Press release Paris, 21 February 2013 Guyana Schield, regional forestry cooperation: One million euros to help reduce greenhouse gases Approval agreement of 29 January 2013 ©ONF JP Salinière/Guyana Region – Nicolas Karr/ONF Guyana Ludovic Cocogne /AFD Guyana, representing FFEM (French Global Environment Facility) Carolle Lucas/ambassade française au Surinam ©ONF It aims to support the development of technical skills in the forestry services in the countries of the Guiana Schield, with the purpose of providing tools to support local policy making on ₁
the REDD‐plus mechanisms . Regional cooperation for the sharing of resources and expertise of forestry administrations The ONF and the FFEM, represented by the Agence Française de développement (AFD), France’s development agency in Cayenne, have just signed a financial agreement of 1 million euros for the implementation of a forestry programme in countries of the Guyana Schield with the aim of reducing their carbon emissions. The countries concerned in the framework of this project are Guyana, Suriname and Brazil’s Amapá State, and France through French Guyana. It will be up to French Guiana’s ONF, the programme leader, to strengthen the technical skills of the countries while prioritising regional cooperation of the forestry services. The programme will endeavour to involve participants in the field of research, the ONG, representatives of the indigenous communities and sponsors. Nouragues © ONF/JF Spzigel Through a regional technical platform for dialogue and exchange of experiences, this programme will offer a framework conductive to a combined approach for the development of lands and of the carbon issue in conformity with the REDD‐plus mechanism2. The idea is to value the environmental capital represented by the Guyana Schield by taking into account its forestry carbon potential. The ONF will make available its methodological tools and knowledge for the reinforcement of forestry inventories, the monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon stocks in the area and the identification of drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. The stakes are high: the Guyana Schield countries contain territory comprising tropical humid forests which are a rich resource of carbon, and the biodiversity of which is exceptional. In the eyes of the international community, these counties are responsible for sustaining a heritage of global value. These tools assist with local political decision‐making Experiencing an economic and demographic boom, these countries are anxious to oversee their development in a sustainable manner. Political decision makers wish to procure data that allow them to combine the development of land with carbon mechanisms, and to benefit from the revenue from sales of emission reduction certificates. The FFEM’s funding will help to define a framework for cooperation in sharing data and carbon inventory methodologies. The project will have to make it possible to quantify and analyse the factors of deforestation in each country, with a view to transnational distribution. Finally, a model for development scenarios and opportunities to avoid forest‐derived carbon emissions will be established. Political decision makers will be equipped with technical, legal and administrative tools, allowing them to benefit from the REDD‐plus mechanism. An investment in the global environment and in local development Find out En savo
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financing FFEM Press contacts FFEM funding comes within the framework of agreements made by France with regard to REDD‐plus following the 15th Party Conference on Climate held in Copenhagen in 2009. This programme has just improved the carbon storage capacity and reduced deforestation in an area of major interest as far as biodiversity is concerned. This programme will bring together local populations involved in the implementation and collection of data, even at different stages of the programme. ₁
REDD‐plus: reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and/or forest degradation; The REDD‐plus mechanism has the role of urgently countering deforestation by paying countries for avoiding deforestation. It does so by supporting them 2
financially for measures taken to fight deforestation and forest degradation or implement lasting forestry management. It is a national mechanism the development of which is planned in three stages: preparation, implementation of activities and payments according to results. It is vital that the mechanisms are prepared, particularly in order to grant countries the technical capacity and tools that are indispensable to the planning, implementation and evaluation of REDD‐
plus activities. Nowadays, the REDD‐plus partnership brings together over 70 forestry countries and donors and has allowed over 4 billion dollars to be raised from Fast Star funds, which are designed to encourage the development of REDD‐plus activities without the need to await the decisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on the post‐Kyoto system.
ONF Christiane Baroche [email protected] Tel. (00 33) 06 07 78 09 84 – (00 33) 01 40 9 80
FFEM Valérie Fakir [email protected] Tel. 01 53 44 39 41 Press release Paris, 21 February 2013 The French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) is a bilateral public fund set up at the initiative of the French government in 1994. Its secretariat and financial management are confined to the Agence Française de Développement (AFD). The FFEM has a mandate to jointly finance projects with a strong environmental component in developing countries. Exclusively in the form of donations, this co financing is intended to implement pilot projects which reconcile the environment and the economic development of beneficiary countries. Its activities focus on the domains of biodiversity, international waters, climate change, soil erosion, persistent organic pollutants or the ozone layer. On 31 December 2012, 237 projects were approved for the commitment of funds for a total of 276 million euros. Two thirds extend throughout Sub‐Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean.www.ffem.fr. The National Forestry Office (ONF) is a public institution of a commercial and industrial nature which is responsible for managing French public forests. It carries out its activities in the framework of a multiannual contract concerning objectives and performance between itself and the State and the French National Federation of Forest Communities. It is responsible for the sustainable management of nearly 10 Mha of forests and wooded areas in mainland France and in French overseas territories, among which 5.5 Mha in Guyana. rd
The ONF develops the forests it manages and therefore supplies the wood sector, the 3 largest economic sector in Guyana, while also ensuring the sustainable renewal of forestry resources. It works to preserve and increase biodiversity by implementing low‐
impact forestry management through the extension of biological reserves and sensitive natural areas. The Office operates for territorial surveillance missions and safeguards the integrity of the forest environment. The Office makes forests welcoming to the public while raising public awareness about how to protect the forest environment. It provides services by promoting its network of specialized skills. Ultimately, it assumes the role played by forests in the framework of ecosystem services for the fight against climate change. It is through these different aspects that the ONF manages resources in a lasting and multifunctional way in order to meet current societal needs and prepare forests in view of future needs. www.onf.fr (website in French) Public institution, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has worked for seventy years to fight poverty and facilitate development in countries of the South and in overseas French territories. It implements policy defined by the French government. Present on four continents where it has a network of 70 branches and representative offices across the world, among which nine are overseas and one is at Brussels, the AFD finances and develops projects that improve population living conditions, support economic growth and protect the planet: schooling, maternal health, support for farmers and small businesses, water supply, preservation of tropical forests, fight against climate change, etc. In 2011, the AFD dedicated nearly 6.9 billion to the financing of activities in developing countries and in favour of overseas French territories. They will contribute, in particular, to the schooling of four million children at primary school level and two million at secondary‐school level, and to the improvement and provision of drinking water for 1.53 million people. Energy efficiency projects will over the same year make it possible to save the equivalent of nearly 3.8 million tonnes of CO2 every year.www.afd.fr
Press contacts ONF Christiane Baroche [email protected] Tel. (00 33) 06 07 78 09 84 – (00 33) 01 40 9 80
FFEM Valérie Fakir [email protected] Tel. 01 53 44 39 41