Ipassa Workshop - Plant biodiversity

The ‘Reliable Carbon Footprint, Plant Biodiversity Conservation and Land Use in Gabon’ thematic workshop took place from 23 to 29 September between Libreville and Ipassa. Around fifty participants met in the capital to discuss the various scientific initiatives active in the region, including OFVi.

Working meetings were then held at the Ipassa-Makakou Research Station in the Ivindo National Park. This station is one of the Pillar 1 super-sites. 

It is under the authority of the Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropical (IRET) belonging to one of the key organisations in the region: the Centre national de recherche scientifique (CENAREST) under the direction of the Commissaire Général, Professor Alfred Ngomaba, who was present. The meetings were supervised by a local incubator, SING, with the aim of validating OFVi's future actions. Around thirty researchers took part, including 5 actively involved in OFVi: Jean-Jacques Braun from the IRD and Adeline Fayolle from CIRAD, who organised the event; Jérôme Chave from the CNRS, Hugo Magaldi from the MNHN, Nicolas Barbier and Murielle Simo-Droissart from the IRD, who came from France.

People were also able to take part in field trips, including demonstrations of one of the initiative's key tools, the participatory plant biodiversity science application Pl@ntNet.

The workshop received extensive coverage in the Gabonese media :

• Online press :
  • Gabon Review : https://www.gabonreview.com/initiative-one-forest-vision-30-acteurs-scientifiques-en-conclave-a-libreville/
  • Gabon Actu : https://gabonactu.com/blog/2024/09/22/one-forest-vision-ofvi-dans-le-droit-fil-du-one-forest-summit/
  • GabonNews : https://www.gabonews.com/fr/actus/environnement/article/initiative-one-forest-vision-la-biodiversite-au
  • Convergence Afrique : https://convergenceafrique.net/2024/09/24/initiative-one-forest-vision-le-gabon-accueille-un-atelier-scientifique-sur-la-conservation-des-forets-tropicales/
  • Gabon Clic Info : https://www.gabonclic.info/gabon-ouverture-du-one-forest-vision-libreville
• Radio :
  • Radio Gabon : reportage on 24 September
• Television :
  • Gabon24 : appearance on the 1pm and 8pm news bulletins on 28 September
  • Gabon Première : appearance on the 1pm and 8pm news bulletins on 25 September