| Norway’s Sh2bn to save forest | Send to a friend |
| Monday, 05 July 2010 09:14 |
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The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Dar es Salaam has signed a contract with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) worth nearly $1.3 million (around Sh1.7 billion) to help Tanzania prepare for a new international climate change protocol involving forests. A statement issued by the embassy last week pointed out that the four-year project would target efforts to reduce the loss of 52,000 hectares of forest in the Southern Highlands areas in Rungwe and Sumbawanga districts in Mbeya and Rukwa regions respectively. Deforestation and forest degradation is the cause of around 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming. Over the next four years, the project will plant half a million indigenous trees, establish a locally managed Mt Rungwe honey enterprise and undertake an extensive environmental education programme, the statement noted. It also warns that wood extraction and fire were major threats to the forests, promising that the project would develop village woodlots and a fire rapid response programme. “This project aims to bring economic incentives to at least 100,000 people in the area,” said the Chargé d’Affaires, Mr Svein Bæra, during the signing ceremony adding: “This will go a long way to improving local peoples’ livelihoods and their involvement in looking after these valuable forests.” It is also set to monitor changes in forest carbon emissions across the project area, hence helping the local communities and nation to prepare for a future international climate change agreement, which recognises and rewards reductions in the rate of forest loss and resultant greenhouse gas emissions. The concept is known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, or REDD+. Through Tanzania-Norway Climate Change initiative, Norway launched in 2007 an International Climate and Forest Initiative, with a global commitment of up to $500 million annually towards REDD+ efforts at international and national levels. The embassy said in April 2008, Norway and Tanzania signed a Letter of Intent on a Climate Change Partnership; with a focus on supporting REDD+ pilot activities in the field, capacity building, national strategy development and implementation. The WCS project is the seventh REDD+ pilot initiative to be funded under the partnership. “This NGO pilot will help prepare selected village communities in the Southern Highlands for a future REDD+ arrangement,” said Ivar Jørgensen, Counsellor for climate change and environment. The seven projects working towards local ‘REDD+ readiness’ are supported in a range of forests across the country, including montane forest, miombo woodlands, acacia woodland, coastal forests and thicket.The project areas experience a wide range of local conditions including tenure, land use and threats to forests. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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