The Royal Norwegian Embassy has signed a contract worth 5.65 million US dollars (more than 7.6 billion Tanzania shillings) to help Zanzibar prepare for a new international climate change agreement involving forests. Over the next four years, this project aims to prepare local communities and government institutions for a future international climate change agreement that rewards reductions in the rate of forest loss and resultant greenhouse gas emissions. The project goal is a reduction in 375,250 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
‘This project forms an important contribution towards the partnership on forest and climate change between our two countries’, said Ambassador Jon Lomøy during the signing in Zanzibar, ‘and will go a long way towards linking local action with the ongoing global discourse.’
The project begins as the world’s leaders and experts continue to work towards a new climate change agreement. International efforts to combat climate change are structured within the Kyoto Protocol, which is in the process of being renegotiated for a post-2012 agreement. One issue to be included in the post-2012 agreement is forests; the loss of forests around the world accounts for up to 20% of greenhouse gases as the carbon contained in the trees is released as carbon dioxide.
The concept is known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). It is envisaged that after 2012, an internationally-approved, performance-based system for forest carbon trading will have been negotiated to provide additional incentives to countries that address REDD.
Tanzania-Norway Climate Change Partnership
In response to the climate change challenge, 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.
‘This is the sixth NGO pilot to be funded under the partnership, but the first on Zanzibar’, says Ivar Jørgensen, Counsellor for climate change and environment. ‘It will help prepare selected village communities for a future REDD arrangement as well as build the capacity of government institutions.’ The primary partner on Zanzibar is the Department of Commercial Crops, Fruits and Forest (DCCFF) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Environment.
CARE has worked in Zanzibar since 1995 with a particular focus on community forest management in collaboration with DCCFF. The project will be implemented in 29 sites within seven districts of Unguja and Pemba Islands, aiming to pilot pro-poor community forest management and REDD in 27,650 hectares of forest. CARE will work with village environment organizations, conservation committees and Shehia authorities to strengthen community forest management and establish baseline information on forest carbon stocks, before moving towards marketing carbon credits and testing benefit sharing mechanisms.
The project will also undertake numerous activities to address the drivers of deforestation, such as supporting fuel wood and charcoal users to switch to liquid petroleum gas, and the establishment of woodlots, tree planting, agroforestry and other income-generating activities.
‘This project will promote a pro-poor, gender-equitable approach to linking community forest management and REDD’, says Paul Barker, CARE Country Director, ‘placing a focus on providing forest dependent communities with secure property rights and equitable rewards for providing ecosystem services and other livelihood benefits.’
Community forest management is anticipated to be a vehicle for ensuring that REDD not only helps address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also contributes to sustainable development, poverty reduction, and securing the livelihoods of forest-dependent peoples.
Background to forests and climate change
Climate change is one of the biggest global problems posing challenges to sustainable livelihoods and economic development. The adverse impacts of climate change on the environment, human health, food security, human settlements, economic activities, natural resources and physical infrastructure are already noticeable in many countries, including Tanzania.
Deforestation and forest degradation is the cause of around 20% of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming. Current global and national efforts to address climate change are therefore looking at measures to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, including the provision of incentives. As a country with a large forest estate, Tanzania could play an important role in mitigating climate change by reducing rates of deforestation, and be rewarded in the process by the international community.
At the 13th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2007, it was agreed that REDD should be considered for inclusion in a future protocol after 2012. Important negotiations on the framework for REDD took place at the 15th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC in Copenhagen, Denmark, during December 2009. It is expected that negotiations will be finalized at the 16th Conference of Parties to be held in Mexico City during late 2010. In the future, Tanzania could become eligible to emission reduction payments from other countries, providing that reduced rates of deforestation or forest degradation can be demonstrated.
REDD is a form of payment for environmental services and has the potential to not only help address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also provide positive impacts on forest management, biodiversity and sustainable development, including poverty reduction.
Six NGOs have now been contracted to undertake REDD pilot projects under the Tanzania-Norway Climate Change partnership, and a few more are expected to be signed in the next couple of months. In addition to this, a number of other climate change programmes will be funded under the partnership. Funding for this partnership is in addition to regular development cooperation.
Further information
The Contract is available on the Embassy website: www.norway.go.tz For further information please contact:
- Mr. Ivar Jørgensen, Counsellor on Environment and Climate Change, Royal Norwegian Embassy Phone: 022 2113366. Email: ivjo@mfa.no
- Mr. Yassin Mkwizu, Programme Officer on Environment and Climate Change, Royal Norwegian Embassy Phone: 022 2113366. Email: ybm@mfa.no