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Resilience in a Nutshell: How forest restoration enhances opportunities for women she producers in Northern Ghana


An estimated sixteen million women across 21 African countries, from Senegal to South Sudan, depend on the shea tree for their livelihood. 

Income from shea, also dubbed “women’s gold”, represents on average up to 12 percent of the total income and up to 32 percent of the cash at the household level. Since rural women in Ghana are less likely to engage in wage employment than men, the shea business is one of the few ways women can have financial autonomy.


Find out more about how the Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project is working to mitigate climate change in the region by addressing challenges to shea production including commercial agriculture and logging. 

Harvesting Hope: How Ecuador is pioneering deforestation-free production chains to conserve the Amazon


The area surrounding the Yacuambi river basin located in the southern Ecuadorian province of Zamora-Chinchipe harbors some of the last remnants of primary forest between the Andes and the Amazon.

Nestled in these tropical foothills of the Amazonian cloud forests, Nora Ramón manages a cooperative called APEOSAE (Small organic agricultural exporters of the Southern Ecuadorian Amazon) which represents about 200 local farmers who mainly cultivate organic coffee, cocoa and plantain.

Learn about the efforts by local farmers and Indigenous communities to conserve this precious forest area and create deforestation-free value chains for sustainable agricultural production.

President Biden's Leaders Summit on Climate

 
This Earth Day, April 22, President Biden kicked off the Leaders Summit on Climate by committing to cut US emissions 50% to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030. The US also committed to increase climate finance to developing countries and pledged to double climate finance and triple adaptation finance by 2024. Other notable announcements on emissions reductions were made by Japan, Canada, China, the Republic of Korea, Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa. The official Summit factsheet with full list of outcomes can be found here.
 
A specific session on nature-based solutions, hosted by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, emphasised the importance of stopping deforestation, as a core component of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.  Peru, Costa Rica, Ghana, and Indonesia gave examples of forest management and protection as part of their countries’ natural climate solutions, and the contributions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities were recognised as key to implementing nature-based climate solutions, including participation from NYDF endorser COICA and representatives of the Global Alliance for Territorial Communities

Among the many commitments and ambitions announced at the Summit, the LEAF Coalition was also announced. See the section below for more details.

Announcement of the New LEAF Coalition


Also on Earth Day, a group of governments and companies announced the LEAF Coalition, an ambitious new public-private initiative designed to accelerate climate action by providing results-based finance to countries committed to protecting their tropical forests. This initiative aims to mobilize at least $1 billion in financing, kicking off what is expected to become one of the largest public-private efforts to help protect tropical forests, to the benefit of billions of people depending on them, and to support sustainable development. Initiatives like LEAF can help accelerate progress towards meeting NYDF Goal 9 - to scale up REDD+ and reward countries and jurisdictions for reducing forest emissions.

The Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF) Coalition has initial participation from the governments of Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, and companies including Amazon, Airbnb, Bayer, Boston Consulting Group, GSK, McKinsey, Nestlé, Salesforce, and Unilever. Participants in the Coalition will support high-quality emissions reductions from tropical and subtropical forest countries, enabling efforts to reduce and end deforestation. Emergent, a US non-profit organisation, will provide a platform to facilitate transactions and serve as the administrative coordinator of LEAF.

Dominican Republic Announces Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreement with FCPF

The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility ERPA with the Dominican Republic was announced this month, unlocking funding from the Carbon Fund for verified emission reductions. This marks 14 FCPF countries that now have ERPAs signed with the World Bank. Read more about the Dominican Republic program in this press release.

One World Award points to biodiversity rich management for soils and forests: Sierra Gorda Mexico 

Grupo Ecológico is recognized for its bottom-up approach to achieving mindful tourism, environmental education, transferring lessons learned and best practices in nature based solutions and regenerative agriculture, organizing rural women entrepreneurs and building up local skillsets, and overall demonstrating the difference between conventional degenerative resource exploitation and the prosperity (cultural and economic) of biodiversity-rich management.

Strengthening conservation and restoration through the Species Threat Abatement and Recovery Metric (IUCN)

A new tool – the Species Threat Abatement and Recovery metric – promises to help practitioners assess the potential for conserving threatened biodiversity, and set site scale or landscape scale targets compatible with the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Strategy. 

Blockchain for forest landscape restoration: FLR chain marries two brilliant concepts (IUCN)

IUCN has teamed up with Gaiachain to develop FLRchain – a blockchain-based application to follow forest landscape restoration implementation through a verifiable ledger system that traces transactions from funding source to farmer. 

Barking Up the Rite Tree (BURT)

BURT, a new education resource, takes a livelihood approach to help society in meeting the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030.

Command and control policies alone won't save the Amazon: Q&A with Mato Grasso Leadership

The Brazilian state of Mato Grosso has achieved a 34% reduction in deforestation since August 2020 compared to the same period a year earlier. State Secretary of the Environment, Mauren Lazzaretti, spoke with EII Executive Director Dan Nepstad about her work, her vision for the state, and the upcoming COP26 climate summit.

New 'Green Jurisdictions Database' tracks progress towards forest-friendly development in the tropics

The Earth Innovation Institute launched the Green Jurisdictions Database, a new tool designed to support states and provinces in tropical forest regions that are moving towards forest-friendly development.

Cocoa Agroforestry Library

The new Cocoa Agroforestry Library brings together and categorizes all available scientific literature on cocoa agroforestry to support sustainable cocoa implementation and research, and is easily searchable by region, country and topic. This new tool provides stakeholders with access to comprehensive research on cocoa agroforestry and the ability to make decisions based on the best available science.

Ramin Tree Seedlings - A Hope For Conservation

Ramin (Gonystylus bancanus) is a threatened species due to overexploitation for commercial purposes, deforestation, habitat degradation and forest conversion. In response, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) Sinar Mas with the Center for Forest Biotechnology and Tree Improvement Research under the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry are collaborating to develop a Ramin research center to conserve the species. 

NICFI Satellite Data Program Level 2 Access - Call for Proposals 

by Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT)

Taking Root: Embarking on the Forest Positive Journey 

by Consumer Goods Forum

Forests Are Not Empty Spaces: To Save the Climate, Recognize Our Land Rights

by The Global Alliance for Territorial Communities

MapHubs launches Palmoil.io- a new palm oil monitoring service 

by MapHubs

Indigenous Peoples forests governance: a fundamental strategy in preserving forests and reducing carbon emissions 

by The Land Portal Foundation 

GPS supported, community-based forest crime prevention in the Brazilian Amazon 

by Tim Boekhout van Solinge, Consultant and (Forest/Wildlife) Criminologist

The Proven but Hidden Climate Solution | Opinion

by Bruce Babbitt and Tuntiak Katan, Newsweek

Ensuring supply chains are deforestation-free is still a priority.
This is why.

by World Economic Forum

Upcoming Events

  • Happening Now! Sweet Sustainability: Agroforestry Advantages (18 - 20 May): This three-day conference is bringing together leaders in science, industry, advocacy, and policy to break down the science behind cocoa production practices that benefits forests and farmers.  
  • UNFCCC Regional Climate Weeks (May - July 2021): The Regional Climate Weeks build momentum towards success at COP26. The Virtual Thematic Sessions take the pulse of climate action in the regions, explore climate challenges and opportunities, and showcase ambitious solutions. This is a platform for regional stakeholders to have their voice heard and contribute to COP26. The Latin America and Caribbean session was hosted on 11-14 May, while Asia Pacific and Africa's sessions will be held in July.
  • Launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (18 May - 7 June 2021): The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. It can help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent a mass extinction. Find out more about upcoming events occurring between now and June here.
  • London Climate Action Week (26 June - 4 July 2021)London Climate Action week is harnessing the power of London for global climate action. LCAW is an annual event bringing together world-leading climate professionals and communities across London and beyond to find practical solutions to climate change. Learn more about events during this week here!

Past Events

  • Webinar: Access High Resolution Satellite Data to Tackle Tropical Deforestation: The GEO Secretariat teamed up with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) and partners, Planet and Airbus, to present Norway’s International Climate & Forests Initiative (NICFI) satellite data over tropical forest regions. This program provides access to high resolution satellite data, removing the barriers of licensing and cost that traditionally prohibited many users. 
  • Amazon Climate Forum: This program shared President Biden and Vice President Harris' action plan to address their climate commitments and Amazon Rainforest protection pledge. The 16 priority actions were distilled by Amazon leaders and experts including Indigenous peoples and organizations, a broad range of NGOs, scientists, artists, and influencers as effective ways to meet the needs of the urgent situation in the Amazon Rainforest.
The New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF) outlines ten ambitious global targets to protect and restore forests and end natural forest loss by 2030. The NYDF is endorsed by 200 governments, companies, NGOs, and indigenous peoples organizations. The Global Platform for the New York Declaration on Forests (“NYDF Global Platform”) was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in November 2017 and is dedicated to supporting and accelerating achievement of the global goals expressed in the New York Declaration on Forests. Click here to view the declaration.
This newsletter is not an endorsement of the organizations featured but intends to provide relevant stories, news, events, and updates to the NYDF community.
NYDF Global Platform
Contact us: nydf@undp.org
United Nations Development Programme
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New York, NY 10017


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