Kumbo Council Wins REDD+ Project

By Njodzefe Nestor

Group pix after validation of project note

Kumbo council has been selected amongst six other councils in Cameroon to partake in the REDD+ Project according to a letter signed by the Minister of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development S.E HELE Pierre on Nov 20, 2015.

                This comes at a time when more than 190 nations are gathering in Paris to discuss a possible new global agreement on climate change, aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and thus avoiding the threat of dangerous climate change.

                The project promoted by the Government of Cameroon supported by the French Development Agency, AFD, and the German Development Agency, GIZ and worth over FCFA 2 billion is expected to promote reforestation, mitigate the adverse effects of climate change and also to bring meaning development to Kumbo judging from the financial package that goes along with it.

                Kumbo council was amongst ten lucky councils pre-selected from the 360 councils in Cameroon who were requested to manifest the interest to participate in this project and submit a file expressing their ability to implement REDD+.

                The journey to this success all started in May 2015 with a 5 day workshop with the 10 shortlisted councils in Bana, West Region of Cameroon. Kumbo Council and Positive Vision Cameroon, a consultancy firm that was selected to design the project then plunged into fied work and elaboration of the Project Idea Note and Terms Of Reference for the feasibility studies

                Councilors of Kumbo Council sitting in an extra ordinary session on August 20, 2015 validated the draft project idea note and terms of reference for the REDD+ Kumbo Council pilot project aimed at reducing the poverty level from the current 48 percent in the municipality to below 10 percent through their effective participation in the management of the Council’s forest.

                It is worth noting that Kumbo Council was the first council to validate her own draft project idea note and terms of reference and had already acquired 1718.1 ha of land at KovNdzeen for the project and had also signed a memorandum of understanding with the community of Ndzeen.

                That Kumbo Council has been selected for this very prestigious project from other councils in the Western Highlands agro-ecological region which comprise the West and North West Region according to a senior worker at the Ministry of Environment is thanks to the fruitful collaboration of Positive Vision, Regional Delegates of Forestry and Wildlife and Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, the NW Regional Coordinator of PNDP, the Bui administration and the councilors of Kumbo Council and staff.

                According to Ngang Eric, team leader of Positive Vision Cameroon, the project seeks to propose alternative management of the forest by reducing deforestation and degradation of forest while ensuring that communities get the same or better benefits from adopting alternative management approaches.

                REDD+ is an acronym for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, as well as conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

                The United Nations created the REDD+ mechanism to quantify and value the carbon storage services that forests provide. By making forests more valuable standing than cut down, REDD+ provides forest communities and developing countries with a new, sustainable, low-carbon pathway to economic growth

                REDD+ is a product of the Copenhagen consultations from 2005 to 2008 where parties agreed that to mitigate climate change, incentives must be given to developing countries to enhance and protect carbon stocks (tress) in their forests.

                The benefits of REDD+ go well beyond emissions reductions to include forest conservation, sustainable economic development, and biodiversity preservation.

                By recognizing the economic value of ecosystem services that standing forests provide, REDD+ helps realign economic incentives with environmental integrity. This not only stops deforestation, but also gives indigenous and forest communities the opportunity to develop in a more sustainable way.