ecosystems and address the challenges they face.

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New Centre of Excellence Boosts Environmental Conservation Efforts in Africa

The Regional Centre of Excellence (RcoE) for Biodiversity, Forests and Seascape Ecosystems Management in Eastern and Southern Africa seeks to furnish member countries with evidence-based data that will guide their response to pressing environmental conservation and climate change challenges. This new centre, which is based in Nairobi, was established by CIFOR-ICRAF in collaboration with the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), with funds from the European Union (EU) and support from regional governments.

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