TerraFund for AFR100 Landscapes

TerraFund for AFR100 Landscapes:
How to Apply for Financing in 2023 

March 28
1:00 – 2:30 p.m. GMT | 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. CAT | 4:00 – 5:30pm EAT

TerraFund for AFR100 is launching its new application cycle on April 5, 2023.

After working with the Top 100 restoration champions across 27 African countries since 2021, the team is ready to invest in additional locally led non-profit organizations and for-profit enterprises.

Champions that restore land in three landscapes are eligible for this opportunity:

  • Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda
  • Ghana Cocoa Belt
  • Greater Rift Valley of Kenya

Expressions of interest for funding will be open on the TerraMatch platform from April 5, 2023 to May 5, 2023. Non-profit organizations can apply for grants and for-profit organizations for loans of $50,000 to $500,000 USD. A team of reviewers will select the top-scoring groups to submit more detailed applications.

We are pleased to invite you to a preview webinar in English to unpack the details of how to apply for this unique opportunity.

Please join World Resources Institute, One Tree Planted, and Realize Impact to learn which geographic areas are eligible for investment, how you can access the TerraMatch application platform, how the program monitors, reports, and verifies progress, and when you can expect final funding decisions. Attendees will be invited to ask written questions, which a team of experts will address in real time.


Array ( [0] => Africa/Nairobi )

5th International Congress on Planted Forests: 2023

International Congress on Planted Forests 2023 : planted forests, an essential nature-based solution to meet growing needs in wood products, restore forest ecosystems, and mitigate climate change

Global context

With a world population projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050 – an increase of nearly 30 percent from today’s 7.6 billion [1] – needs for food, fuel, fiber and other bio-based products and services will rise sharply. Demand for forest-based biomass will increase, driven by construction and packaging, and wood fuel will remain the main energy source for many households in emerging economies.

At the same time, climate change, ecosystem degradation and their impacts call for deep changes in our global production and consumption patterns. Societies are engaging in the decarbonization of their economies and the restoration of their environment – with a prominent role for nature-based solutions. Forests and trees are an essential nature-based solution to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral economy by providing opportunities for substituting fossil carbon based and greenhouse gas-intensive products with renewable forest-based products [2].

However, this demand for wood products will have to be met in a context of decreasing forest area, with 420 million hectares of forest lost to deforestation over the past 30 years, mainly in tropical countries (1990 to 2020) [3]. Meeting the rising demand for wood products in a sustainable manner will require a series of complementary actions along the value wood chain. However, these changes will not be sufficient if wood production itself does not increase. Planted forests, defined as forests that at maturity are predominantly composed of trees established through planting and/or deliberate seeding [4] only represent 7 percent of the global forest area [5].

Plantations [6], which make up less than half of the total planted forest area [7], produced in 2012 about 35 percent of the world’s total roundwood [8]. Planted forests hold  untapped potential to fulfill future needs in wood products, while mitigating climate change and restoring degraded forest ecosystems. They should become a more important component of sustainably managed and well-developed forest sectors for socio-economic development and environmental protection

This fifth International Congress on Planted Forests will be the opportunity to review and discuss challenges and opportunities in harnessing the potential of planted forests to meet growing human needs, restore forest ecosystems, and mitigate climate change.

You will have the opportunity to participate to NGP first study tour in Kenya:” Public Private Partnership’s, private investment in sustainable forestry, timber processing More information

 

Why ICPF2023 in Africa?

The size of the challenges and opportunities for planted forests are even greater in Africa.

Between 2017 and 2050, 26 African countries are projected to at least double their current population size[9]. The African urban population could grow from 500 million to 1 billion in 2040 [10] with needs in wood for construction and energy increasing sharply. To meet additional fuelwood requirements by 2050 in Sub-Saharan Africa, a mix of agroforestry and energy woodlots with a total area of 21 to 31 million ha would be required [11]. Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to see substantial increase in housing requirements until 2050, with estimated consumption volumes of sawn wood, plywood and veneer increased by 32%[12].

Africa Vision 2063 is that, by that time, Africa will be a prosperous continent with the means to drive its own development through the sustainable, long-term stewardship of its natural resources[13], including forests. However, the high rate of population growth, coupled with a strong dependence on natural resources, especially to meet energy needs, will make it more difficult than ever to meet the growing demand in wood and wood products from a sustainably managed resource.

Simultaneously, the regional momentum for restoration of degraded forests and landscapes, embedded in the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI), and other national commitments provides major opportunities for restoring degraded landscapes while satisfying people’s needs and improving livelihoods through planted forests, small stands and woodlots, as well as agroforestry systems.

Of the total 624 million of ha under forests in Africa, 16 million ha (about 2.5%) are considered as planted forests. In addition, 4 710 million trees are found outside of forests, including in woodlots, parks, hedgerows, fruit trees, trees growing in fields…[14]. There are many opportunities to expand the area of planted forests  and to increase the productivity of existing planted forests.

Array ( [0] => Africa/Nairobi )

The Third Mountain Futures Conference

Mountain Communities in the Kunming- Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Mountain Futures is a global initiative, which aims to promote the well-being of people in the mountains, enhance the diversity, stability and sustainability of ecosystems, and construct and share green mountain development solutions.

The United Nations declared 2022 the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development to increase awareness of the importance of sustainable mountain development, and the conservation and sustainable use of mountain ecosystems. To that end, the third Mountain Futures Conference will revolve around the core values and concepts of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity –  Ecological Civilization: Building a Community of Life on Earth.

The conference will focus on four thematic areas of scientific exploration, ecological restoration, indigenous wisdom, and future living. The agenda will include a visit to an ecological site, art exhibition and poster exhibition.

Chinese and English simultaneous interpretation will be available for both onsite and online participants.

Mountain Futures is led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and is jointly sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Mountain Partnership, the World Agroforestry (ICRAF) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). The first and the second Mountain Futures Conferences were held in March 2016 and June 2018, respectively.

 

Event website

Array ( [0] => Asia/Shanghai )