President Gbagbo of Côte d'Ivoire supports tropical forest conservation efforts in West Africa
Copyright 2001 WWF International
October 4, 2001
Côte d'Ivoire, Africa - A WWF delegation headed by the Regional Representative for West Africa, Mr. Souleymane Zeba, called on the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, His Excellency Laurent Gbagbo, to discuss tropical forest conservation issues in West Africa.
President Gbagbo expressed his appreciation of WWF's efforts in Taï National Park with other conservation partners. He said he "was born in the heart of Guinean moist forests, witnessed its degradation and its ensuing political, and socio-economic consequences on his country and the sub-region over the last 40 years," thereby pledged his full support for tropical forest conservation. The President expressed his desire to become a WWF member and agreed to act on WWF's suggestion points by asking his peers to consider the issue of Guinean moist forest conservation as an agenda item of the upcoming ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Summit in December 2001.
President Gbagbo assured the delegation that he would discuss the issue further with the President of neighbouring Ghana, His Excellency John Kuffuor, during his upcoming visit in Côte d'Ivoire in October 2001. He also pledged to mobilize his ECOWAS peers towards a West Africa summit on tropical forest conservation.
As a first step, President Gbagbo asked WWF to prepare draft letters to be sent to the heads of state of the Guinean Moist Forest Ecoregion, and appointed a Liaison Officer to coordinate activities with WWF in this regard.
For further information contact:
Frédéric Bambara , tel. no. 225 22 44 87 86, email: fbambara@wwfwarpo.ci