Following on from FERN's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) updates. This is the first of FERN's six monthly updates on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) for five countries in the Congo Basin: the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Cameroon and Gabon. It shows that although REDD+ processes are ongoing in four of the five countries, they are not inclusive, and are led in a top-down manner.