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Forestry Dept. Spearheads REDD+ Programme

By: , February 15, 2019

The Key Point:

The Forestry Department of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation is spearheading the Government’s national programme to become REDD+ ready.
Forestry Dept. Spearheads REDD+ Programme
Photo: Contributed
Senior Research Officer in the Forestry Department, Brahim Diop. The Forestry Department is leading the Government’s activities to qualify for REDD+ earnings from reducing the country’s carbon emissions.

The Facts

  • Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) in developing countries was created by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
  • It is a climate change mitigation programme that incentivises developing countries to reduce or remove forest carbon emissions by awarding them carbon credits.

The Full Story

The Forestry Department of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation is spearheading the Government’s national programme to become REDD+ ready.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) in developing countries was created by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

It is a climate change mitigation programme that incentivises developing countries to reduce or remove forest carbon emissions by awarding them carbon credits.

“The UNFCCC and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have results-based payment programmes and carbon markets that you can sell your credits to for the country to be rewarded. It is a very conservative value for the price of carbon, but it is right now US$5 per tonne of carbon that is removed from the atmosphere,” said Senior Research Officer in the Forestry Department, Brahim Diop, in an interview with JIS News.

Participating countries are given a cap on allowable emissions, and unused allowances can be traded to the monetary benefit of the selling country.

To qualify for REDD+ incentive payments, Jamaica must prove that it has reduced its national greenhouse gas emissions through any of the following activities: reducing emissions from deforestation, reducing emissions from forest degradation, conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests, and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

For REDD+ to be measurable and effective, Mr. Diop said certain national elements must be put in place.

“These include a national strategy or action plan; the establishment of a national forest (emissions) reference level, which is your basis for accounting for the results of REDD+ activities; a national forest monitoring system through which you are able to monitor your activities to see if they are having a positive or negative impact on the landscape; and establishment of systems to ensure that REDD+ activities safeguard the welfare of those living in and around forested areas,” Mr. Diop noted.

Jamaica has received funding assistance for its REDD+ activities from the UNFCCC’s Green Climate Fund.

By the final stages of the REDD+ programme, Jamaica will be able to accurately report on local forest carbon emissions and earn from the successful implementation of emission-reduction initiatives.

Approximately 460,000 hectares of the island is covered in forests. Though the United Nations’ REDD+ programme, Jamaica will be able to accurately report on local forest carbon emissions and could earn from reducing emissions.

 

Forty per cent of the island (approximately 440,000 hectares) is covered in forests and a quarter of this amount is managed by the Forestry Department. The remaining is privately owned.

Last Updated: February 19, 2019

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