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How securing land tenure can help fight both desertification and deforestation

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The EU REDD Facility moderated an EU side event held during the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Speakers from the EU, Ivorian NGOs and the Facility agreed that the fight against desertification in Côte d’Ivoire is closely linked to the fight against deforestation.

During the event, the EU REDD Facility expert on sustainable land-use policies, Romuald Vaudry, explained how securing land tenure, through the issuance of land certificates, is critical to preserve existing forests and drive the increase of forest cover in the Ivorian rural domain. By becoming owners of the trees, farmers (including women) can safely invest in their land, diversify their production systems, and improve their income. Land use planning and associated spatial planning tools, including down to the village level, are also essential for better land use.

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Ivorian civil society representatives showed concrete examples how land certification in the Mé region made it possible to concretely fight deforestation and secure private sector investments, driving reforestation. They also showed how civil society can ensure that private and public actors comply with regulations in force through independent observation.

EU representatives explained how the EU works in partnership with countries in their ecological transition towards sustainability. In this framework, the EU supports Côte d’Ivoire in the development of a national strategy for sustainable cocoa. EFI provides technical support to this process in Côte d’Ivoire, but also in Ghana and Cameroon through the International Partnerships Facility’s Sustainable Cocoa Programme.

The EU REDD Facility addresses climate action and land-use planning at the 13th Forest Governance Forum 

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The 13th Forest Governance Forum took place in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, from 23-24 May 2022. Following the forest commitments made in 2021 in Glasgow, UK, at 26th United Nations Climate Conference (COP 26), the Forum addressed the intersection of forest governance, the green economy, climate change and land-use planning. The EU REDD Facility engaged and delivered a presentation at a panel on COP26 and the climate action. The Facility also convened and chaired a parallel session on land-use planning and forests. 

Opening ceremony of the Forest Governance Forum (EU Ambassador in Brazzaville, Minister of MEF, Coordinator of CJJ and the Director of CIDT of the University of Wolverhampton). Source: Jim Djontu, EU REDD Facility
Opening ceremony of the Forest Governance Forum (EU Ambassador in Brazzaville, Minister of MEF, Coordinator of CJJ and the Director of CIDT of the University of Wolverhampton). Source: Jim Djontu, EU REDD Facility.

Fern convened a plenary session titled ‘Building on COP26 to Promote Inclusive and Ambitious Climate Action,’ which was moderated by the Central Africa Forest Initiative (CAFI) Secretary. It aimed to examine progress and gaps in commitments and actions to improve climate governance in the Congo Basin and beyond. It also formulated recommendations so that nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and just and transparent climate finance lead to greater protection of forests and forest peoples’ rights.

In a presentation on ‘Revised NDCs: What’s in it for forests, rights, and livelihoods?’ Jim Djontu and Alice Bisiaux of the EU REDD Facility underlined that the gap between emission reduction pledges and what is needed to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement to limit temperature increase to 1,5 ºC above pre-industrial levels is still significant. In this context, they assessed the progress made in the revised NDCs of some Congo Basin countries, underlying the essential role nature-based solutions can play in addressing the climate challenge. In many cases, NDC pledges related to the forest and land-use sector can still be made more ambitious and specific. In particular, the national climate plans should better address forest governance issues and include quantified tenure and natural resource rights for indigenous peoples and local communities. 

Furthermore, although the revision of the NDCs have been carried out through a greater engagement of civil society compared to the 2015 version of these national plans, their recommendations have only been very partially taken into account.

The EU REDD Facility also convened a parallel session on land-use planning and forests, which was chaired by Jim Djontu. 

Jim Djontu, EU REDD Facility, chairing the panel on the land-use planning and forests. Source: Igerha Bampa, GTCRR.
Jim Djontu, EU REDD Facility, chairing the panel on the land-use planning and forests. Source: Igerha Bampa, GTCRR.

Panellists underlined that the progress made, and the approaches deployed in land-use planning are context-specific. These approaches may be top-down, bottom-up or combined. This influences the dynamics of the process, the achievement of the defined objectives, the emerging lessons and constraints encountered.

The Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon have embarked on ambitious and multi-annual land-use planning processes following differentiated trajectories adapted to their local contexts and realities with the support of international and local partners, such EFI, the CAFI, Initiative Développement and Rainbow Consult.

Land-use planning, and associated tools have been recognised by the administration, development partners, civil society, and the private sector as an essential basis for better land governance, more coherent development planning and the reconciliation of divergent interests in land-use and allocation in the rapidly growing economies of the countries of the sub-region.

At COP26: Promoting sustainable trade through transparency and traceability

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At the COP26 Indonesia Pavilion on 8 November, European Forest Institute (EFI) expert Thomas Sembres presented ideas on promoting sustainable trade through transparency and traceability in forest, agriculture commodities and trade. Speaking at the Indonesian Pavilion, Sembres made the case for raising the visibility of sustainability, and for creating more differentiation in global markets between what is sustainable and what is not. This needs to be done at scale for mainstream markets, he said, “not just for the niche markets of certified or premium products.”

While more robust traceability systems are needed as a support to more visibility for sustainability, they will not be enough unless accompanied by broader access to information, said Sembres. “Most traceability systems that exist nowadays are non-transparent traceability systems. This means that most market actors don’t have access to this information and cannot use it to promote sustainable production and trade.”

Thomas Sembres’ presentation at the COP26 event can be viewed in this recording. His contribution is from 4:08:00 – 4:14:00.

Bringing transparency to a traceability system is a delicate task, he said, with some actors fearing that more accessible information would be used against them. “At EFI we are working on this delicate task of helping governments use supply chain transparency to encourage progress towards sustainability.”

On the question of bridging differences between producer countries and consumer countries related to transparency and traceability systems, Sembres confirmed that more data was now available than ever before – but said that dialogue between market actors or between governments remained difficult. The key reason for this gap are the complexity of numerous data and traceability platforms, he said, along with distrust around the use of the data.

What is needed now, Sembres said, is simplicity and trust based on transparency and inclusive, structured and equitable processes on choice of data sources and data use. The experience of Terpercaya was a good example of how this could be achieved, he said.

“We need to build supply chains of understanding and trust. The Transparency Pathway is a way to bring public and private supply chain actors together to shift mainstream commodity markets towards sustainability.”

The lessons of COVID-19: facilitation for sustainability

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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the environment. As resources for forest management decline, risks of criminal activity such as illegal logging have escalated. At the same time, many cooperation projects aimed at reducing deforestation or improving biodiversity conservation have suffered delays and breaks in their activities.

For those working on environmental solutions – including the EU REDD Facility – the pandemic has required creativity and resourcefulness. Not only must workflows be maintained while at a distance, but tangible results need to be generated for those who were vulnerable even before the pandemic.

In a new blog, REDD expert Frédéric Baron shares lessons from Colombia, Ecuador and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), making the case that “now more than ever we see the need for well-informed and open dialogue, and processes for facilitation”.

Facilitators and facilitation skills are necessary for achieving sustainable development goals and Nationally Determined Contributions targets, says Baron. “With or without a pandemic, environmental and social challenges cannot wait until ‘normality’ returns.”

For support to Colombia, Ecuador and the DRC in 2021, the EU REDD Facility has opted to increase the facilitation component of its work. Information is shared to generate common knowledge, and then to identify potential solutions for improving governance and sustainability of land use.

The overarching lesson of the past 18 months has been that negotiations, dialogue, and consensus can be achieved if a facilitating third party ensures a first layer of knowledge and understanding, says Baron. “It does not mean that the way towards a final agreement will be easy, but certainly easier and possible.”

About the EU REDD Facility

The EU REDD Facility supports countries in improving land-use governance as part of their efforts to slow, halt and reverse deforestation. It also supports the overall EU effort to reduce its contribution to deforestation in developing countries. The Facility focuses on countries that are engaged in REDD+, an international mechanism that incentivises developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their forest and land-use sectors. The Facility is hosted by the European Forest Institute and was established in 2010.

Disclaimer

This website has been produced with the assistance of the European Union and the Governments Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. The contents of this site are the sole responsibility of the European Forest Institute’s EU REDD Facility and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of funding organisations.