International Conference on the Miombo Forest Initiative
Together with the Government of Mozambique and WCS, the ICCF Group invites you to an international conference on the Miombo Forest Initiative chaired by His Excellency Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of the Republic of Mozambique on April 16 and 17 in Washington, D.C.
The Miombo Forest and Woodlands
The Miombo woodlands cover more than 1 million square miles across southern Africa and provide numerous goods and services that sustain the livelihoods for and feed more than 300 million inhabitants. Including tropical and subtropical grasslands, shrubland, and savannas, the Miombo woodlands comprise the largest ecosystem of dry tropical forests in the world and are responsible for sustaining the Greater Zambezi, one of the most important transborder hydrographic basins.
The Issues
The large variety of species found in the woodlands provide diversified ecosystems services and products, which are extremely important for subsistence and income generation for local populations. However, a growing population and resulting increased demand for agricultural land, combined with unsustainable use and overharvesting of natural resources in parts of the Miombo woodlands and impacts of a changing climate, pose a serious threat to the products and services of the woodlands, and to the livelihoods depending on them.
The President’s Initiative
The Republic of Mozambique has an unwavering commitment to the achievement of sustainable development goals and is focused on the implementation of solutions to attain global targets on climate. Toward that end, Mozambique has brought together the SADC member states within the framework of regional integration to promote a common approach for the “Sustainable and Integrated Management of the Miombo Woodlands and the Protection of the Greater Zambezi Basin.” Mozambique’s “Miombo Initiative” was endorsed as the “Maputo Declaration on the Miombo Forest” in Maputo, Mozambique in August 2022 by the following eleven SADC Member States: Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The Maputo Declaration on the Miombo Forest establishes priorities for the sustainable management and governance of the natural resources of the Miombo ecosystems.