The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched the National REDD+ Strategies for Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda to address climate change challenges caused by deforestation and forest degradation
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched the National REDD+ Strategies for Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda to address climate change challenges caused by deforestation and forest degradation.
The United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (or UN-REDD Programme) is the UN’s emissions-reducing strategy implemented within developing countries.
Strategies for Ghana, Nigeria have introduced various REDD+ strategies to change the way communities manage and protect forests, using sustainable and results-based finance, in order to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda have lost significant areas of forest due to the rate of deforestation, which has led to some of the world’s greatest climate change challenges.
Livelihoods in these predominantly agrarian African economies are threatened by climate change’s impact on ecosystems, agriculture and water resources.
In Ghana, UNDP is helping to develop a National REDD+ Investment Plan and a GCF proposal with the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea.
This will work to secure the livelihoods of more than 900,000 women involved in the shea tree value chain in the country whilst considering the woodland from a climate change perspective.
In Nigeria, UNDP is supporting the Cross River State REDD+ Strategy in developing investment programmes that tackle deforestation across the commodity value chain.
It is also introducing incentive mechanisms to encourage communities to manage their forests sustainably.
In Uganda, UNDP is collaborating in the two priority areas of the Mount Elgon and the Albertine Rift Valley on forest governance and institutional strengthening.
At the launch, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, Magdy Martínez-Solimán, focused on how REDD+ strategies should develop and contribute to climate change discourse.
First, he stressed the need to create institutional policies and legislatures that tackled motives for deforestation and forest degradation.
He also suggested providing incentives, including fiscal ones, to influence changes to systematic behaviour driving deforestation.
Third, systematic capacity building programmes will be implemented that can be integrated into national policy, planning and budgetary processes.
Finally, he encouraged the strengthening of partnerships to share experiences when implementing REDD+ and promoted South-South cooperation.
Martinez-Solimán said: “Through our work within UN-REDD, the Central Africa Forest Initiative (CAFI), FCPF, the Community Based REDD+ programme with UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme, and most recently, the Governors’ Climate and Forests Taskforce, UNDP supports countries to develop national REDD+ strategies and investment plans which provide the overall vision, measures and actions to address deforestation and forest degradation.
“We have successfully supported National REDD+ strategies development in Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia amongst others.
“We are confident that the work on REDD+ in these countries can serve as a model for nurturing strategic partnerships that can successfully support REDD+ efforts and advance REDD+ strategy implementation.”
