The Royal Norwegian Embassy has signed a contract with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) worth nearly 1.3 million US dollars (around 1.7 billion Tanzania shillings) to help Tanzania prepare for a new international climate change protocol involving forests.
The four-year project will target efforts to reduce the loss of 52,000 hectares of forest in the Southern Highlands in Rungwe and Sumbawanga Districts. Deforestation and forest degradation is the cause of around 20% 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. Wood extraction and fire are major threats to the forests, so the project will 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 Chargé d’Affaires Svein Bæra during the signing at the Royal Norwegian Embassy, ‘which will go a long way to improving local peoples’ livelihoods and their involvement in looking after these valuable forests.’
The project will also monitor changes in forest carbon and emissions across the project area, so helping the local communities and nation prepare for a future international climate change agreement that 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+.
Tanzania-Norway Climate Change Partnership
Norway launched an International Climate and Forest Initiative in 2007, with a global commitment of up to 500 million US dollars annually towards REDD+ efforts at international and national levels. 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’, says Ivar Jørgensen, Counsellor for climate change and environment, ‘as well as testing some key policy issues that will benefit development of a national REDD policy.’
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.
REDD Readiness in Southwest Tanzania
The project to be undertaken by WCS will form one of Tanzania’s major REDD+ pilot projects at local level. It seeks to develop both the capacity and knowledge for Tanzania to participate actively and comprehensively in REDD+ activities. The emphasis will be placed in and around 52,680 hectares of threatened montane forests within the Southern Highlands.
‘The Southern Highlands contain some of Tanzania’s most important yet threatened forests’, says Dr. Tim Davenport, WCS Country Director. ‘This collaboration between the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the REDD Task Force and WCS is a unique opportunity not only to better understand and monitor the science of climate change, but also to help government and local communities conserve these vital habitats’.
Using a range of satellite technology and ground-based field work, the project will measure changes in deforestation, carbon sequestration and emissions. Collectively the project will provide a detailed estimate of the levels of emission reductions that could be expected, which will be central in determining future payments for achieving REDD+.
Furthermore, the project will address several drivers of forest loss in the Southern Highlands. Some 500,000 indigenous trees will be planted to restore deforested land, while village woodlots will be established to provide for local fuel wood and construction needs. The project will set up a locally managed Mt. Rungwe honey enterprise to support income generation, while a fire rapid response programme will be piloted to address this growing concern. The environmental education programme will reach every village within three kilometres of the forests. Overall, it is estimated that economic incentives from the project will reach at least 100,000 people.
Project partners include Terra Global Capital, Missouri Botanical Gardens, Local and Central Government Authorities including the National REDD Task Force.
The contract between the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) can be found here.