Twelve civil society organisations (CSOs) have commenced the implementation of community projects in forest dependent communities in Cross River State. The development is coming under the Community Based REDD+ (CBR+) initiative, meant as a catalyst to trigger grassroots capacity and effective engagement in the Nigerian REDD+ process.

REDD+ implies reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries).

Cross River is benefitting as a pilot State in the Nigeria REDD+ readiness phase (that comes to a close by December 2016) with support from three agencies of the United Nations – United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

As part of the process, local community-level activities recently commenced under the auspices of the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme (GEF/SGP), which provided grants to the implementing CSOs, some of which are listed to include: Centre for Healthworks, Development and Research (CHEDRES), Green Planet Initiative International, Development Concern (DEVCON), Ekuri Initiative, Waneledon, Conservation Association of Mbe Mountais (CAMM), and African Research Association (managing Development in Nigeria) (ARADIN).

The CHEDRES, for instance, is working at the Esierebum community in Calabar South to increase the area of mangrove forest under sustainable management through raising nurseries and planting of indigenous mangrove seedlings in degraded mangrove sites.

The project also aims to improve the livelihoods of community beneficiaries through fish farming, a traditional livelihoods practice threatened by loss of mangroves, a natural breeding ground for fish. A combination of improved fisheries value chain and community forest management plan are expected to contribute to sustaining the outcomes of the project.

The Green Planet Initiative International’s target communities are Esuk Okon, Edik Idem and Akwa Obutong at Bakasi Local Government Area, where the CSO is working in the mangrove forest area to increase both income and carbon stock through planting of bush mango, while building target beneficiaries’ capacity in entrepreneurship and creating opportunities for income/livelihoods diversification through animal rearing, bee farming and other skills acquisition.

At Edondon community in Obubra Local Government Area, DEVCON’s project is designed to increase the area of tropical rainforest under sustainable management through regeneration and community forest management planning, contribute to poverty reduction by improving cassava value chain and encouraging agro-forestry practices that integrate the cultivation of non-timber forest products with other existing economic trees while ensuring sustainable land and forest management.

At Ekuri in Akamkpa Local Government Area, the Ekuri Initiative is reviewing existing forest management plan to support and strengthen community enforcement mechanisms to protect the largest community forest in Nigeria. It will also garner support to diversify the livelihoods of the rural community.

However, Waneledon’s project site is Ohumoruktet, at the Obubra Local Government Area in Ekuri/Iko REDD+ Pilot Site. The CSO aims to increase the area of community forest under sustainable management through land use planning and tree planting, while improving the livelihoods of target community groups, particularly women and youth.

Both CAMM and ARADIN are working at nine Mbe communities at Boki Local Government Area in Afi/Mbe REDD+ Pilot Site. The communities include: Bamba, Bokalum, Wula 1, Wula 2, Kanyang 1, Kanyang 2, Abo Ogbagante, Abo Obisu, and Abo Mkpang.

According to officials of CAMM, their section of the project supports community-based forest management among the nine communities of Mbe Mountains. They added that CAMM, a community-based organisation (CBO) collectively owned and managed by the nine communities, designed the project to address forest loss, improve the living conditions of community members through environmentally sustainable farming practices and value addition, and improve the protection of the critically endangered Cross River Gorillas. The project will also seek to enhance the value of the Mbe Mountains through ecotourism, they stated.

The ARADIN project, it was gathered, works in two of Mbe’s nine communities – Bamba and Bokalum. ARADIN is said to have designed the project to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable use and management of natural resources.

“The project intends to build communities’ capcity in land use planning and rule enforcement, and create more opportunities for sustainable livelihoods practices with particular focus on sustainable cocoa farming,” an official disclosed.

Anthony Atah, the Nigeria REDD+ Stakeholder Engagement Specialist, stated that, following an inception meeting with the CSOs and interaction with a few communities, it became pertinent for REDD+ to take steps to create synergies between REDD+ and CBR+ that were otherwise lacking at the early stage and could undermine the investments in these communities.

He said: “Already, clear signs of poor communication, mistrust, and difficult expectations were beginning to emerge between some benefitting communities and CSOs implementing the CBR+ project. The time lapse between project design and implementation also required realigning the projects to current reality, without which success will be minimal.

“These, and the need to appraise and support capacity of CSOs to deliver local REDD+ actions on the ground, while strengthening communities’ participation, required urgent and proactive steps to engage both communities and CSOs in the project locations in in reviewing the CBR+ projects and aligning them in the broader REDD+ context.”

Against the backdrop of the appointment of Mrs Amina Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, as UN Deputy Secretary General, the Abuja-based “Follow The Money”, a civil society organisation (CSO), while congratulating her, lists – in an open letter – a number of concerns that it would wish to be addressed before as well as during her tenure.

The letter reads:

Dear Honourable Minister,

I wish to use this medium to congratulate you on your appointment as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. It is an honour well-deserved. It is also an elevation that naturally stirs mixed feelings in some of us who are very much aware of what Nigeria stands to miss in your absence.

So far, you have distinguished yourself as not only a dynamic Minister of the Federal Republic, but a hard-working development worker for the people. At a time the nation yearned for deep understanding of its environmental challenges, you brought the insight and hands-on feminine balance that enabled this great country get back on its ecological track in order to retain its pride in the comity of nations.

As an adviser to the Federal Government on Nigeria’s implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the precursor to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), you drove the programme efficiently and attained high points in critical set targets. This of course prepared you for your esteemed role in negotiating the seventeen SDGs under the outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and effectively stood you out as an asset to the development world.

Likewise, the passion and patriotism you have displayed in your duties as a minister, have now engraved your name in the annals of history. This is because the commitment you brought to the job is based on your inherent capabilities and ingrained capacity acquired over the years in your service to society.

Your stewardship is now evident. Nigeria has launched the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The Ministry of Environment has also successfully launched the historic Sovereign Green Bonds – first of its kind; flagged off the Ogoni Clean-up Programme; and streamlined the Great Green Wall programme for a focused and sustainable implementation.

Dear Minister, in spite of the pleasure we find in celebrating your value and landmark achievements, we are still perturbed by the nagging fear that your efforts may yet be in vain if the solid foundation you are laying in the sector is not capped with a seamless transition to sustainable pillars of continued progress, as you move on to your new international office.

This is why we also use this opportunity to draw your attention to some real issues that, when properly addressed, would spell the survival lines to this all-important sector, and to the country in general.

Firstly, we are conscious of the fact that your tenure as the Minister of Environment brought a lease of life to the energy efficiency sub-sector, and effectively cleared the foul and dark aura already engendered by the Clean Cookstoves saga. Presently, you have set a fresh course that promises to reignite hope in the achievement of the goals that inspired the project in the first place.

Therefore, we call on you to set a lasting template that would sustain the momentum of the clean cookstoves project, even in your absence. We hope your efforts would help ensure that government delivers on the statutory 15% from the Ecological Fund, while also inspiring the ambition and bureaucratic urgency needed to deliver on the project.

Secondly, we can never forget that your motherly intervention and tireless activism impacted positively on the success of the ongoing Shikira lead poisoning remediation project. However, having assessed the progress of the cleanup, we are convinced that the project has to go beyond just remediation, but also a sustainable structure for ecological management. This is in order to ensure that there is no future outbreak of lead poisoning in Shikira and in other communities involved in artisanal mining.

Thirdly, we are worried that if the proper systemic adjustments are not made in the ministry of environment, we may lose some of the critical milestones achieved under your watch. This is why we call on you to effectively utilise the remaining few months you have to work in Nigeria in strengthening the structures that would ensure that in the absence of a good driver like you that the vehicle does not crash into the bushes. We sincerely pray that things will never deteriorate to “business as usual!”

We wish to see that the ball you have set rolling maintains the momentum, because we are convinced that the environmental sector is the fulcrum of the development sector especially in a developing economy like ours.

For instance, Nigeria’s NDC is an ambitious document, which needs imaginative inter-sectoral engagements for its effective implementation. With the vast opportunities that lie within the NDC and the potential complications that could entangle our bureaucratic infrastructure, we are concerned that, in fact, not just any hands can take over the helms at the ministry of environment. How we wish, you could groom your own successor!

Fourthly, we also cannot forget the fact that two critical regions in Nigeria are directly affected by your present and future offices: the South South and the North East. The Ogoni Clean-up project which you successfully initiated needs a proper and sustained project implementation.

The social dislocation that has erupted as a result of the humanitarian emergency in the North East also waits for your intervention. We humbly call on you to use your esteemed position as the UN Deputy Secretary-General to redirect the eyes of the world to the region. This would not only entail getting the required international support for humanitarian aid, but most importantly in ensuring that transparency and accountability are mainstreamed in their disbursements.

Finally, conscious of the importance of your UN appointment not only to Nigeria but to Africa as a region, we are hopeful that you will utilise the platform to inspire a revived spirit of transparent democratic governance, which we believe is the only effective way to address the region’s development challenges. And, we are glad that your experience in the development of the SDGs will also give you the fillip to inspire a proper mainstreaming of its implementation process in Africa.

Then, ultimately, we hope that you spearhead Nigeria’s bid to becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council. We are convinced that you have a date with history, and would have stamped your name in gold in the annals of history if you could work with your new boss to reorganise the UN and make it more democratic by increasing the Permanent membership of the Security Council. History will remember you if Nigeria fills Africa’s slot in the new arrangement, in order to reward our great country’s half-a-century old contributions to the UN.

Sincerely,

Hamzat Lawal

Chief Executive, CODE

Co-Founder, Follow The Money

A month following the end of the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the civil society pole, led by Driss El Yazami, President of the National Human Rights Council of Morocco, conducted its assessment.

By mobilising national and international civil society actors ahead of COP22, the civil society pole ensured a significant commitment by stakeholders in the fight against climate change. A diverse programme of meetings, debates, activities, conferences and side events demonstrated the commitment of civil society organisations and non-state actors for efficient and urgent climate action.

Mobilisation ahead of COP22 continues beyond COP22

In order to prepare civil society actors for COP22, the civil society pole supported the organisation of the MedCOP on Climate and six regional meetings in Morocco. This regional dimension will be pursued with meetings to be organised in other regions throughout the Kingdom.

The COP22 Moroccan Presidency established the mobilisation of civil society as one of its priorities. Thus, for the first time in COP history a meeting will take place in early 2017 between the Moroccan Presidency and civil society.  The nine constituent groups will come together to take stock on COP22 and examine the different avenues of collaboration with Morocco during its presidency.

“COP22 showed remarkable mobilisation among Moroccan, African and international civil society that needs to be continued. We have to capitalise on its success and move forward.  COP22 represented a turning point in civil society mobilisation,” declared El Yazami.

Mobilisation of civil society in numbers

Located in the Green Zone of the Bab Ighli site that hosted COP22 from November 7 to 18, 2016, the civil society area equaling 10,000m2, welcomed the participation of more than 300 exhibitors among 152 spaces, 680 activities, debates and conferences were organised. In total, 60 nationalities were represented. Interested by civil society initiatives and actions, 24,000 people on average per day, with a high point of 27,000 on November 15, visited the space.

Aware of the importance of civil society climate action and considering that the Paris Agreement goals will not be reached without strengthening the collaboration between state and non-state actors, high-level personalities such as Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa of Morocco, COP22 President Salaheddine Mezouar, the President of France, Francois Hollande, the President of the Comoros Azali Assoumani, the Mayors of Paris and Brussels, Anne Hidalgo and Yvan Mayeur, among others, visited the Green Zone.

The presence of civil society actors was also observed outside of the Bab Ighli site, particularly during the climate action march organised in the city of Marrakech that saw the participation of more than 7,500 people on December 13.

Ten highlights from civil society during COP22

1. Mobilisation of Moroccanuniversities with a meeting of 160 university presidents from around the world and 30 academic chancellors from Africa that adopted a common declaration.
2. COY12: more than 2,000 participantsfrom more than 30 countries.
3. Acultural COP with 12 exhibits (arts, photo, two concerts, two film competitions organised by youth in partnership with UNCEF and the French Embassy in Morocco).
4. A large trade-union meeting involving 40 trade unions from Africa and the Secretary General of the International Trade Union Confederation.
5. The 2^nd edition of the Summit of Local and Regional Leaders for the Climate brought together more than 1,100 participants from 114 countries represented by more than 780 local and regional elected officials.  The African continent was honoured with elected officials from 50 countries and 11 island states; including a climate finance roadmap for territories.
6. Meeting of Mediterranean regions presidents in preparation for the 3^rd MedCop on Climate that will take place in Sicily in July 2017.
7. Meeting of 37 national human rights institutions from around the world on the implementation of the Paris Agreement and sustainable development goals.
8. International seminar of parliamentarians organised by the Moroccan Parliament and Inter-parliamentarian Union.
9. Presence of all UN agencies in both zones of the COP22 village.
10. More than 500 self-organised activities at the Cadi Ayyad University of Marrakech by the Moroccan Coalition for Climate Justice (CMJC) and international coalitions.

Dear friends of EnviroNews,

Year 2016 marked a remarkable turnaround as the world took vital initial steps towards implementing the landmark Paris Agreement and 2030 Agenda to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We would like to express our appreciation for your continued support, encouragement and commitment to our cause in ensuring a healthy and pollution-free environment via effective information dissemination.

We wish you a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Kind Regards,

Michael Simire
Publisher/Editor