FAO.org

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, 3-5 June, 2024.

The Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme unveiled its innovative Legal Hub at a side event of the recent 20^th Meeting of Parties (MoP20) of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), from 3 to 5 June 2024. The side-event, titled "A Tool to Connect Different Sources of Law," showcased the critical role of the Legal Hub in enhancing legal frameworks governing wildlife management across multiple countries. Discussions centered on the importance of robust legal structures for sustainable wildlife management in Central Africa, as well as on the required legal and institutional reforms.

Eugenio Sartoretto (Legal Officer, Development Law Service, FAO), was honoured to present the tool to a panel of high-level officials:  Omer Ntougou, Director General of the National Parks Agency in Gabon, Benjamin Toirambe Bamoninga, Secretary General of Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development in DRC, Chouaibou Nchoutpouen, Executive Secretary of the Central African Forest Commission (French: Commission des Forêts d'Afrique Centrale, or COMIFAC) and Filippo Saracco, from the EU Delegation in DRC. 

The event attracted the interest of more than 60 participants and was an opportunity for the panel to acknowledge and explain the role played by the Legal Hub of the SWM Programme in triggering and informing reforms in the wildlife sector in their respective countries. The COMIFAC Executive Secretary's speech also highlighted the role that the Legal Hub could play in supporting the harmonization of policies and legal frameworks in the sub-region, in line with the COMIFAC’s convergence plan. 

The Legal Hub will be expanded  to cover additional countries, enriching the platform through the newly developed legal diagnostic tools aiming to enhance the coherence and effectiveness of wildlife management laws, supporting a holistic One Health approach.

For more information, visit the SWM Programme’s Legal Hub.