A one-day Steering Committee Meeting took place in Dakar, Senegal on 25 September to discuss the activities under the project “Global transformation of forests for people and climate: A focus on West Africa”. Supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the five-year project aims at protecting West Africa's forests and safeguarding the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on them.   Held on the premises of FAO Subregional Office for West Africa, the meeting gathered the representatives from the three organization...

For the first time, the UN-REDD Programme is launching an Annual Report website. The website presents the results of the UN-REDD Programme between January and December 2018, in the context of the considerable cumulative accomplishments of its partner countries over the past decade. With partner countries making progress on REDD+ readiness, the UN-REDD Programme has increasingly focused on responding to country demands and needs for technical assistance in implementing REDD+ and supporting commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. As of December 2018, the UN-REDD Programme had enabled 65 partner countries across Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the...

Scenes of flooding and storms can show us just how much weather and climate affects our lives. Climate change threatens our ability to ensure global food security, eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. The global response to climate change today will determine how we feed future generations tomorrow. To combat climate change and its impacts, the Paris Agreement was signed by 195 countries representing their commitment to limit the rise of the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius. To reach this goal, each country has developed individual climate commitments, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). But how can countries...

As Colombia steps up its efforts to fulfill commitments made under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and Agenda 2030, the cross-cutting theme of improved forest governance is at the centre of its efforts to halt deforestation and forest degradation as well as action to achieve Nationally Determined Contributions and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recognizing forests as important components in strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change, the international community agreed on various processes designed to address problems of deforestation and forest degradation. Two of the most well-known initiatives are reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and fostering...

“Forests give us medicine, good air and rainfall, all things that are very important for us. We are helping to conserve the forest by talking to our communities and telling them about the importance of forests and why they should replant and restore them.” Noar Natolo and Scovia Bulyaba are carpet weavers and members of the Nagoje community living in the Mabira forest of Uganda. To supplement their income, they collect palm leaves from the forest and weave carpets that are later dyed with local products. The forest that supplies these women with palm leaves, also provides them with water, medicine and...