The launch of the African land restoration initiative AFR100 during the 2015 Global Landscapes Forum has been covered by international media such as the New York Times and The Guardian.
Under the headline At Climate Talks, African Nations Pledge to Restore Forests the New York Times (Associated Press) takes a look at the launch of an African land restoration initiative at the 2015 Global Landscapes Forum:
The AFR100 initiative is a pledge by African nations to restore 100 million hectares (about 386,000 square miles) of forest by 2030, (…)
“As the world forges a climate agreement in Paris, African countries — which bear the least historic responsibility for climate change — are showing leadership with ambitious pledges to restore land,” said Andrew Steer, president and CEO of the World Resources Institute.
Wanjira Mathai, daughter of the late Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, described the AFR100 forest restoration project as unprecedented. (…)
During the Global Landscapes Forum at the U.N. climate talks, the World Bank and the German government and other partners, set aside more than $1 billion in development funding and $540 million in private funding for the African reforestation.
The AP article was also picked up by the Jakarta Post.
African forestry scheme aims to build prosperity by restoring landscape, wrote The Guardian on Sunday.
More than a dozen African countries have joined an “unprecedented” $1.6bn (£1bn) initiative to boost development and fight climate change by restoring 100m hectares (247m acres) of forest across the continent over the next 15 years.
The African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative – known as AFR100 – was launched on Sunday at a Global Landscapes Forum meeting during the Paris climate change conference.
It will be underpinned by a $1bn investment from the World Bank in 14 African countries over the next 15 years and by $600m of private sector investment over the same period.
The AFR100 initiative was launched on Sunday by the World Bank, TerrAfrica, the German Development Ministry BMZ, the GIZ, the European Union, the Government of the Netherlands, NEPAD, LFPFN, and the World Resources Institute.
According to WRI’s press release, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Togo and Uganda committed to the initiative.
AFR100 builds on the climate commitments made by African countries. So far, 13 of the INDCs (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) submitted by African countries include restoration, conservation of standing forests, or “climate-smart” agriculture. According to WRI analysis, following through on the commitments would cumulatively reduce emissions by 1.2 Gt CO2eq over the next 10 years, or 36 percent of Africa’s annual emissions and 0.25 percent of global emissions.
