Country-representatives gather in Paris, France, this week for the first international meeting of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership - an economic development and conservation program for six Central African countries that was launched in September 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

The meeting will provide governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in the partnership opportunities for collaboration and an exchange of information on specific contributions and resources committed to the initiative.

The gathering is designed to harness ideas for the conservation of this vast natural resource.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell announced the Congo Basin Forest Partnership on September 4 last year at the Johannesburg Summit before traveling to Gabon to participate in the inauguration of that country's national park system.

The initiative seeks to promote economic development and alleviate poverty through conservation programs to be set up in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Republic of the Congo.

The US plans to invest up to $53-million through 2005 to help the African countries develop a network of national parks and protected areas, and to help local communities better manage the forest and wildlife resources of the Congo Basin and establish sustainable means of livelihood through sustainable agriculture and integrated ecotourism programs.

Other countries participating in the partnership include the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, France, Canada and South Africa. Also participating are international organizations such as the World Bank and the World Conservation Union, and more than a dozen NGO and private sector groups such as the World Wildlife Fund, the World Resources Institute and the Center for International Forestry Research.