Nigeria: UN-REDD Programme Approves US$4 Million Funding

By Henry Neondo

ABUJA---The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) has approved US$4 million in funding for Nigeria's National Programme for reducing emissions from deforestation.

With this most recent funding allocation to Nigeria, the UN-REDD Programme is now providing direct support to 14 countries while also working with 21 other partner countries across Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean.

"The UN-REDD Programme's support is invaluable because climate change is a global problem and the issues of REDD+, sustainable forest management and sustainable livelihoods cannot be handled by the country alone," said Mr. Salisu Dahiru, National Coordinator for REDD+ in Nigeria. "There is the need to get together, collaborate and learn from the experiences of other countries as well as from the depth of information and technical expertise which is available in the UN system. For us, the UN-REDD Programme is the ideal vehicle, and we call it the friend of Nigeria's forest dependent communities," said Dahiru.

With the latest funding for Nigeria, the UN-REDD total amount of approved funding for UN-REDD National Programmes now rises to US$59.3 million.

These critical funds support the capacity of national governments to prepare and implement REDD+ strategies with the active involvement of local stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples and other forest-dependent communities. The ultimate goal of these country-led REDD+ efforts is to contribute to the global fight against climate change.

Meanwhile, the UN-REDD Programme Policy Board's co-chairs, Mr. Alexander Müller, Assistant Director-General of the Natural Resources Management and Environment Department (FAO) and Ms. Yetti Rusli, Senior Adviser to the Minister of Forestry on Environment and Climate Change, Indonesia, expressed sadness for the recent passing of Prof Wangari Maathai, Nobel Prize laureate and distinguished partner of the UN-REDD Programme. The co-chairs reaffirmed the Programme's commitment to honouring her life's work by continuing to support the advancement of REDD+ in order to preserve tropical forests in Africa and around the world.