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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.

©Nitidae

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 shares 10 lessons for ending tropical deforestation

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As the EU REDD Facility marks its 10-year anniversary, it has released a summation of key lessons learned in working to strengthen efforts to ensure tropical forests meet their potential to limit climate change. Over the last decade the Facility has worked towards empowering stakeholders to strengthen the rule of law, to promote sustainable land use and investment, and to enhance supply chain transparency.

These insights are shared as the 14th edition of the EU Development Days on the Green Deal for a Sustainable Future gets underway. The EU has a strong track record of global leadership in dealing with deforestation and forest degradation, and the European Green Deal commits to measures to support deforestation-free value chains. The Facility’s work is aligned with this ambitious response to the continued widespread destruction of the world’s forests.

“Significant progress has been made over the past few years towards ending deforestation and understanding the drivers and solutions to this complex problem,” said Christophe Van Orshoven, EU REDD Facility Team leader. However, he said it was necessary for “governments, the private sector and citizens all over the world to urgently step up action to protect and restore the world’s forests.”

The lessons that the Facility has learned over the past decade include the need for clear and well-enforced legal frameworks for land use, land-use planning that is participatory and collaborative, and partnership approaches that build an enabling environment for sustainable land-use.

“We hope that these lessons help to shape and accelerate future action”, said Van Orshoven. In years ahead, the Facility intends continued support to countries to find innovative approaches and solutions to their land-use governance and development goals, and opportunities for dialogue and partnership.

EU REDD Facility releases highlights and insights from 2020

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The EU REDD Facility has published its annual report for 2020, with highlights and insights into work achieved over the year.

In 2020, COVID-19 brought unprecedented challenges for the world’s forests and the people depending on them. While some forest and agricultural sector operators and producers prioritised economic survival over environmental standards, the Facility’s partners remained committed to improving land-use governance as part of efforts to slow, halt and reverse deforestation.

Tropical rainforest, Latin America
The EU REDD Facility annual report for 2020 explains how COVID-19 brought unprecedented challenges for the world’s forests. Source: Gustavo Frazao.

The EU REDD Facility annual report highlights growing interest in supply chain transparency approaches in response to evolving market requirements. Building on progress made in tracking jurisdictional sustainability of Indonesian palm oil, the Facility worked with public and private sector stakeholders to assess feasibility of transparency approaches for cocoa sectors in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Colombia and Ecuador.

The Facility’s Land-use Planner was increasingly used in 2020 by partner countries to support decision-making. An updated version of the tool brought together a wider set of information to the community of users, including land-use data, methods and case studies.

In Colombia and Indonesia, the Facility worked on community forestry as path to improving livelihoods and achieving climate commitments.

As a means of deforestation-proofing investments to leverage finance to meet climate and forest goals, the Facility continued roll out of its Land-use Finance Tool. In 2020 Cambodia used the tool to help to build the case for more international support and improve spending coherence. The Democratic Republic of the Congo also started to use the tool to track all public land-use spending since 2009.

In assessments of payment for environmental services models for progress towards sustainably produced cocoa, the Facility confirmed the importance of incentive mechanisms for covering initial investment costs of shifting to sustainable production.

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.