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FAO and the government of Equatorial Guinea have launched the project “Enhancing Equatorial Guinea's institutional and technical capacity in the agriculture, forestry and other land-use sector for enhanced transparency under the Paris Agreement.”

2 June, 2021, Bata- Each year, the World Environment Day is commemorated around the world on the 5th of June. This year, to celebrate the occasion, under the global theme “Restoration of Ecosystems,” the project “Enhancing Equatorial Guinea's institutional and technical capacity in the agriculture, forestry and other land-use sector for enhanced transparency under the Paris Agreement” launched in Bata.

This project has been funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), with a total of USD 1 400 138 to support the country in the sustainable management of Equatorial Guinea’s forests. The purpose of this project is to strengthen technical and institutional capacities and techniques in the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector to respond to the requirement to improve the transparency of the Paris Agreement, aligned with national priorities.

Globally, Equatorial Guinea ranks second in the amount of total forest cover, which is equivalent to 93 percent of the total national area. In compliance with the commitments of the Paris Agreement, the country wishes to advance the implementation of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and increase the transparency of its reports under the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF).

The Delegate Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Forests and the Environment, Miguel Mba Nzang Mikue, clarified that it is indeed necessary to strengthen the institutional and technical capacity to control levels of deforestation and land degradation in Equatorial Guinea, so that the government can make consistent decisions regarding the use and management of forests.

The main objective of GEF is to contribute to the protection of the global environment and promote environmentally sustainable development. It has the mission of transforming successful nationwide projects into initiatives that provide global environmental benefits.

In line with national priorities, this project will strengthen institutional and technical capacities in the AFOLU sector to respond to the requirements of the enhanced transparency of the Paris Agreement, for means of formalizing institutional structures and arrangements to integrate and plan activities related to transparency in the AFOLU sector and through the establishment of processes to generate quality data to inform and make decisions that improve forest management and increase transparency. As well, the project will enable the development of a documentation archiving and dissemination system for the AFOLU sector and exchanges of experiences and South-South Cooperation. All of these actions are strongly support by the development and strengthening of national capacities through training- many of them learning-by-doing- and by promoting the participation and incorporation of women, as well as institutionalization of processes in order to generate data and reports.

“The project that is starting today will contribute to monitoring in a transparent way and to technical information that will ensure that commitments acquired by Equatorial Guinea are being fulfilled effectively. It is aligned with the cooperation objectives agreed on by the country, in the framework of the UNDAF, regarding the use and management of natural resources in contribution to the fight against climate change,” said Fátima Espinal Mercedes, FAO representative.

FAO will be the implementing agency for the GEF, with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Environment (Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería, Bosques y Medio Ambiente, MAGBOMA) as a partner in the execution of this project, through the National Institute of Conservation of the Environment (Instituto Nacional de Conservación del Medio Ambiente, INCOMA), whose director is the focal point of the GEF in Equatorial Guinea, and the Institute for Forest Development and Management of the Protected Areas System (Instituto de Desarrollo Forestal y Gestión del Sistema de Áreas Protegidas, INDEFOR-AP).

They will act in close coordination with the General Directorate of Environmental Conservation, also MAGBOMA, and the Ministry of Finance, Economy and Planning. INCOMA and INDEFOR-AP will have technical responsibility and overall project execution, and FAO will provide technical oversight as a GEF Agency. Other institutions will also be important partners for implementation, including national, academic and non-governmental organizations.

This project will benefit the global products and activities developed under the FAO/GEF project, “Building global capacity to increase transparency in the forest sector (CBIT-Forest). Additionally, it will deepen the knowledge of the forestry sector to support its management, improve the inventory data and report on the commitments of Nationally Determined Contributions.

Contact:

Maribel Ibule Djole

Communications Consultant,

FAO Equatorial Guinea

FAO webpage:

http://fao.org/guinea-ecuatorial/es/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/FAOGuineaEcua

Related links:

• CBIT Platform- Equatorial Guinea: https://www.cbitplatform.org/projects/enhancing-equatorial-guineas-institutional-and-technical-capacity-agriculture-forestry-and
• CBIT-Forest website: http://www.fao.org/in-action/boosting-transparency-forest-data/en/