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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized a closing workshop that brought together the forest and agriculture experts, virtually from FAO headquarters in Italy, FAO Regional Office in Cairo, Egypt and in Khartoum, Sudan, to close the project “Support for the design of the MRV System in the framework of REDD+.” Key stakeholder and policy makers from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Forests National Corporation, Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources, the Ministries of Livestock, Energy and Finance, and Economic Planning, Central Bureau of Statistics, Remote Sensing Authority, Agricultural Research Corporation, and the National Research Centre, attended the workshop, which looked at key achievements of the project and outlined future plans for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). 

This event was designed to share the project’s deliverables with all relevant stakeholders, as well as help prepare Sudan to adopt Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programs following the readiness stage. As such, important information produced by the project was disseminated, including on the status and evolution of forest cover in Sudan. The closing workshop also highlighted the role of decision makers and institutions involved in REDD+, as well as the use of forest data to inform planning and decision making.

“As all have mentioned negatively and deteriorated situation in Sudan and effort is done by people, organizations related to improvement of environment is highly appreciated what you are doing here is coming as a top priority and a basic requirement for Sudan to contribute positively to the world in a matter of improvement as far as environment concern and livelihood concern”, said Altahir Harbi, Minister of Agriculture and Forests.

From the inception of the project, FAO supported Sudan in its REDD+. A country where forests play a key environmental role, Sudan can benefit greatly from REDD+ activities. 

“Forests are more than just trees and are fundamental for food security and improved livelihoods. When managed sustainably, forests can increase the resilience of communities by providing fundamental economic, social and environmental services”, said Babagana Ahmadu, FAO representative in Sudan.

However, Sudan continues to experience forest loss driven by forest conversion for agriculture, fuelwood harvesting, and fire. FAO’s Forest Resources Assessment Report of 2020 estimated that the country experienced 175 000 ha/year of forest loss in the past two decades alone.

The continued destruction of these vital ecosystems prompted the creation of this project, led by Sudan’s Forests National Corporation and the Sudanese Remote Sensing Authority. With technical support from FAO and funding from the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, under this project, the design and implementation of the Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system covered several key aspects: (1) implementation of a national forest inventory (NFI); (2) development of a satellite land monitoring system (SLMS); (3) strengthening of national government institutions and the institutionalization of the MRV system; (4) development of Forest Reference Emission Level; and (5) strengthening of Green House Gas (GHG) inventory and reporting process for the Agriculture, Forest and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector.  

"We are pleased with the successful outcomes of this project which saw the involvement of several experts from the FAO's National Forest Monitoring Team working hand-in-hand with country counterparts. Sudan is another positive experience of our support and collaboration on forest monitoring and REDD+ in the region".

Since its inception, the project has successfully produced a number of key achievements. This year, the country finalized its National Forest Inventory (NFI), which reports on the status of forests and provides data in the context of REDD+. The NFI is an important step towards sustainable forest monitoring and can inform forest-positive policy. 

“This project has established a grid of permanent sample plots, geo-referenced, that can be re-visited in future inventories.  The new capacities generated at country level constitute an asset which should be maintained and renewed with new generations of foresters”, said Marco Piazza, FAO Forestry Officer.

Furthermore, Sudan developed its 2020 National Land Cover Map, which will be essential to the development of the country’s national forest monitoring system (SNFMS) and the implementation of the REDD+ framework. 

“The 2020 Sudan landcover map is a major achievement for the MRV system it covered the whole country wall to wall coverage, that cover the whole country and it translate the land cover categories into saving attributes agriculture and other forestry, the importance of that is now we know add as a country or as states or as ecological reason reuse what we have in terms of forest and in terms of agriculture”, said Essam Warrag, FAO’s Sudan technical advisor.

From a regional perspective, Sudan is first country to impellent a comprehensive REDD+ Readiness programme. The support provided by FAO to country has resulted in production of milestone products and baseline information that will influence the future development of the forest sector in Sudan. The strong capacity development work associated with the FAO MRV project, which created a wide range of expertise, is another asset to the country. It could also be a possible source for other countries of the Near East and North Africa region to tap from when needed, said Abdel Hamied Adam Hamid, Senior Forestry Officer at FAO Regional Office for the Near Esat. 

As Sudan establishes its SNFMS, the country will employ an SLMS to monitor forest dynamics and combat deforestation. The SNFMS will also allow Sudan to account for national greenhouse gas emissions from the forestry sector.  The SLMS, together with the NFI and the national greenhouse gas inventory (GHGI), create the three pillars of the country’s REDD+ monitoring, reporting and verification system. The GHGI boosts Sudan’s climate actions, as it supports the country’s obligations under the Enhanced Transparency Framework of the Paris Agreement. 

The project in Sudan has also enabled the country to produce its first sub-national Forest Reference Level (FRL) submitted to the UNFCCC, which must be completed as countries prepare and implement nationally determined contributions (NDCs). The FRL is also used for technical assessment in the context of results-based payments for REDD+ actions, which incentivize countries to step up climate change mitigation efforts. 

More of the project’s successes came in the form of the “Fire Management Strategy Framework” and the “Desertification Monitoring System.” Wildfires are a major cause of deforestation and degradation in the Sudan, and creation of the Fire Management Strategy Framework will promote more sustainable fire management in the country. Similarly, desertification has devastating consequences for forest health, climate change and livelihoods. The Monitoring Desertification System will enable early detection of drought and land degradation- both causes of desertification- and will improve sustainable land management and planning. 

“FAO has been our key partner in providing leadership and continuous support to the government of Sudan to fill major gaps critical to manage its national resource (forest assets) we would like to express our gratitude for the great work that the FAO has been doing under the REDD+ project and we will work and cooperate with the FAO for all of our collaborations and programs”, expressed Mohamed Osman World Bank representative.

Forests and land monitoring systems enable sustainable management of land and natural resources. Monitoring systems are so effective because of their ability to collect and analyze accurate and up-to-date data. FAO’s SEPAL platform was used throughout the project in Sudan. SEPAL provides users with free access to satellite data and big-data processing capabilities. With this remote sensing technology, Sudan has been able to estimate the status of its forests, review, and analyze fire sources, drivers and risk factors. 

Finally, the project facilitated a series of consultation and capacity building events and activities. Attended by project stakeholders and representatives from the private sector, NGOs and academia, these events brought together experts to identify Sudan’s institutional capacity needs to meet international reporting obligations. It also prompted knowledge sharing, as participants described experiences related to NFI implementation, forest data strategies and sustainability. The project highlighted the importance of including local communities, groups and indigenous peoples in discussions of forest monitoring and management. Local communities especially play an important role in managing the forests they depend on for livelihoods. 

Despite the close of the Sudan project this year, the country will continue to move forward with its REDD+ efforts. In particular, Sudan will use the many achievements described here to enhance climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, implement sustainable land use planning and management, and inform effective forest and agriculture policies. The readiness phase is just the beginning of Sudan’s REDD+ journey. 

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Amani HagAlBashir at [email protected]

Maryia Kukharava at [email protected]