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Geneva - April 22, 2016 - The Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) MPTF and the Minister of Finance of the DR Congo signed a letter of intent (LOI) for US$200 million to address deforestation and forest degradation in the country and to promote sustainable development. The signature of the LOI coincides with the world leaders’ signing ceremony in New York for the historic climate agreement reached in Paris in December. April 22 is also International Mother Earth Day, with the 2016 global theme “Trees for the Earth.”
The LOI addresses agricultural expansion, the use of fuelwood, illegal logging, land-use planning, unsecure tenure, demographic pressure and oil and mining activities, and integrates the governance issues that often underpin these drivers. It exemplifies the partnerships needed to reach the ambitious climate change mitigation goals set out by the Paris Agreement, and is a further step in recognition of the 2014 NY Declaration on Forests. It is the first signed between the CAFI MPTF and a country of the Central Africa region, and the largest one ever concluded on REDD+ in Africa. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.
