Outline of the Project

Project Name

Project for Sustainable Forest Management and REDD+

Country

Mozambique

Date R/D Signed

December 14, 2018

Project Site

National (Output 1), Niassa (Output 2)

Term of Cooperation

Apr. 8, 2019 to Apr. 7, 2024

Implementing Organization

Ministry of Land and Environment (MTA)

Background

The Republic of Mozambique has approximately 38 million hectares of forest which accounts for 48% of the national land. The country is losing 220,000 hectares of forest every year. The main reasons for deforestation include mining development, excessive use of slash and burn areas and wood and charcoal extraction, conversion of land to agricultural use, illegal logging, and forest fires, etc. The underlying factors are considered to be the high dependence of rural residents on forest resources and weak governance of forest administration.

Since 2012, the Government of Mozambique has been promoting REDD+ efforts with the support from international organizations and donor agencies such as the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Fund (FCPF) REDD Readiness Plan.

The Nationally Determined Contributions of Mozambique which submitted to (UNFCCC) in October 2015 has declared to reduce 76.5 million t/CO2 for the reduction of greenhouse gases and is located as a countermeasure of the mitigation on climate change. The Government of Mozambique has established the National REDD+ Strategy to achieve sustainable economic growth and forest conservation through REDD+ initiatives.

Since 2010, the Government of Japan has been supporting the implementation of forest conversation through REDD+ in Mozambique by dispatching policy advisors, providing equipment, technical cooperation, and capacity building.

Through these international supports, including the Government of Japan in the forest sector, the Ministry of Land and Environment of Mozambique is strengthening its capacity to promote sustainable forest management and REDD+ in Mozambique. More support is needed in terms of policy, technology, and capacity development for MTA and the local government organizations, which have limited staff and budget to implement REDD+ initiatives and forest management through REDD+ to meet the international standards.

Therefore, the Government of Mozambique has requested the Government of Japan to cooperate in controlling the deforestation at the sub-national level and structuring and operating the National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) at the national level by practicing and developing the Forest Resource Information Platform in order to achieve the NDC goals, sustainable forest management and forest conservation.

The Overall Goal

Sustainable forest management and REDD+ are promoted through the operationalization of the National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) in Mozambique, and sustainable forest management including through REDD+ in Niassa is promoted.

Project Purpose

The capacity of MTA and Niassa Province is strengthened for implementing sustainable forest management and REDD+.

Output

Output 1
National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) is operational for REDD+ and sustainable forest management (SFM).

Output 2
Provincial planning process for sustainable forest management including REDD+ and its implementation exercise are promoted.

Project Activities

1-1	Establish an institutional coordination mechanism and operate it to ensure effective implementation of NFMS.
1-2	Define NFMS of Mozambique, which is to be a single, robust, transparent and country-specific system, by documenting its purposes, timeline, technical details and other necessary items.
1-3	Finalize Operational Manuals on each element of NFMS for REDD+ and SFM (e.g. remote sensing, forest resource inventory, carbon stock calculation, etc.)
1-4	Incorporate an annual deforestation monitoring function using radar images and early warning systems (JJ-FAST, Global Forest Watch etc.) into NFMS.
1-5	Strengthen the Forest Resource Information Platform (FRIP), which functions as the database of NFMS, for managing, producing, storing and sharing data and information on REDD+ and SFM.
1-6	Reflect findings from ground activities for REDD+ and SFM in Niassa Province (through Output 2) to NFMS to evaluate the effectiveness of measures for deforestation drivers.
1-7	Incorporate findings mentioned in 1-6 into relevant policies and plans, and seek financial opportunities (e.g. GCF, FIP, GEF, the private sector etc.) to implement it.
1-8	Design and implement a plan for adequacy and capacity development specific to NFMS for promoting REDD+ and SFM.
1-9	Estimate annual emission reduction in Niassa Province and Niassa National Reserve (NNR)

2-1	Consultation among stakeholders for developing a provincial forest management plan
2-2	Draft a provincial forest management plan (e.g. Assess available forest resource, concession management process, participatory forest management, forest inventory, etc.)"
2-3	Validate a draft provincial forest management plan
2-4	Reflect the management plan into relevant national / sub-national policies and plans (e.g. National Forest Program (NFP))
2-5	Seek financial opportunities (e.g. GCF, FIP, GEF, the private sector etc.) to accelerate to implement the management plan and to develop its plans for other 9 Provinces.
2-6	Strengthening the capacities of provincial officers on forest management
2-7	Identify prioritized activities in the developed province forest management plan and exercise it.

Inputs
[Japanese side]

Experts (Short-term) : (1) Chief Advisor/Forest and Climate Change Policy, (2) Deputy Chief Advisor/National Forest Monitoring System, (3) National Forest Monitoring System, (4) REDD+/Fund Mobilization, (5) Regional Forest Management Plan, (6) Regional Forest Management Plan/Forest Management, (7) REDD+ Pilot/Safeguard, (8) Coordinator

Training : Counterpart training in Japan (Forest Management Plan and Management Technologies)

Provision of equipment: vehicle, motorcycles, mountain bikes, computers, GPS device, etc.

Inputs
[Mozambique side]

Project Counterpart (CP) Assignment :
Project Dierector, Project Manager, Field Director, Field Manager,
C/Ps at central level (Department of Forest Resource Inventory, Department of Forest Management, Department of Community Management for Forest Resources,and Department of Legislation and Control of MTA
C/Ps at provincial level from SPA and DPDTA of Niassa province

Provision of facilities : Office space for JICA experts, etc.

Local expenses : Administrative and activity expenses