CONSERVATIONS NIGERIA

Tag: REDD+

  • REDD+ programme gets Ogun, Edo, Plateau as new additions

    REDD+ programme gets Ogun, Edo, Plateau as new additions

    A recent scoping mission to seven states has led to the addition of Ogun, Edo and Plateau states to the the REDD+ Programme in Nigeria.

    According to reports, the Minister of Environment, Dr Mohammed Mahmoud, has endorsed the additions.

    REDD+ stands for countries’ efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

    Dr Moses Amah, National Coordinator of the Programme made known the selection on Monday.

    READ ALSO: Ogun halts activities in forest reserves

    Amah noted that 17 states indicated interest in joining the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) funded REDD+ Readiness Programme but only seven were pre-qualified.

    “The 17 states are Edo, Delta, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Plateau, Oyo, Kaduna, Enugu, Katsina, Bauchi, Jigawa, Lagos, Gombe, Anambra, Ebonyi and Abia,” he said.

    According to him, the scoping mission, conducted by two teams, was undertaken to select the three most qualified states from the seven based on laid down criteria such as presence of tropical forest, lowland rain forest, mangrove and montane forest and states’ commitments to sustainable forest management regimes.

    READ ALSO: Minister, others visit UK over Ogoni clean up

    Other criterias considered include forest dependent communities’ commitment to forest management; Institutional and regulatory framework that aligns with REDD+ implementation and State political will in driving sustainable forest management.

    “These criteria informed the ranking/scoring of the seven pre-qualified states in the selection process. All persons involved in the scoping mission made their scores based on the above criteria,” Amah said.

    He listed the summary of the average score for each state to be: Akwa Ibom State (66.5%), Edo State (77.8%), Delta State (63.8%), Imo State (61.6%), Plateau State (70%), Ogun State (80.2%) and Oyo State (60%).

    “It is worth noting that these scores show the potential of all the states being supported in the REDD+ readiness programme, but the constraint lies in the FCPF grant sum which can only support just three additional states,” said Amah.

    Cross River, Ondo and Nasarawa states, the earliest beneficiaries of a $3.8 million funding of the FCPF, are already implementing a REDD+ Readiness Programme.

    However, an additional $4.9 million grant was approved by the FCPF, an initiative of the World Bank, to extend the REDD+ Programme to more states.

  • WATER, FCPF others move to save Cross River forest

    WATER, FCPF others move to save Cross River forest

    A non-governmental organization, Wise Administration of Terrestrial Environment (WATER) has organised an “institutional capacity building workshop to check the massive degrading of rainforest in Cross River state.

    The event funded by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) through the Kenyan based Mainyoito Pastoralist Integrated Development Organisation (MPIDO), was meant to x-ray the participation of communities in REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) and to seek ways of improve the processes leading to meaningful participation in forest preservation.

    WATER Programme Coordinator, Chief Edwin Ogar said the capacity training programme with participants drawn from different communities and organisations in the state, was aimed at identifying the gaps in terms of government, Private sector and NGOs working together with communities. The programme , he stressed was also meant to identify ways to improve the collaboration as forest communities in the state are still far from what is obtainable elsewhere in the world in terms of participation by local communities in development and forest management.

    Ogar said only one community is doing something unique to protect her forest with support from outside while the rest of the communities are lagging far behind.

    According to him, unknown timber merchants for some time are entering the forests in Boki and Akamkpa axis and tearing away the Afi River Forest Reserve (ARFR) in Abo Ogbagante village which is an important corridor linking the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary to the Mbe Mountains and the Okwango Division of Cross River National Park.

    The capacity training programme, he said is basically is to enable the participants identify those gaps and proffer solutions so that we send those information for WATER partners to use as a tool to ensure that things are done properly here in Nigeria” in terms of forest protection.

    Delivering a lecture at the training programme, the Engagement and management Specialist for Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) in Cross River state, Mr. Tony Attah said REDD+ is disturbed with the alarming rate of deforestation following the introduction of forest moratorium in the state.

    He stressed that over 140,000 hectares of forest were lost between 2007 and 2014, hence REDD+ readiness to sign in the state and stakeholders strategy developed to safeguard the forest level emission and measurement reporting for verification with over $800,000 put into it.

    As a follow up, Attah stated that over $300,000 will be released by REDD+ to develop an investment plan by ensuring that there is effective participation in forest protection and development of community based projects between now and 2020.