The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) REDD+ Readiness Project has made tremendous trends in terms of implementation through collaborative and consultative meetings with stakeholders. Having received funds from the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility to operationalize it’s REDD+ architecture, as per the requirements of the REDD+ rule book prescribed by the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in various decisions (Decision 2/CP.13, the Warsaw Framework, Decision 1/CP.16 and most recently Article 5 of the Paris Agreement); UNDP together with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry have deliberated on the coordinated approach of implementation and on the various incentives needed for forest conservation and management.
The goal of the FCPF REDD+ Readiness Project as stipulated in the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) 2018 – 2023 and the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement is to manage and conserve forests sustainably and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet national targets of increasing forest cover to 10% of the land area. To help realize these goals, the Kenyan Government and UNDP are partnering to implement the REDD+ Readiness Project in Kenya. As indicated above, The Ministry and UNDP have begun the readiness process through collaborating with key stakeholders and partners drawn from other national and county-level institutions and agencies, independent commissions, the private sector, civil society organizations (CSOs), research/academic institutions, indigenous peoples and local communities and forest dependent communities. The meetings held so far with these key stakeholders have put in place strategies on the way forward.
The project aims to put in place mechanisms to enable Kenya to reach its overall REDD+ goal to improve livelihoods and wellbeing, conserve biodiversity, contribute to the national aspiration of attaining a minimum 10% forest cover, mitigating climate change for sustainable development and providing technical support to the Greening Kenya Initiative. In addition to this, the REDD+ Readiness project will provide technical support to the development of National and County forest policy and legislations. To achieve the above objectives the following outputs will be realized:
- A National REDD+ Strategy;
- An Investment plan;
- A Safeguards Information System (SIS) for REDD+; and
- A National Forest Monitoring System and Forest Reference Level.
To ensure that the project achieves maximum success results, stakeholder involvement and their active participation is paramount to the REDD+ readiness process. Stakeholders and the Government at the national and county level will play a significant role in mitigating climate change in Kenya and promoting sustainable development. As such, UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry is building the capacity of stakeholders to collectively tackle the issue of deforestation and forest degradation.
