Programme description

Title: Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: El Salvador
Lead executing agency: Comisión Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo (CCAD)
Overall term: 2010 to 2016

Context

Germany is assisting Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic to manage their natural resources. To help the countries of Central America to adapt better to the impacts of climate change, Germany has pledged its support for the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (Comisión Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo – CCAD).

Objective

In CCAD member states, conditions have improved for the effective implementation of sustainable compensation mechanisms to reduce CO₂ emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Approach

At the national level, the programme backs the implementation of measures designed to avoid forest degradation and promotes the development of REDD strategies and intersectoral policy dialogue. REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation. In regional terms, the programme supports the technical and political coordination processes between the eight countries of Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, in order to strengthen their regional position in international negotiations. The programme comprises three components with the following objectives:

• Intersectoral dialogue
  Policy coherence between sectors and levels (national, regional, international) is improved for the good of forest conservation.
• Sustainable compensation mechanisms
  Institutional and regulatory framework conditions are created in CCAD member countries to implement sustainable compensation mechanisms that reduce CO₂ emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. 
• Monitoring and reporting
  Decision-makers and institutions that are required to report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) have access to the data and material they need to monitor CO₂ emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

National level planning workshops were held for key actors from the eight countries involved, and operations got underway in November 2010. Collective steps to take for REDD in the region were agreed on at a synthesis workshop and presented by CCAD at the UN Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, in December 2010.

Further information

• Comisión Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo
  Central American Commission for Environment and Development
  http://www.sica.int/ccad/