IITA Cameroon hosts meeting of international organizations on REDD+ activities

Member institutions of the CCPM CCPM (Consultation Circle of Partners of Ministry of Forests and Wildlife and Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development) REDD+ came together in Cameroon on 10 March to identify bottlenecks, discuss best practices, and exchange knowledge on solutions and pathways for moving the REDD+ agenda forward.

The Sub-Group is made up of institutions working on REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation, including forest conservation, sustainable forest management and enhancement of forest carbon stocks) and related issues. The last CCPM REDD+ Sub-Group meeting was held in GIZ-ProPFE in July 2016. This meeting is the first for 2017 and was co-hosted by IITA and CIFOR.

Rachid Hanna, IITA Entomologist and Country Representative, welcomed participants and stressed the importance of the meeting in terms of networking and collaboration and the support to the REDD+ process in Cameroon. Denis Sonwa welcomed the participants on behalf of Richard Eba’a – CIFOR Yaoundé Office Team Leader.

The meeting was chaired by Sonwa and focused on issues such as the status of the REDD+ process in Cameroon and REDD+ initiatives, missions, and studies undertaken by partners.

On the first issue, participants reiterated the need for sectoral ministers such as on Agriculture to be involved in the process of REDD+, particularly in mobilizing the private sector.

On the second issue, IITA shared their ongoing activities around REDD+, the main one being cocoa intensification followed by support to some councils in planning for REDD+ in their localities.

Institutions represented at the meeting included IITA, CIFOR, ICRAF, Bioversity, CBI (UCLA-IITA), ZSL (Zoological Society of London), WWF, IUCN, Transparency international, GIZ ProPFE, USFS, JICA, and PNDP.