FAO and the European Union engaged to improve community lives through sustainable forestry management in Cabo Verde
Praia.- The Government of Cabo Verde, the European Union (EU) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have signed an agreement to strengthen the resilience of the communities in Boa Vista, Fogo and Santiago Islands, fostering their participatory forest management capacities to adapt to the desertification induced by climate change.
The project Building Adaptive Capacity and Resilience of the Forestry Sector in Cabo Verde aims at increasing resilience and enhancing key adaptive capacities to address the risks that climate change poses to desertification and land degradation. It will contribute to the achievement of key targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), in particular SDG 15 on Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss.
During the signature ceremony, the Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Gilberto Silva, highlighted the importance of this project to reforest the country - particularly considering that green areas that resulted from past afforestation programs, account for only roughly 20% of the surface. “This project will contribute to the fight against desertification with concrete plans on soil and water conservation. It will promote reforestation based on food security principles and it will strengthen our the legal framework and capacities", said Gilberto Silva.
It has been over a decade since the Government of Cabo Verde last implemented a reforestation program. The situation of the country has significally changed since then, and population and tourism are rapidly growing. For the first time, an Information and Early Warning System will be developed in order to help to monitor forests and prevent hazards.
Gilberto Silva also mentioned that this project will become a policy instrument for the government to enhance climate change resilience and mitigation capacities, while creating new opportunities for employment and income in the affected islands.
José Manuel Pinto Teixeira, Ambassador of the EU in Cabo Verde, reiterated the support of the EU and its member states to tackle climate change challenges in Cabo Verde. He referred particularly through the Global Climate Change Alliance + (GCCA+), a program established by the EU to support the most vulnerable people in responding to climate change. He also explained that this financial instrument is part of the EU contribution to the implementation of the Paris Agreements on Climate Change - the result of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“We celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Special Partnership, and EU supports Cabo Verde with a concrete project that will strengthen the country’s resilience to climate change, and it will have a direct impact in the adaptation capacities of local communities of the affected islands”, underlined José Manuel Pinto Teixeira.
The FAO Representative in Cabo Verde, Rémi Nono Womdim, urged to take preventive measures, tackle the risks posed by desertification and strengthen the capacity to provide basic resources for livelihoods. This project will support national terrestrial biodiversity conservation by reinforcing current fragmented terrestrial ecosystems, decreasing habitat losses and encouraging natural regeneration.
“Likewise, this project encourages a participatory and gender-sensitive approach to forest management, and it has an important capacity development component to address the training needs of the forestry technical officers in the country”, said Rémi Nono Womdim.
Throught this project Cabo Verde embraces for first time a participatory forestry management approach, putting the focus on the communities as key stakeholders of the sustainable use of the forest.
With a budget of over 5 million of Euros, the project will be implemented for a period of 4.5 years under the FAO technical guidance. The project has a threefold aim. Firstly, it aims to enable framework development and capacity building for gender responsive climate change adaptation policy in forest restoration and management – both at national and local level. Secondly, it intends to reduce Cabo Verde’s desertification via climate change adaptation activities and participatory forest management at local level. Thirdly, it strives to enhance knowledge creation and management regarding climate resilient and gender responsive practices.
Vulnerability to Climate Change
During the ceremony speakers highlighted Cabo Verde's vulnerability to the challenges posed by climate change, with particular reference to the rampant desertification and the droughts suffered in recent years. Cabo Verde is a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) in the westernmost part of Africa. It is an extension of the Sahel in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and rains seldom reaches 250mm per year. The Minster Gilberto Silva pointed out that Cabo Verde does not have a forest, and the only trees in the islands have been planted by forestation campaigns.
Indeed, this project aims to address national climate change mitigation targets - as indicated in Cabo Verde Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) - contributing to approximately 10% of the intended national reforestation target and CO2 removal.
Some months ago Cabo Verde ratified the Paris Agreements. There is a firm political engagement to tackle climate change and desertification, which can be seen in Cabo Verde's active role on the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC and its ratification of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
FAO has been supporting Cabo Verde’s capacities for climate change adaptation and mitigation, with projects such as the Adoption of efficient and climate-smart agriculture practices in African SIDS, signed during the COP 22 in Marrakech and funded by the African Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF), as well as the Blue Growth Initiative.
Indeed, FAO is firmly engaged with the island nations promoting few initiatives to specifically support SIDS, such as the New Global Action Programme for SIDS, which has been just launched at the 40th FAO Conference and which addresses nutrition and climate change challenges. Furthermore, FAO, the African Development Bank and World Bank, have also announced the African Package for Climate-Resilient Ocean Economies, which covers the coastal and island states in Africa.
Additional Information:
FAO Sustainable Forestry Management
State of the World Forest 2016
Forestry Communication Toolkit
FAO's work on sustainable forest management (Video)
Contact :
Antonio Palazuelos Prieto
Communication Specialist
Antonio.PalazuelosPrieto (a) fao.org
FAO Cabo Verde