Babarmahal, Kathmandu.
REDD is a climate change mitigation strategy aiming at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. It is an incentive mechanism for the developing countries to protect and manage the forest resources.
Read MoreREDD+ is a climate change mitigation solution developed by parties to the UNFCCC to incentivize developing countries to reduce emissions and enhance removals of green house gases. REDD+ refers to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, and also include the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
Read MoreNine direct drivers and 10 underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation are identified in Nepal. Direct drivers include unsustainable harvesting, forest fire, infrastructure development, over grazing, encroachment, expansion of invasive species, mining/excavation, weak law enforcement and urbanization/resettlement.
Read MoreUNFCCC defines the three phases of REDD+: Phase 1 – readiness, Phase 2 – demonstration phase and Phase 3 – result-based payments after the implementation of result-based actions.
Read MoreREDD+ readiness relates to the efforts a country is undertaking, with the support of multilateral or bilateral initiatives, to build its capacity to be ready for a REDD+
Read MoreFour main activities that needs to be finalized in the REDD+ readiness phase are: (1) National REDD+ strategy or action plan, (2) National forest monitoring system, (3) National safeguard information system, and (4) Forest reference level / forest reference emission level.
Read MoreNational REDD+ strategy of Nepal was approved by the Ministry of Forests and Environment on April 19, 2018.
Read MoreNational REDD+ strategy envisions to enhance carbon and non-carbon benefits of forest ecosystems for the prosperity of the people of Nepal.
Read MoreA three-tiered institutional mechanism has been established to oversee and implement REDD+ in Nepal. It includes: (1) Multi-sectoral national REDD+ steering committee (NRSC) under the chairmanship of the Minister for forests and environment, (2) multi-stakeholder national REDD+ coordination committee (NRCC) under the chairmanship of the Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Environment, and (3) REDD Implementation Centre (REDD IC) led by a Joint Secretary.
Read MoreMRV refers to measurement, reporting and verification of emission reductions and removals using standard methodologies. In Nepal, Forest Research and Training Centre (FRTC), a national authority mandated to conduct national forest survey and forest resource assessment in Nepal, is a national MRV agency for REDD+.
Read MoreForest reference levels (FRLs) apply only to activities for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, whereas FRLs apply also to “Plus” activities related to the conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement. FR(E)Ls are the benchmarks for assessing the performance of forest-related mitigation activities allowing countries to measure, report, and verify emission reductions and removals resulting from their mitigation efforts. Forest reference levels are expressed as tons of CO2 equivalent per year for a reference period against which the emissions and removals from a results period will be compared.
Nepal submitted national FRL to UNFCCC in 2017. It covers three activities: 1) reducing emissions from deforestation, 2) reducing emissions from forest degradation from fuel wood collection, and 3) enhancement of forest carbon stocks from afforestation and/or reforestation. The annual emissions due to deforestation and degradation due to unsustainable fuelwood extraction are estimated at 929,325 t CO2e and 408,500 tCO2e respectively. The annual removals from afforestation is estimated at -151,077 t CO2e in Nepal.
Read MoreERPA is a document in which the seller and the buyer agree on the commercial terms (e.g. contract volume, unit price, conditions of effectiveness, reporting period, advance payments, etc.) of the sale and payment for Emission Reductions to be generated and verified under an Emission Reductions Program. REDD+ country is a seller and FCPF/Carbon Fund is the Buyer. Nepal has made an ERPA with FCPF/Carbon Fund on 24 February 2021.
Read MoreNepal implements emission reduction program at the subnational level in 13 districts of the Tarai Arc Landscape. To pilot and demonstrate the emission reduction program in 13 districts, Nepal prepared Emission Reduction Program Idea Note (ER-PIN) in 2014 and later developed Emission Reduction Program Document (ER-PD) in 2018. The ER program covers an area of about 2 million hectares (ha), including 1.17 million ha of forests. It comprises 144 local jurisdictions (sub metropolitans, municipalities and rural municipalities).
Read MoreThe ER program aims to achieve an ER of around 34.2 MtCO2e in 10 years, starting from 2018 to 2028. Out of 34.2 MtCO2e, Nepal will generate and sell 9 million tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent to carbon fund between 2018 and 2024.
Read MoreAs part of REDD+ implementation, seven emission reduction program interventions are primarily carried out in 13 Tarai districts. These includes: 1) improve management practices on existing community and collaborative forests, 2) localize forest governance through transfer of national forests to community and collaborative forest user groups, 3) expand private sector forestry operations through improved access to extension services and finance, 4) expand access to alternative energy with biogas and improved cookstoves, 5) scale up pro-poor leasehold forestry, 6) improve integrated land use planning to reduce forest conversion associated with infrastructure development, and 7) improve management of existing protected areas.