Congo Basin Forest Partnership Act of 2004
PL 108-200 (H.R.2264), enacted 02/13/2004

118 STAT. 458
PUBLIC LAW 108–200—FEB. 13, 2004
Public Law 108–200
108th Congress
An Act
To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2004 to carry out the Congo Basin
Forest Partnership program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congo Basin Forest Partnership
Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The tropical forests of the Congo Basin, located in
the Central African countries of Cameroon, the Central African
Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial
Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and
Sao Tome/Principe, are second in size only to the tropical forests
of the Amazon Basin.
(2) These forests are a crucial economic resource for the
people of the Central African region.
(3) Congo Basin forests play a critical role in sustaining
the environment—absorbing carbon dioxide, cleansing water,
and retaining soil.
(4) Congo Basin forests contain the most diverse grouping
of plants and animals in Africa, including rare and endangered
species, such as the lowland gorilla, mountain gorilla, chim-
panzee, and okapi. These plants and animals are invaluable
for many reasons, including their genetic and biochemical
information, which could spark advances in medical, agricul-
tural, and industrial technology.
(5) Logging operations, driven by a growing global demand
for tropical hardwoods, are shrinking these forests. One esti-
mate has logging taking out Congo Basin forest area at a
rate of twice the size of the State of Rhode Island every year.
(6) The construction of logging roads and other develop-
ments are putting intense hunting pressure on wildlife. At
current hunting levels, most species of apes and other primates,
large antelope, and elephants will disappear from the Congo
Basin, with some becoming extinct.
(7) If current deforestation and wildlife depletion rates
are not reversed, the six countries of the Congo Basin most
immediately, but also the world, will pay an immense economic,
environmental, and cultural price.
(8) The United States has an interest in seeing political
stability and economic development advance in the Congo Basin
Congo Basin
Forest
Partnership Act
of 2004.
Feb. 13, 2004
[H.R. 2264]
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118 STAT. 459
PUBLIC LAW 108–200—FEB. 13, 2004
countries. This interest will be adversely impacted if current
deforestation and wildlife depletion rates are not reversed.
(9) Poorly managed and nonmanaged logging and hunting
threatens to do to the Congo Basin what it did to West Africa,
which lost much of its forest and wildlife through over-exploi-
tation.
(10) Purged of wildlife, some Congo Basin forests already
are ‘‘empty forests’’.
(11) In an attempt to conserve the forests of the Congo
Basin, the region’s governments convened the Yaounde (Cam-
eroon) Forest Summit in March 1999.
(12) In September 2002, Secretary of State Colin Powell
launched the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) in Johan-
nesburg, South Africa. The CBFP promotes the conservation
and sustainable use of the region’s forests, for example, by
working to combat poaching, illegal logging, and other
unsustainable practices, and giving local populations an eco-
nomic stake in the preservation of the forests, including through
the development of ecotourism.
(13)(A) The United States contribution to the CBFP will
focus on conserving 11 key landscapes in 6 countries—Cam-
eroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic
of Congo—identified at the Yaounde Forest Summit as being
of the greatest biological importance to the region.
(B) The United States will fund field-based activities within
these 25,000,000 acres that aim to support a network of 27
national parks and protected areas and well-managed forestry
concessions.
(C) In this way, the work will build on existing United
States efforts, including those of the Central African Regional
Program for the Environment (CARPE) of the United States
Agency for International Development, which will implement
the CBFP.
(14) The CBFP has broad international financial support,
including 
from 
non-African 
governments, 
the 
European
Commission, the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, and numerous nongovernment organizations.
(15) A dramatic step toward conserving Congo Basin forests
has recently been taken by Gabon. In September 2002, Presi-
dent Omar Bongo announced the creation of 13 national parks,
representing over 10 percent of Gabon’s surface area. Pre-
viously, Gabon had no national park system.
(16) With the CBFP and other initiatives, there exists
unprecedented momentum for the conservation of Congo Basin
forests.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appropriated to
the President to carry out the Congo Basin Forest Partnership
(CBFP) program $18,600,000 for fiscal year 2004.
(b) CARPE.—Of the amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations in subsection (a), $16,000,000 is
authorized to be made available to the Central Africa Regional
Program for the Environment (CARPE) of the United States Agency
for International Development.
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118 STAT. 460
PUBLIC LAW 108–200—FEB. 13, 2004
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2264:
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
Vol. 149 (2003): Oct. 7, considered and passed House.
Dec. 9, considered and passed Senate, amended.
Vol. 150 (2004): Feb. 3, House concurred in Senate amendments.
(c) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) are authorized
to remain available until expended.
Approved February 13, 2004.
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