Fast-track REDD to stem forest degradation, conservationist says

Gichohi called for the pace of funding of the initiative for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) to be quickened, in order to address climate change and the threat it poses to both people and ecosystems, and save the continent's forest.

"Deforestation rates in Africa are already four times the world average and are accelerating," Gichohi said, adding that "[t]he disappearing forests, the overgrazed rangelands, and conversion to crop agriculture of grasslands and wetlands ... all have diminished the resilience of the system." Estimates suggest that nine percent of forest cover has been lost between 1995 and 2005 across sub-Saharan Africa, representing an average loss of 40,000 square kilometres of forest per year. For example, Kenya has lost the majority of its forest cover to settlement and agriculture, leaving only 1.7% coverage, CIFOR reports.

Gichohi said that recent droughts decimated both wildlife and livestock across one of Kenya's premier wildlife and tourism ecosystems. "It was heartbreaking to see the national park and neighbouring community areas outside strewn with wildlife and livestock carcasses. Wildlife populations plummeted and the pastoralists lost 80 percent of their livestock," she said. While money is available globally for climate change mitigation and adaptation, not much is flowing to people and forest communities where it could transform livelihoods and biodiversity. National mechanisms are urgently needed to fast-track the implementation of responsibly planned REDD+ systems, Gichohi concluded.

Read the full article on http://blog.cifor.org.
For more information, go to www.un-redd.org.