The Yaounde declaration, signed on Wednesday night in Cameroon, commits the governments in the region to a range of forest protection and conservation measures.

The summit was chaired by Prince Philip, the President of the World Wide Fund for Nature, who called it an historic first step in the preservation of the world's second biggest tropical forest.

The Congo basin rainforests are a quarter of the world's total

The meeting brought together heads of state of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Congo-Brazzaville and Gabon's vice-president.

The declarationl commits the five governments to a series of forest protection measures specified by WWF.

They have also agreed to work with the World Bank, the European Commission, the United Nations and private agencies.

More than half of Africa's wild plants and animals live in the Congo basin's forests, including elephants, western lowland gorillas, leopards and buffalo.

Species of flora and fauna new to science are constantly being discovered.

But with 4m hectares of Africa's forests destroyed annually, saving the best of what remains is urgent.

Ignoring boundaries

WWF says it hopes the declaration "will mark a turning point in political commitment to forest conservation in the region and around the world".

One of the declaration's key features is the way it ignores national boundaries.

So Gabon, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville are to set up a trans-border scheme to protect more than 3.5m hectares of forest which straddle their frontiers.

And three separate national parks in Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic are to be designated as a new, unitary protected area.

Covering more than 1m hectares, it includes one of central Africa's most important wildlife habitats.

Several new forest reserves are also to be set up, and WWF says the meeting "will give new protection to more than 6m hectares of Africa's threatened forests".

Animal welfare

A national management plan has also been adopted for Cameroon's elephants, most of which live in the forests in the south east of the country.

And the meeting launched a campaign to save the western black rhinoceros.

Rhinos will gain from forest plans

Africa's only surviving members of the species - at most 25 animals - live in Cameroon, where poachers are a serious threat.

The director general of WWF International, Dr Claude Martin, said WWF would encourage the five governments "to adopt an integrated approach to conservation".

That would give forests greater protection "whilst providing a livelihood for indigenous people and local communities who have traditionally lived in and around the forests".