Madagascar receives 8.8 million dollars for carbon credits (…)

2023-12-06 07:30:00

The World Bank paid the fund towards reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Madagascar. This is a sum of 8.8 million dollars for the reduction of 1.76 million tonnes of carbon emissions in 2020. Thus, the Big Island becomes the third country in Africa (after Mozambique and Ghana) to be paid by the World Bank, therefore rewarded, as part of a program commonly called REDD+.

“This payment is the first in a series of three under the Emissions Reduction Payment Agreement (ERPA) with the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF),” the World Bank said in a statement. This is expected to unlock up to $50 million to reduce up to 10 million tonnes of CO2 emissions along the country’s rainforest-rich eastern coast by the end of 2024.

“We congratulate Madagascar for successfully completing all the necessary steps to receive the first ERPA payment, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration on climate action,” said Atou Seck, head of operations for the ERPA. World Bank in Madagascar.

Eastern Island forests provide ecosystem services critical to climate change mitigation and resilience, including biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, and drought and flood mitigation. This program helps protect the remaining forests that are inextricably linked to the well-being of many communities in this region and across the country.

Madagascar is one of the eight main global biodiversity hotspots and a priority conservation area due to the significant number of species threatened with extinction. Despite significant conservation efforts, the country’s eastern forest ecosystems are so fragmented and degraded that many native animal species have become extinct. The direct causes of deforestation in Madagascar are small-scale agriculture, energy production, artisanal and illegal mining, logging and livestock practices.

The emissions reduction program area covers 10% of Malagasy territory. It spans nearly 7 million hectares along the country’s eastern rainforest ecoregion, which is home to more than half of Madagascar’s biodiverse rainforests. The program builds on the country’s integrated landscape management approach to address the direct and indirect causes of deforestation and degradation and to protect important watersheds. It also strengthens conservation and community management of forests and builds on forest-friendly agroforestry value chains.