The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has announced that Nigeria and 14 other ECOWAS members are to benefit from the $8 million five-year forest protection project.
The organization said that three agencies, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), FAO and ECOWAS had joined forces to protect West Africa’s forests to help safeguard the livelihoods of millions of people, who depend on them.
According to the FAO, the benefiting countries include Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ghana and other ECOWAS states
It explained that the three institutions would carry out the project aimed at strengthening sustainable forest, land management as well as address trans-boundary forest threats to maximize the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities.
Tiina Vahanen, FAO’s Chief of Forestry Policy and Resources Division, said the project would be key to the rolling out of the ECOWAS-led Convergence Plan for the Sustainable Management and Use of Forest Ecosystems in West Africa.
“The ECOWAS-led Convergence Plan was adopted in 2013 by ECOWAS. It seeks to mobilise support to address trans-boundary forest issues across the 15 member states.
He described the project as a concrete step towards improving the forest management in the region that would build on the momentum created in recent years to safeguard West Africa’s forests.
Mr. Ulla Andrén, Sida’s Head of Regional Development Cooperation in sub-Saharan Africa, said the project to be implemented by ECOWAS would be financed by Sida with over eight million dollars, while the FAO would give technical support.
He described the project as not only important for the people and governments of the region, but also crucial for the global effort to stop climate change and loss of bio-diversity.
GIK/APA