1. A joint effort by the scientific community to roll out GEO-TREES in Gabon

On 25 March 2026, around twenty Gabonese and French experts gathered in Libreville to launch the activities of the GEO-TREES Gabon project, as part of the One Forest Vision initiative.

This meeting served as an opportunity to reiterate the project’s central objective: to improve the measurement of biomass in Gabonese forests by combining field inventories with ground-based and airborne lidar technologies, in order to estimate carbon storage capacities in a reliable and transparent manner.

Developed in collaboration with CENAREST (National Centre for Scientific and Technological Research), ANPN (National Agency for National Parks) and AGEOS (Gabonese Agency for Space Studies and Observations), the project is being implemented at three strategic sites in Gabon: Ipassa, Lopé and Mondah.

‘GEO-TREES is a model of scientific collaboration and a sustainable means of promoting our forests for the benefit of Gabon and the international community.’ Donald Midoko Iponga, Senior Research Fellow – IRET – CENAREST

The morning was divided into four parts. It began with an overview of the One Forest Vision initiative, presented by Jean-Jacques Braun (IRD). This was followed by a presentation of the GEO-TREES project and its methodologies, notably forest inventory protocols and the combined use of ground-based and airborne lidar, by Jérôme Chave (CNRS – CRBE). A feedback session on activities carried out at Ipassa, a research super-site, then illustrated the operational implementation of the protocols in the field, with a presentation by Adeline Fayolle (CIRAD). Finally, a review of the mission conducted at La Lopé in 2016 by Nicolas Labrière (CNRS) provided essential historical context for the re-inventory of the current plots.

‘GEO-TREES represents a major technological breakthrough. The associated transfer of expertise is essential for the AGEOS teams. We look forward to continuing our work on lidar.’  Conan Vassily Obame, Director of Space Applications and Sciences

This session concluded with discussions with our national partners, notably Donald Mikodo (CENAREST), Stephan Ntié (ANPN) and Conan Vassily Obame (AGEOS), who highlighted the strong institutional support for the project.

GEO-TREES Gabon is not just a scientific project: it is a strategic tool designed to promote environmental sovereignty through knowledge and action. Stephan Ntié, Scientific Adviser to the ANPN

The day concluded with a lunch on Tropicana Beach, providing the perfect setting for informal discussions and for strengthening ties between partners.

2. Strengthen the links between science, public policy and society

Alongside the launch of the GEO-TREES Gabon project, the coordinating team held a number of institutional meetings in Libreville.

Discussions took place in particular with the French Embassy in Gabon, attended by Eva Desthieux, Environmental Adviser, with a view to strengthening synergies between scientific research and public policy in support of the forests of the Congo Basin.

The team also visited the Léon Mba Institute, alongside Adrien W. N’Koghe Mba, to strengthen the link between science and society and to encourage the next generation of ambassadors, committed to protecting the Congo Basin, to pursue careers in science.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to present the Wany app, a digital platform that connects young people across Africa around sustainable development issues, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the aspirations of the African Union. Find out more: https://www.wany.co/

3. Field data at the heart of climate issues

From 26 March, the teams travelled to Lopé National Park and the Gorilla and Chimpanzee Research Station (SEGC) managed by the ANPN, a key site for the project, to prepare and launch field operations. Following a phase of setting up camp, surveying the plots and coordinating logistics, the scientific campaign officially began on 30 March.

The main objective of the mission is to carry out a re-inventory of permanent forest plots, enabling the monitoring of forest dynamics over time: tree mortality, new growth, species identification, diameter measurements and height estimates.

This field data is combined with cutting-edge technologies, notably ground-based and airborne lidar, to produce reliable aerial forest biomass maps that will be available on the website data.geo-trees.org. This information is essential for estimating carbon stocks and better understanding the role of the Congo Basin’s forests in climate regulation.

Deployed at several strategic sites in Gabon — Ipassa, Lopé and Mondah — the GEO-TREES project is part of an open, transparent and collaborative scientific approach, based on standardised protocols and long-term observation networks.

4. A concrete example of the ambitions of the One Forest Summit

Three years on from the One Forest Summit, this mission provides a concrete example of how the scientific commitments made in Libreville are being put into practice: generating robust data, building local capacity, and supporting decision-making on conservation and climate issues.

Through One Forest Vision, Gabon is reaffirming its role as a leading nation in the understanding and preservation of tropical forests, which lie at the heart of environmental challenges.