Combating climate change:
UN aid to protect Sri Lankan forest cover
The Department of Forests under the Ministry of Environment, with the
support of FAO, UNDP and UNEP, took steps towards making forests a major
part of Sri Lanka's strategy to combat climate change through the United
Nations UN-REDD programme which assists developing countries to prepare
and implement their national REDD+ strategies and mechanisms to improve
forest governance.
Deforestation and forest degradation are part of the main sources of
the release of Green House Gases (GHG) into the atmosphere and climate
change. The United Nations UN-REDD programme is a collaborative
initiative to prepare countries to participate in the global programmes
on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).
UNREDD builds on the convening power and expertise of the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP).
The Ministry of Environment in collaboration with FAO, UNDP and UNEP
has already taken steps to formulate a proposal to obtain support
through the UN-REDD+ programme.
A consultation workshop was organized on January 12, where key
stakeholders were consulted as part of the process of developing UN-REDD
programme proposal. A national REDD Task force and Technical Working
Groups will be formed, to implement the activities further.
Over 50 forestry experts and stakeholders met to validate the Sri
Lanka proposal to UN-REDD which will provide FAO, UNDP and UNEP
assistance to prepare Sri Lanka to participate in the global REDD
programmes that also include receiving funds to the forestry sector.
Conservation of forest biodiversity is of a special relevance to Sri
Lanka.
The forests contain most of the biodiversity but is put at risk by
continuous deforestation and forest degradation. |