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World Bank to help validate Nigeria’s REDD+ document

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World Bank to help validate Nigeria's REDD+ document

The World Bank and Forest Carbon Partnership Facility are currently working on an initiative to assist Nigeria in promoting its REDD+ agenda.

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.

This came to light at a recent workshop in Abuja, where stakeholders gathered to discuss and validate a draft report on Nigeria’s REDD+ strategy prepared by Gotosearch.com and the University of the West England, the consortium engaged to carry out the assignment.

The National Coordinator, Nigeria REDD+ programme, Dr Moses Ama, explained that the document would help the county in engaging with the international community for the purposes of bringing benefits to the efforts in emissions reduction, as well as the country’s sustainable forest management approach.

“If this strategy is not very well crafted and we don’t capture the elements and the options that we intend to use in engaging, then we are taking a wrong step,” he added.

A former Director of Forestry in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Philip Bankole, said the document contained familiar issues on the country’s forest reserves.

He said: “It is a good development that the REDD+ programme has got to this stage. It started some years ago and, despite a change of leadership, it is still going very strong because we have competent hands in place.

“Whatever comes out here today is to our own benefit. It is a national service. This is a policy document and thus it has a lot of bearing on what happens to our forest and government policies in the future.”

The Team Leader, Gotosearch.com, Prof Olukayode Oladipo, urged participants to feel free to criticise the document as there would always be room for improvement on every document notwithstanding its quality.

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Also, while speaking at the workshop, the Director of Forestry, David Andrew-Adejo, congratulated the REDD+ team which includes the secretariat and the team that worked with them on the field because they had collectively contributed to the successes achieved by the REDD+ secretariat.

He said: “Nigeria should start assessing the financing incentives that the REDD+ is trying to achieve as its end point. The benefit will only come if we have a good strategy developed by REDD. It takes care of how the villager that you asked not to cut his tree because of X-metric tonnes of carbon that it stores, and the villager does not eat X-metric tonnes. He just wants to cut it and use to it cook or sell it.

“So, your strategy will be able to give that man an assurance that if he leaves that tree alone, he will be able to do something else that will enable him live the normal life he was living to the extent that he would be the one that will be your champion.”

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