SPC/GIZ Regional REDD+ Project.
Forest Conservation in the Pacific Island Countries.

Regional REDD+ at PINA Media Summit, Nukualofa, Tonga

07 - 11 May 2018

Pacific Island journalists received information on REDD+ at the recent PINA Media Summit that was held in Nukualofa, Tonga, 07 – 11 May 2018.  PINA is the Pacific Islands News Association, a regional organisation that represents the interests of media staff in the region and links all mainstream and other media outlets in the region. PINA holds a bienniel meeting for its members and this year, the theme of the meeting in Tonga was “Empowering the media for digital challenges”.

The GIZ Regional REDD+ Program coordinated and sponsored the participation of REDD+ Communications Officers from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu at the PINA Summit.  The Fiji REDD+ Programme funded the participation of its National REDD+ Communications Officer and the Ministry of Forests Public Relations Officers.

There were two objectives in REDD+ having a presence at the PINA media summit: one objective was to raise the visibility of the REDD+ programmes in the Pacific and the second objective was to enhance the understanding of regional journalists on the topic of REDD+.  There was a display of REDD+ information from the four countries during the summit and the team made a presentation to the journalists who were part of the environmental reporting group.

Having a REDD+ team at the media summit was a very fruitful and positive experience as the journalists engaged in discussions with the REDD+ team after the presentation.  The REDD+ Communications Officers also met and networked with journalists from other media outlets in their countries as well as journalists from other regional countries.

Bradford Theonomi, Communications Officer, Ministry of Forests & Research, Solomon Islands.
Ilma Siriga, Communications Officer, Climate Change Development Authority Office, PNG.
Samson Lulu, Vanuatu REDD+ Communications and Outreach Officer.
Reama Naco, Fiji REDD+ Communications and Knowledge Management Officer.

Reporting for Results-based REDD+ Actions Workshop

23-26 April 2019, Suva, Fiji

This third mission to Fiji will focus on enhancing the institutional capacity of the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI) team, addressing issues identified in Fiji’s Inventory Improvement Plan and compiling Fiji’s AFOLU-sector GHGI for Fiji’s 2019 Biennial Update Report (BUR).

The mission will focus on:
1. Defining role and responsibilities for preparing Fiji’s AFOLU sector GHGI
2. Addressing issues identified in Fiji’s inventory improvement plan
3. Compiling a draft AFOLU-sector GHGI for Fiji’s first BUR
4. Sharing knowledge and experiences between Fiji’s and PNG’s AFOLU-sector GHGI teams

To meet these objectives the RRR+ team, in collaboration with PNG’s GHGI team, will host a 4-day workshop with the participants identified for Fiji’s AFOLU sector working group. The workshop is facilitated by the Climate Change and International Cooperation Division under Fiji’s Ministry of Economy.

REDD+ activities roundup for end of 2018 – PNG

21 March 2019

UNDP/FCPF REDD+ Readiness Project completed consultations with key stakeholders to identify activities for 2019. A draft outreach plan for 2019 was developed pending approval of Project Management Unit whether all or certain activities to be carried out. The implementation of the plan will be led by CCDA and PNGFA with support from UNDP/FCPF REDD+ Readiness Project.

Besides REDD+ communication, the Project staff have also been working with staff from key Government agencies to develop key messages, branding and development of initial key communications products for dissemination about a soon to be launched platform called PNG Sustainable Palm Oil Platform.

The Palm Oil Platform will facilitate dialogue where all key stakeholders will come together to discuss how best the palm oil industry can be guided. As there is no policy framework to regulate the industry at the moment, the aim of the platform is to come up with key action plans as to how this industry should be guided so that its impacts on the forestry sector and the environment is reduced and for it to meet international standards of best practices. This platform consists of members from key Government agencies, private sectors and civil society organisations.

Merchandise sent from the SPC/GIZ Regional REDD+ Project to support raising the awareness and visibility has been received and shared between PNGFA, CCDA and the UNDP/FCPF REDD+ Readiness Project. Some of the merchandise has been distributed to key stakeholders including PNG Media in the effort to increase knowledge about REDD+ in PNG.

Fiji REDD+ Second Round of Consultations to address ERPD

05-06 February 2019, Nadi, Fiji

Fiji’s REDD+ Programme organised a second round of consultations with their REDD+ stakeholders to address the gaps for Fiji’s Emissions Reduction Program Document (ERPD). The Permanent Secretary Forestry, Mr Pene Baleinabuli opened the workshop that was attended by key stakeholders from the Ministry of Lands, ITaukei Trust Board, Mineral Resources Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Live & Learn NGO, Soqosoqo Vakamarama, SPC/GIZ Regional REDD+ Programme, other staff from the Ministry of Forests, the Solicitor General’s office and and Rise Beyond the Reef NGO.

The workshop was organised so that specific interventions can be identified to address the drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation that Fiji is proposing through its Emissions Reduction Programme Document. During the workshop, the stakeholders contributed to the document’s contents especially with interventions specific to their sectors.

The document will be finalised and submitted to the Forest Carbon Fund Partnership Facility in June this year. If approved, Fiji will be able to roll out its Emissions Reduction Programme in Vitilevu, Vanualevu and Taveuni.

Information courtesy of Reama Naco, Fiji REDD+ Facebook Page

Pacific Regional Study Tour to Germany

16th September 2018

Mr Jalesi Mateboto officially welcoming the delegates to Hamburg Germany. This session was a briefing by Ms Sigrid Vesper, GIZ International Delegation Department, GIZ Germany and Dr Daniel Plugge of the GIZ Regional REDD+ Project.

Staff from Forestry Departments of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu will embark on study tour to Hamburg, Germany the week of 17 – 21 September 2018.

During the week-long tour, the participants will visit sustainably managed and conservation forest areas and timber and wood processing sites in southern and northern Germany. There will also be a visit to the climate change science cluster of excellency at the University of Hamburg.

This tour is an opportunity for the staff from the Forestry Departments to gain insight in the areas of sustainable forest management, downstream processes, value adding and forest related climate science.

The study tour will engage the participants in valuable exchanges of information not only with colleagues from the Melanesian Islands Countries but also with experts and practitioners from Germany.

The tour is funded by the SPC/GIZ Regional REDD+ Project.

Visiting Lubeck City Forests

17th September 2018

The SPC/GIZ Regional Project, REDD+ Forest Conservation in the Pacific Islands Countries supports the four Melanesian Countries of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu fulfill the requirements to participate in REDD+.

The acronym REDD+ is developing country efforts to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

As part of its continuing support to the four Melanesia Countries of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to enable them to fulfill all requirements to participate in REDD+, a delegation of 20 participants embarked on study tour to Germany from the 17 – 22 September 2018.

Staff from the Forestry Department of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu made up of Forest Technical Officers, Communications Officers, Staff from the Policy Units and staff of REDD+ Programmes together with staff from the SPC/GIZ Regional REDD+ Project began this week-long tour that began in Hamburg and ended in Frankfurt.

The delegation visited and were hosted at the cities and towns of Hamburg, Lubeck, Gottingen, Kaiserslautern, Tripstadt and Frankfurt during the week-long tour. Following is a summary of the study-tour.

Day 1

Visit to the City Forest of Lubeck

The study tour began with a visit to the Lubeck City Forest. Located in northern Germany, Lubeck is renowned for its City Forest which has been modeled to be as close to a natural forest as possible.

Hosted by Mr Knut Sturm, Head of Department, Lubeck City Forestry Department, Mr Sturm explained to the delegation that there were three objectives behind the management of the City of Lubeck Forests.

The objectives are that there exists a natural forest for the people of Lubeck to enjoy and one where nature can teach the inhabitants of Lubeck and its visitors about the pure and natural functions of a forest and the benefits of a healthy forest to sustain life on the planet. Another objective of the sustainable management of the Lubeck City Forest is to cater to the commercial needs of the forest sector. The Lubeck City Forests have a stronger focus on cutting down big trees on a needs basis, with the buyer going into the forest and selecting the tree for their purposes. This helps minimise activities inside the forests as the trees are harvested sustainably and with minimum waste. The third objective behind the Lubeck City Forest concept is to contribute to nature conservation. The city of Lubeck’s 5,000 hectares of forestland has about 1,000 hectares comprised of marshlands and is near the Baltic Sea, so having this concept supports nature conservation efforts of other landscapes within the forestland.

The study tour delegates were impressed with the layout of the forests and how a path separated the forest area set aside for logging and the forest area being managed to be as close to a natural forest as possible.

The City Forest of Lubeck is 300 years old and over the years underwent transformations till the 1990’s when it became part of the managed forests under the City Forestry Department.