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Ecuador

Ecuador is the second country to have received financial resources from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), having successfully reduced greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation. The country registered a 48.6% reduction in its forest rate during the last two decades. However, deforestation is still a concern. For its size, Ecuador has the highest annual deforestation rate of any country in the Western Hemisphere.

Deforestation and land use changes are one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Ecuador. The main driver of deforestation is agricultural expansion for pasture and crop cultivation.

PROAmazonia, Ecuador’s main national REDD+ investment programme, is an initiative by the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture and UNDP and funded by the GCF and Global Environmental Fund (GEF). The programme supports Ecuador’s ambition to cut emissions from land use, land-use change, and forestry by 20% by 2025.

In 2019, Ecuador’s Ministries of Agriculture, Environment and the Ministry of Production and External Trade launched a “Premium & Sustainable” campaign, aimed at developing sustainable, fair and deforestation-free agriculture. As a continuity, in 2021 Ecuador developed a national label for zero-deforestation certification, the BPA+ (Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas plus).

EU REDD Facility work in Ecuador

The EU REDD Facility engages in Ecuador upon request and in collaboration with PROAmazonia and the Ministries of Environment, Agriculture, and Production and External trade.

Facilitating multi-stakeholder dialogue for the development of a national monitoring system for deforestation-free cocoa supply-chain.

Cocoa is a major exporting product for Ecuador, as it is the third producer country worldwide in terms of volumes, making this product an important source of income for populations. In 2020 the country exported 345.000 tons of cocoa, with almost 30% to the EU. While cocoa is not considered as a major driver of deforestation, it is expected that the expansion rate could accelerate in the future, specifically in the Amazon. In 2021, the EU REDD Facility supported national dialogue with various stakeholders to evaluate opportunities and challenges for the development of a national monitoring system for zero-deforestation cocoa value chain in response of increasing international markets requirements.

Mountain rainforest, Provincia Province, Ecuador
Frédéric Baron, European Forest Institute

Mapping private investment on AFOLU sector

In the framework of the national REDD plan “Bosques para el buen vivir”, and in partnerships with PROAmazonia and the Ministry of Environment, the EU REDD Facility is supporting a financial mapping on AFOLU sector to identify and monitor impact and alignment of private investments with REDD+ actions. This analysis will allow to develop a baseline from which future investment will be measured to assess achievement of climate and REDD+ objectives.

EU REDD Facility actions in Ecuador

Construcción de un diálogo nacional para el desarrollo de un sistema de trazabilidad y transparencia para el cacao libre de deforestación

Ecuador y Colombia iniciaron con el Centro REDD de la UE un diagnóstico participativo para anticiparse a las nuevas políticas y requerimientos de los mercados importadores de cacao. El objetivo es disponer de un sistema nacional de información para el monitoreo del riesgo de deforestación de las cadenas de valor del cacao.

Building trust for traceable deforestation-free cocoa

In collaboration with the EU REDD Facility, Ecuador and Colombia started a participatory diagnosis to anticipate the policy developments and future requirements of cocoa-importing markets. The aim is to build a national information system to monitor deforestation of cocoa value chains.
Cocoa plantation in Ecuador

Evaluar la alineación de las inversiones privadas con los objetivos climáticos y REDD+

Ecuador articula los esfuerzos nacionales para la reducción de la deforestación y degradación de los bosques a través del Plan de Acción REDD+. Comprender cómo los flujos de financiación privados impactan positiva o negativamente en los bosques es una oportunidad para incrementar las inversiones alineadas con REDD+.

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.