As part of the Platform pillar of One Forest Vision (OFVi), a scientific mission took place in Yaoundé from 19 to 24 July 2026 to continue the pre-feasibility study into public infrastructure for sharing scientific data on the forests and wetlands of the Congo Basin. Led by Pearl Winchester (IRD – Data Terra), the mission aimed to strengthen dialogue with the Central African Forest Observatory (OFAC), COMIFAC and several institutional partners in order to jointly develop a shared vision for environmental data governance.

On 16 July 2026, the One Forest Vision initiative and the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) organised the first Gabonese edition of a Walk & Talk at the Raponda Walker Arboretum. For the course of a morning, researchers, PhD students, diplomats and conservation practitioners left the meeting rooms to engage in direct discussions in the field, in the heart of one of Gabon’s main protected areas.

In May 2026, the MOUNDS* and RACINES** projects, supported by the One Forest Vision initiative and the French Embassy’s BGF-SCAC programme***, carried out a three-week scientific mission in the Likouala-Mossaka region, in the north of the Republic of the Congo. This field campaign, involving researchers from several disciplines, aimed to gain a better understanding of the long-standing interactions between human societies and the forest and wetland ecosystems of the Congo Basin. At the heart of the research were raised fields – impressive agricultural structures built to enable cultivation in areas subject to seasonal flooding. These structures, some of which may date back more than 800 years, bear witness to a human and environmental history far more complex than previously imagined.