1 February 2013: The Congo Basin Forest Fund has launched a forest monitoring initiative to support improved remote sensing use for forest cover and forest cover change. The initiative, totaling €6.1 million, will also provide technical support for the development of forest monitoring proposals for funding under REDD+ programmes.

The fund will support national actions in Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The forest monitoring initiative is also intended to enhance regional collaboration.

It is managed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the Central Africa Forests Commission (COMIFAC), and the Brazilian National Institute for Space
 Research (INPE). [Congo Biodiversity Initiative Press Release]