BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE
SOLOMON Islands has developed and endorsed a National REDD+ Readiness Roadmap 2014-2020.
This is according to a UNDP report titled “Proposed best practices, financial and economic instruments to implement the REDD+ Readiness Roadmap in the Solomon Islands”.
REDD+ is a strategy that was developed by partners of UNFCCC’s (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) as mitigation commitments. It is also an international policy intended to channel funding from public and private sources to reduce emissions from forest sectors, especially in developing countries.
Henceforth, under the IGECIDDM (Integrating Global Environment Commitments in Investment and Development Decision Making) project, the Solomon Islands government through MECDM, MoFR and MAL ministries is working with UNDP to implement the roadmap.
The report expressed that there are three main activities for REDD+ Readiness in the Solomon Islands REDD+ Readiness Roadmap however is in need of amending of legislation to be formalized.
Additionally, the three elements are the formulation of a national strategy, set up of a MRV system with a National Monitoring System along with the establishment of a Forest Reference Level (FRL) or Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL) with the third element being the establishment of social and environmental safeguards, possibly in the context of a safeguard information system.
UNDP stated that each of the elements could attract different types of additional co-financing in the sense that the formulation of a national strategy could align with a general update of the country’s forestry management policies, strategies and action plans.
“Often substantial amounts of funding are made available for forestry management plans”, said UNDP.
In the case of social safeguards, the report mentioned that it can be linked to other efforts to support indigenous groups as well as in facilitating their participation in consulting processes.
