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A CONCEPT NOTE FOR AMHARA REGIONAL STATE REDD+

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

National REDD+ Secretariat

A CONCEPT NOTE FOR AMHARA

REGIONAL STATE REDD+ PROGRAM

DESIGN

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The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

National REDD+ Secretariat

Africa Avenue

P.O. Box: 12760

e-mail: [email protected]

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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Table of Content1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................4

1.1 Background...............................................................................................................41.2 National REDD+ Readiness and Lessons from Oromia REDD+ Program design..........................5

1.2.1 The National REDD+ Readiness Process.....................................................................51.2.2 Requirements for a Regional Program Design: Lessons from Oromia..................................7

1.3 Overview of the Amhara regional state..............................................................................82 Amhara REDD+ Program Objectives....................................................................................103 Description of Activities of the regional REDD+ Program..........................................................11

3.1 Direct drivers of deforestation and forest degradation..........................................................113.2 Addressing indirect drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.........................................13

4 Capacity building activities................................................................................................145 Private sector involvement.................................................................................................146 Program structure............................................................................................................14

6.1 Design Phase............................................................................................................156.1.1 Analysis of causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the region and strategy options to address those..................................................................................................................156.1.2 Legal and institutional framework for the regional REDD+ program implementation.............156.1.3 Environmental and social safeguards............................................................166.1.4 Reference level and MRV system for a REDD+ program in the region..............................166.1.5 Modalities of benefit sharing mechanisms..................................................................166.1.6 Program Document preparation...............................................................................16

6.2 Implementation Phase.................................................................................................176.3 Emissions Reductions Phase.........................................................................................17

7 Program financing model...................................................................................................178 Institutional arrangement...................................................................................................189 Social and environmental safeguards, and grievance redress mechanism.........................................1910 Consultation................................................................................................................2011 Program lifetime..........................................................................................................2012 Geographic location......................................................................................................2013 Additional social and environmental benefits.......................................................................2114 Expected emission reductions..........................................................................................21

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1 Introduction1.1 Background

Ethiopia is the second-most populous country in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a population of more than 90 million. Though it is one of the poorest countries in the world, the country is currently on upward economic growth trajectory, registering double digit GDP growth rate over the past decade. Climate change, however, poses a serious threat on the key economic sectors of the country like agriculture. It is estimated that the 1984-85 drought reduced Ethiopia’s agricultural production by 21 percent, which led to a 9.7 percent fall in the GDP. Crop and livestock losses over North-Eastern Ethiopia, associated with droughts during 1998-2000, were estimated at US$266 per household, which is greater than the average annual income for 75 percent of the households in this region.

On the other hand, Ethiopia is not a major emitter of greenhouse gases that cause climate change, but does store substantial carbon stocks in more than 15 million hectares of forests and wood lands. Due to the increase of population and the expansion of agricultural activities, and wood extraction for fuel and construction, these forests are threatened with deforestation.

In order to halt the impact of climate change countries are working together. In UNFCCC negotiation countries are showing their commitment to work towards to mitigate and/or adapt climate change impacts. The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) has developed a Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy in 20111. The CRGE vision is to build a climate resilient green economy and to make the country carbon neutral by 2025. The Strategy identifies eight key sectors that play key roles in sustainable development: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), soils, livestock, energy, buildings and cities, industry, transport and health.

REDD+, Agriculture and Livestock are key elements of the CRGE vision, because of the level of emissions from these sectors under the business as usual scenario (87% of the national GHGS emissions) and their high emission reduction and contribution to resilience building. To achieve the GoE's CRGE related goals on agriculture, forestry and other land use change (AFOLU), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MEFCC) is implementing a National REDD+ Readiness Program. Since 2008, Ethiopia is an active member of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). The Government started preparation of a Readiness Preparation proposal (RPP) in April 2010, led by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). The country's final R-pp was endorsed by the FCPF Participants Committee in March 2011.

In May 2013, the Government of Ethiopia has recognized the Oromia REDD+ program as a national REDD+ pilot program. The Oromia REDD+ program design is nearly completed and entering implementation starting from mid-2016. Building on the national REDD+ Readiness process and design of the Oromia Regional REDD+ program, the Government of Ethiopia would like to scale-up REDD+ implementation in other regional states. The government has

1CRGE. 2011. Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy of Ethiopia, Green Economy Strategy. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

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identified additional four regional states for implementation of REDD+: Amhara, SNNP and Tigray National states with FCPF fund support, and the Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State REDD+ initiative through UN-REDD+ Targeted Support in 2015.

The initial approach for the additional regional pilots was to start with a pilot site and scale-up to a regional level program over time. The lessons learned from the Oromia program design, however, a state program with prioritized focus areas for intervention is the best approach in order to achieve the CRGE goals in the sector with reasonably short time. The planned implementation period for the additional regional pilots’programs preparationwas till the end of 2017. Hence, a strategic decision was made to use the remaining time and resources for regional-state wide REDD+ program for the identified additional regions. This concept note is prepared to set-forth a roadmap for preparation of the Amhara National Regional State REDD+ Program Design.

1.2 National REDD+ Readiness and Lessons from Oromia REDD+ Program design

1.2.1 The National REDD+ Readiness Process

REDD+ initiative was started in Ethiopia in 2008, a couple of years before the development of the CRGE strategy. In July 2008, the Federal Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), now restructured as MEFCC(Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) submitted a Readiness Preparation Proposal Idea Note (R-PIN) to the FCPF Management team of the World Bank, to join the facility as participant country and prepared its R-PP in March 2011. The FCPF approved readiness preparation grant of 3.6 million USD in 2012. With additional funding from other donors (Norway, UK’s DFID), the REDD+ Readiness Process was officially launched in January 2013, with a total grant of US$ 13.6 million.

The National REDD+ Secretariat at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MEFCC) is the prime unit for the coordination and implementation of the National REDD+ Readiness process since January 2013. Ethiopia's REDD+ Readiness Process aimed at identifying the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and the strategic options to address those; analyzing the legal and institutional arrangements for REDD+ implementation; developing the necessary social and environmental safeguard instruments for REDD+ implementation; setting up the national REDD+ management structure; developing a national REDD+ strategy; a monitoring and evaluation system as well as setting a national Forest Reference Level (FRL) against which REDD+ performance can be measured.

During the last three years, the National REDD+ Secretariat has been engaged in implementation of the readiness activities. According to the self-assessment on the progress of the readiness process by the National REDD+ Secretariat showed that the overall readiness performance was significant with most of the planned component activities finalized or near to completion while few activities need further development (See the table below). The National REDD+ Readiness process is expected to be completed in June 2016. The successful

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completion of the readiness process will prepare the country to become ready for the global REDD+ mechanism.

Table 1.Progress in Ethiopia's REDD+ Readiness Process

COMPONENTS SUB-COMPONENTS PROGRESS STATUS

1. Readiness Organization and Consultation

1a. National REDD+ Management Arrangements

Significant Progress

1b. Consultation, Participation, and Outreach

Progress well, further development required

2. REDD+ Strategy Preparation

2a. Assessment of Land Use, Land Use Change Drivers, Forest Law, Policy and Governance

Significant Progress

2b. REDD+ Strategy Options Significant Progress

2c. Implementation Framework Progress well, further development required

2d. Social and Environmental Impacts Progress well, further development required

3. Reference Emissions Levels/Reference Levels

3a.REL/RLs Significant Progress

4. Monitoring Systems for Forests, and Safeguards

4a. National Forest Monitoring System Progress well, further development required

4b. Information System for Multiple Benefits, Other Impacts, Governance, and Safeguards

Progress well, further development required

5. Program Monitoring and Evaluation

5a. Program M&E Significant Progress

(Source: Annual Performance Report of the NRS, updated in November 2015)

As part of the readiness process, the first draft national REDD+ strategy has been compiled with inputs from the national REDD+ technical studies and consultations with relevant stakeholders. The national REDD+ strategy provides strategic guidance for the implementation of an effective and efficient national REDD+ program. REDD+ program in Ethiopia broadly targets to address drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and bring significant part of the country’s degraded areas under forest cover through forest restoration, afforestation and reforestation activities. Ethiopia will follow a partially decentralized approach for its REDD+ institutions and hence responsibilities are vertically divided between national, regional and woreda levels. Regional level actors can implement REDD+ functions at their jurisdictions with some degree of independence from the national level authority. Ethiopia has also finalized design of the first regional state level REDD+ program. For the

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regional state level REDD+ program design, Oromia state was selected as national pilot. The decision to focus on one regional state program design at beginning was to concentrate efforts and generate good lessons that can be used to implement similar program in other regional states.

1.2.2 Requirements for a Regional Program Design: Lessons from Oromia

The Oromia Regional REDD+ program design was started in parallel with national REDD+ readiness process in 2013. There are some national level studies that can lay the foundation for the design of the state level programs. However, in-depth and regional state specific studies to quantify drivers and reference are required to design region specific program.

For the Oromia regional program design, i.e., Oromia Forested Landscape Program, a number of preparatory studies and consultations were conducted. The preparation studies specifically conducted or being conducted for OFLP design include: Legal and institutional framework for the Oromia Forested Landscape Program; Analysis of causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the Oromia Regional State and strategy options to address those; Strategy options for the Oromia Forested Landscape Program; Developing a Reference Level and designing a MRV system for a REDD+ program in Oromia Regional State; Consultation and Participation Plan; environmental and social safeguards and design of appropriate instruments; design of grievance redress mechanism; and benefit sharing mechanism.

The design of OFLP is near completion. It is expected that the program implementation manual (PIM) will finalized and ready before the commencement of program implementation. The program implementation is scheduled to start in July 2016.

It is important to note some lessons learned during the OFLP design over the past three years, and use in the design of other regional programs. Some of the lessons from Oromia program design for the Amhara regional REDD+ design process are:

1. REDD+ program design requires a number of preparatory studies: Most information required for REDD+ design are not readily available at regional state level. Hence the program design requires a number of studies, especially on drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, REDD+ actions and strategies to address the drivers, legal and institutional framework for implementation of REDD+, forest monitoring systems and up-to-date inventory data, forest reference levels and MRV system, social and environmental safeguards (safeguards information system), types of benefits and benefit sharing mechanisms, stakeholders engagement and consultation participation processes. Hence, preparatory studies and consultation process have to be done.

2. Single source of funding is not adequate for regional state wide program implementation. Hence, it is advisable to consider various financing options that complement the program. In the case of the OFLP, the approaches used to overcome shortage of financial resources for state wide implementation of the program included:

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a. Regional state wide activities: Implementing some activities, especially those related to policies and activities that aim at creating enabling environments at the regional state level, wall-to-wall.

b. Prioritizing areas for selected activities on ground: Prioritizing selected areas for investments, focusing on those areas where the potential for GHG emissions reductions and removals from land use changes are high.

c. Coordination with other land use related interventions throughout the region in order to leverage fund shortages and account for the contribution of related interventions to the regional program goals and regional state visions.

3. Landscape approach as a holistic approach for REDD+ intervention: REDD+ related activities are multi-sectoral, the major ones being forestry, agriculture and energy. The activities target broader landscape through sustainable management of existing forests, afforestation/reforestation to establish forest plantation, restoration of degraded forests and the practices of climate smart agriculture and sustainable energy developments. To this end, the Oromia REDD+ program has changed its approach during the design process, initially considering two forest blocks (Bale and Jimma) as targets for intervention, then considered wall-to-wall with focus on forest areas, and finally designed as an umbrella regional program- Oromia Forested Landscape Program (OFLP).

1.3 Overview of the Amhara regional state

The Amhara National Regional States is one of the 9 states constituting the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The state is located in the northwestern part of Ethiopia, between 8o45`-13o45`N latitude and 35o15`- 40o20` E longitude. The total area of the regional state is estimate to be 157,126.84 km2. Topographically, the regional state dominated by hilly and mountainous highlands in the central and eastern parts, and lowland areas in western parts and the rift valley parts in the east. Highland areas located above the elevation of 1500 m (often described as Afromontane areas) represent 73% of the land cover of the region. Quite significant proportion of these highland areas (28%) are fragile environments with slope >30%. Most of these areas have also lost their original habitats, especially forest, and are highly degraded over the past centuries.

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Figure 1. Slope classes of the highlands of Amhara regional state

According to estimates of Central Statistical Agency (CSA, 2013), the population of the regional state was 20,650,419 . About 87.3% of the population lives in rural areas, while the remaining 12.7% are urban. Agriculture and livestock production are the main economic activities in the region. Agriculture is predominantly smallholder farming, with few medium and large scale commercial farms. Forests also contribute to the economic activity of the region and livelihoods of the society. These include gums, resins and bamboo resources extraction from lowland woodlands, homestead forest plantations for construction and fuel wood and fledgling small and medium forest industries of the state and private companies.

The regional state has lost most of it highland forests. However, it is still endowed with vast areas of woodlands in the lowlands. The regional state has been aggressively working on forest/land restoration on the highlands over the past decades and has made impressive progresses. For instance, by the end of 2013, degraded areas set aside for restoration /or area enclosures covered 1.55 million ha in Amhara National Regional State (Lemenih and Kassa 2014)1.

The remaining forest resources of the region are found along the lowland belt of the West Gojam, Awi and North Gondar zones bordering the neighboring country Sudan and the Tigray and Benishangul–Gumuz regions (WubalemTadesse et al. 2015). Besides, there are small fragments of forests in different highland areas of the region. These include church forests and natural forest reserves.

1MulugetaLemenihand HabtemariamKassa. 2014. Re-Greening Ethiopia: History, Challenges and Lessons. Forests 5: 1896-1909.

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Table 2. Forest types and area coverage in the Amhara region (ha)

Type of forest Area (ha) Forest cover in percent (%)

Woodlands 740,807.74 4.71

Natural dense Forest 463,949.64 2.95

Plantation 62,973.31 0.40

Riverine Forest 20,652.61 0.13

Sum 1,288, 383.3 8.2Source: GIS Based Forest Resource Assessment, Quantification and Mapping in Amhara Region, 2012,

Bahirdar.

On the other hand, a recent national drivers of deforestation and forest degradation study report estimated the current forest cover (forest and woodland) of the region to be 1.93 million ha (Arbonaut et al. 2015)1.The disparity between the regional state official data and review works of the national drivers’ assessment indicates the need to conduct regional state level assessment and quantification of the forest cover and drivers of deforestation, with adequate ground verification.

2 Amhara REDD+ Program ObjectivesThe overall goal of the REDD+ Program in the Amhara Regional state is primarily to increase carbon removal through afforestation, reforestation and restoration of degraded lands while reducing deforestation and forest degradation in the remnant forests of the region. This will enhance ecological functions of landscapes, while contributing to well-being of the local communities in the region. On a broader scale, the Program will directly contribute to Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) vision, and be fully aligned with the national REDD+ strategy.

The Program will promote cross-sectoral investments in forested landscapes of the region, especially in forest, agriculture, and energy sectors. The main activities to be promoted by the program include afforestation/reforestation, assisted natural regeneration, restoration of degraded areas, participatory forest management on remnant natural forests and woodlands, climate smart agriculture, improved livestock management and promotion of improved cook stoves. The program will be coordinated with existing initiatives like SLMP, PSNP and AGP, to build strong synergies. The Program will also support policy changes towards an enabling environment for reduction in increasing forest cover and reducing deforestation and forest degradation. This Program will be aligned with the national strategy, which encourages a jurisdictional and landscape approach.1Arbonaut Ltd, FM-International OY FINNMAP and Baseline Surveying Engineering Consultant. 2015. Study of causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Ethiopia and the identification and prioritization of strategic options to address those. National REDD+ Secretariat, Addis Ababa.

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3 Description of Activities of the regional REDD+ ProgramThe regional REDD+ aims at addressing both direct and indirect drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, and also increasing carbon stocks through forest, agriculture and energy sector interventions. Brief description of activities of the regional REDD+ program are presented below.

3.1 Direct drivers of deforestation and forest degradation

Like most parts of Ethiopia, the main drivers of deforestation and forest degradation are agricultural expansion, settlement (planned and unplanned), extraction of wood for fuel and construction, and grazing by livestock. Smallholder agriculture is the predominant driver. But, there is an increasing trend of large scale commercial agriculture in the woodlands dominated lowland areas.The program will address direct drivers through implementation activities in forest, agriculture and energy (fuel wood consumption) sectors.

In the forest sector, the main drivers of deforestation and forest degradation are extraction of wood (timber and fuel wood) and non-timber forest products. The prominent NTFP is the region is incense from Boswellia in the lowland woodlands. The program will implement re-establishment of forests through A/R, ANR and restoration. Implementation of PFM in remnant highland forests like Wofwasha in North Shoa and Guangua Kahtasa in AgewAwi zones, and the vast lowland dry forest (woodland) in Metema have been initiated by the government and partner NGOs such as Farm Africa/SoS Sahel and SUNARMA. The program will build on the experiences of these initiatives and scale up to prioritized forest areas throughout the regional state. In principle, PFM is used to describe systems in which communities and government institutions providing technical services in the forest sector work together by defining the rights of forest resource use, identify and develop forest management responsibilities, and agree on how forest benefits will be shared. It is assumed that communities will conserve forest resources if they have secure user rights to the forests and benefit from the existence of the forest. The approach is gaining increasing recognition as the most feasible strategy for the sustainable management of forest resources while taking into account the levels of rural poverty and the role of forests in rural livelihoods.

Reestablishment of forests through A/R, ANR and restoration- is the main strategic option in the region. According to the national drivers of deforestation and forest degradation report, the total area of shrublands and grasslands suitable for afforestation and reforestation activities accounts for almost 5.3 million hectares in Ethiopia, of which 60% occurs in Amhara. The region also have significant proportion of more than 9.3 million sparse forests in the country suitable for restoration activities (Arbonaut et al 2015). Over the past decade, the region has restored over 1.5 million ha of degraded areas through area closure (Lemenih and Kassa 2014), and has huge potential for emission removal through reestablishment of forests.

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In the agriculture sector, the program will promote intensification through Climate Smart Agriculture and agro-forestry practices, and reduction of post-harvest losses in order to decrease the demand for agricultural land. Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices will include the promotion of conservation agriculture for improved tillage, seeding and crop protection practices; intercropping, reduced use of fertilizers and other chemical inputs. In addition, soil fertility management practices including manuring, mulching, crop rotation etc... will be implemented taking local realities into consideration. Other CSA practices to be considered include establishment of fodder using agroforestry shrubs/trees, animal fattening, dairy and poultry development and bee keeping. Sustainable Land Management activities will include appropriate biological and physical soil and water conservation measures on farms and treating degraded areas and promotion of selected agroforestry technologies/practices for soil fertility improvement. The agriculture sector interventions in the region will be aligned with existing initiatives like the Sustainable Land Management Program (SLMP), Agricultural growth Program (AGP) and the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) through improved coordination of implementation activities.

Fuel wood consumption is the main cause for forest degradation. In order to address that, the energy sector strategic options of the program are promotion of efficient cook-stoves, sustainable alternative energy sources and promotion of improved kiln for charcoal production. This will be aligned with the national cook stove program.

Livestock activities are one of the main drivers of forest degradation. Recovery of degraded pasture, implementation of integrated crop-livestock-forestry system, and the implementation of holistic management of pastures are techniques that will be promoted. The main goal is to improve livestock management through adoption of improved cattle breeds and increasing feed availability. Activities include promotion of the use of crop residues for animal feeding and recycling of manure to crop farms as organic fertilizers. Natural Resource Ranagement (NRM) activities will be integrated with livestock feed production with options include: growing forage species in enclosures established for rehabilitating degraded grazing lands, and on degraded lands; and using the herbage biomass obtained from these systems as livestock feed, as cut-and-carry fodder, so that a win-win outcome is achieved. Other activities include the integrate reforestation activities with livestock production by incorporating multipurpose tree species like Leucaena, Sesbania and Tagasaste with NRM interventions, so that the fodder can be used as a protein supplement for livestock subsisting on low-quality crop residues and grasses (Ethiopia Livestock Master plan, 20151). To this end, the program will be aligned with the Live stock Strategy for reducing forest degradation. Synergies could also be developed with the WB’s Pastoral Community Development Project (PCDP).

1 Shapiro, B.I., Gebru, G., Desta, S., Negassa, A., Nigussie, K., Aboset, G. and Mechal, H. 2015. Ethiopia livestock master plan. ILRI Project Report. Nairobi, Kenya: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

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3.2 Addressing indirect drivers of deforestation and forest degradation

Policies, institutional and legal frameworks play important roles in addressing indirect as well as planned drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. The program aims to influence on policy and institutions through implementation of cross-sectoral strategic options. These include the following:

a. Land use planning: The prime objective of Integrated Land Use Plan (ILUP) is to facilitate allocation of land to the uses that provide the greatest sustainable benefits, and promote the transition to a sustainable and integrated management of land relatedresources. That way, conflicts of use among different sectors will be resolved, and as needed mitigation measures be taken.

b. Tenure policies and laws reform: Tenure security is also necessary to enable actors to successfully manage their land without interference from intruders, who may seek to utilize the land in ways that conflict with REDD+ goals, while also empowering them to play a role in enforcement of forest law in the context of limited government capacities. Forest resources have been traditionally less priced in terms of ownership compared to agricultural and rangelands. Besides, most forest lands are considered state property and no tenure right is being issued either to community or individuals. Clarifying status of individual, community and state rights and duties over forests in the legal framework of the country is the first step to determine the rights over carbon and related benefits.The program will support dialogue on land tenure policies and land related laws reform, including integration of the traditional forest tenure system, in line with the recommendations made for the national level.

c. Institutions: existence of strong implementing institution is also crucial for REDD+. REDD+ intervention is multi-sectoral, involving numerous stakeholders, with strong need for coordination and integration of related activities. The regional coordination unit has been established and being strengthened. The institutional arrangement for REDD+ will follow the national architecture, building on the pilot regional program like OFLP. The program will support establishment of REDD+ institutions and build capacity of institutions implementing interventions in the forest sector and other relevant sectors. At local level, existing community based institutions and local institutions like user groups and cooperatives established through PFM shall be integrated into the institutional arrangement for REDD+ implementation.

d. Improve value chains/market linkage, working on demand side to improve the efficiency of the production, reduce wastage through improved post-harvest management, and increase revenue of the producers, so as to reduce production are expansion, which will contribute to minimizing the impact of the proximate causes of deforestation. In cases of forest products like gums and resin from the vast woodlands in the region, value chain improvement will include forest management plan, proper taping techniques, product quality improvement and value addition through local industrial processing.

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e. Education and communication: Providing continuous public awareness/education and clear communication contributes to the program’s success. The program will adoptand implement an efficient and reliable strategic communication.

Promotion of payment for ecosystem services

There are a number of irrigation dams, lakes and hydropower dams that are fed with rivers of the highlands of Amhara. The highland areas in the region are fragile. Reestablishment and protection of existing forests will protect the watershed and provide additional ecosystem services. There is no PES scheme for watershed protection, flood mitigation and water provision up to now. The program would design and implement different payments for ecosystem services, especially water and erosion control/flood mitigation services. This will create incentives for the promotion of forest development, climate smart agriculture(CSA) and SLM practices. This can also contribute to the overall financial sustainability of the Program, by identifying other sources of potential financing beyond carbon.

4 Capacity building activitiesLarge scale regional program implementation requires capacity building activities at all levels, from the grass root community members and institutions to regional state level experts and implementing institutions. This includes trainings on climate change, land use, institutions, and improved agricultural and forestry extension, provision of field tools, equipment and other materials for forest conservation and development at all levels, and stakeholder engagement on preparatory studies. The program will provide new technologies-for forest monitoring and verification for experts, for efficient development works for farmers through cooperatives, unions or forest user groups.

5 Private sector involvementThe program encourages and supports private sector investments in the region that lead to emission reduction and removals, especially promotion of sustainable forest enterprises, forest plantation, sustainable energy development (efficient technologies, renewables and alternative sources). The Amhara Forest Enterprise has already developed joint forest development to engage local community in plantation forest development as out-growers. This can further be developed to attract the private sector and individual farmers. The program will develop modalities for private sector involvement, incentives and benefit sharing mechanisms.

6 Program structureThe program will be structured in three phases: design phase, implementation phase and emission reductions phase.

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6.1 Design Phase

A Design phase will last from 2015 to December 2017. It will involve a series of preparatory studies, multi-stakeholder consultations and capacity building. The goal of this phase is to ensure that the Program Concept is well-developed and well understood by all partners prior to the beginning of the implementation. The design phase ensures the program is ready for implementation.

Preparation of a regional program requires a lot of data on a number of issues related forest resources, land and other natural resources management, governance, stakeholders engagement and institutions and legal framework for program implementation. Most of these data are not readily available. Some, however, can be adopted from national level studies compiled during the readiness process over the past three years. Preparatory studies required for the program design are: (i) analysis of causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the region and strategy options to address those; (ii) legal and institutional framework for the regional REDD+ program implementation; (iii) environmental and social safeguards; (iv) reference level and MRV system for a REDD+ program in the region; (v) modalities of benefit sharing mechanisms. Related national level studies will be reviewed and evaluated for adequacy for regional REDD+ design, and additional studies will only be conducted to fill the gap.

6.1.1 Analysis of causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the region and strategy options to address those

This is the foundation for the regional program design. Some inputs can be obtained from the national level drivers study. But, it is not adequate to inform the design of the regional program. Hence, the analysis of the causes of deforestation and forest degradation has to be carried out with the objective of informing the preparation of regional program, and help in identifying and further developing the strategic options for reducing deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing forest carbon through afforestation, reforestation and restoration using landscape approach.

The study should include quantification of activities identified as direct/ proximate drivers and estimation of their respective contribution to GHG emissions; a historic and future-oriented analysis of the agents of deforestation and forest degradation; the underlying causes (demographic, economic, technological, policy/institutional, and cultural factors) of deforestation and forest degradation. Furthermore, this study will have to assess the relationship between these proximate drivers, underlying causes and agents of deforestation/ forest degradation, and strategic options to address them.

6.1.2 Legal and institutional framework for the regional REDD+ program implementation

The legal and institutional framework study shall focus on analyzing regional laws and institutions and the implementation of the regional REDD+ program. It will also identify steps to be taken in the short- and long-term for the successful implementation of REDD+ program.

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Expected outputs of the study include description of the existing legal and institutional framework relevant for REDD+ in the region, identification of gaps and recommendations for the improvement of administrative and regulatory context for an effective implementation of REDD+, institutions and programs that support implementation of the program, and recommendations for an operational framework and REDD+ strategy options.

6.1.3 Environmental and social safeguardsAt national level, the environmental and social safeguard requirements for REDD+ program were studied and required instruments put in place. The regional program design will similarly assess the requirements at the regional level and prepare safeguard instruments by contextualizing the national REDD+ safeguard instruments (ESMF, RPF PF, GRM).

6.1.4 Reference level and MRV system for a REDD+ program in the region

Building on the national REL and MRV system, and the experiences of OFLP, this preparatory study will establish the regional state reference level and MRV system. This task is expected to contribute to the program design through: development of the baseline (reference emissions level) of the program; assisting on the design of a monitoring and reporting system that will be used in the emissions reductions payment phase; and Assessment of how a monitoring and reporting system for the regional program can be integrated in the national MRV system.

6.1.5 Modalities of benefit sharing mechanisms

The program is expected to generate a number of benefits to the stakeholders, which included carbon and non-carbon benefits. The stakeholders may get direct benefits like goods, services, small works, and training that improve forest management, empower communities, create jobs, enhance forest based livelihoods, secure tenure rights and protect watershed and thereby reduce the risks of soil erosion, flood, and sedimentation of water.

The Benefit Sharing Mechanism of the program has to be developed in consultation with key stakeholders throughout program preparation through expert meetings, public consultations and analytical studies. It has to come with different alternative options so that stakeholders choose the most appropriate through consensus. The outcome of the study will be a BSM Manual, and it should also get the consent of the program donors before approval.

6.1.6 Program Document preparationA comprehensive project document will be prepared that will provide information on potential generation of emissions reduction; activities to be implemented; investments needed on the ground; enabling environment; budget and financing plan; procurement plan, institutional arrangements; stakeholders consultation and participation; safeguard requirements and instruments (based on the national SESA and other documents); grievances redress mechanisms; a robust Results Framework; and a benefit sharing mechanism.

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6.2 Implementation Phase

This phase will involve field testing of candidate strategies through demonstration activities, to establish which of the strategies may achieve efficient and cost-effective results without undermining any of the REDD+ agreed safeguard standards. This phase may include further capacity-building, and development of new policies and legislation. Some demonstration activities may begin in selected areas even before all phase 1 activities are completed at the national level. The regional state shall fully enter phase 2 when all readiness activities are completed, within about one year of the completion of phase 1. Phase 2 may take up to 5 years, primarily financed through donor-based grants, coordinating and leveraging selected relevant initiatives (financed by the Bank and/or others)and possibly payments from funds, and sale of carbon credits on markets.

Investments and policy reforms during the implementation phase will be promoted through results-based finance, that is, payments will be made against agreed deliverables/ outputs. Examples include:

Areas of natural forest put under Participatory Forest Management Programs; number of hectares under Climate Smart Agriculture techniques; number of sustainable products or supply chains developed within the region; number of people trained and/or consulted on REDD+;

Policy, Laws and Regulations enacted at the regional level: land use plan for region developed in a participatory way and adopted by the regional government; new regulations related to forest and land ownership; Revised/new policies to allow REDD+ implementation.

6.3 Emissions Reductions Phase

The Program will receive payments for those emissions reductions and/or removals that have been independently verified. During this phase, the region enter full implementation of REDD+ activities, through a performance-based system of incentives distribution. Phase 3 may be financed through payments received as a result of sale of carbon credits on markets. Funds can only be accessed if the Program is able to demonstrate verified Emission Reductions and/or removals, based on a robust MRV system and against an agreed reference emissions level.

7 Program financing modelThe Program would adopt an innovative financing scheme, mobilizing resources from donors, and performance based payments.. The Program design phases shall be financed by grant fund from donors while implementation phase would be financed from different sources such as coordinating and leveraging existing relevant initiatives and mobilizing grant from donors. The emission reduction phase will be financed from performance based payment once result

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is achieved and verified. These will need to be monitored against a baseline with robust methodologies, and independently verified following international procedures.

Grant fund for the program design phase is already secured and comes from the additional funding obtain from Bio-Carbon Fund of the World Bank. About 20 million ETB is allocated to design the regional program.

For the implementation phase, implementing institutions will work hard to mobilize up-front grant fund during the program design from potential donors. The fund mobilization has to start in parallel with the preparatory studies, so that the region embarks on implementation by the end of the program design phase. Potential sources of finance for the up-front investment fund include bilateral donors/ development partners (Norway, UK, Germany, and Denmark), the CRGE facility, Bio-Carbon Fund of the World Bank, NGOs and the private sector.

8 Institutional arrangementIn order to lead the REDD+ program design process, and later implementation of the program throughout the region, having a functioning institution in place is vital. The strategy for implementation is to follow existing government structure as much as possible. There have been institutional reforms both at federal and regional states with aim of creating conducive environment for implementation of the CRGE and GTP at all levels. At the national level, the main government institutions responsible for forestry, environment, land use, rural development and energy are the MEFCC, MoANR, and MoWIE. At regional state level, the forest sector related land management activities are dealt by various institutions. These include the Bureau of Agriculture, Bureau of Land Use and Administration, Amhara Forest Enterprise, and the recently established Environment, Forest and Wildlife Protection and Development Authority. These institutions have role/mandate overlaps. Interventions of these different institutions need to be well-coordinated.

For REDD+ program design and implementation, there is also a need to create additional institutions and a coordination platform. Accordingly, the important first step is to establish and strengthen the regional REDD+ coordination unit (RRCU). Besides, there should also be two additional REDD+ institutions: Regional multi-sectorREDD+ Steering Committee (RRSC) and Regional REDD+ Technical Working Group (RRTWG). The RRSC represents high-level officials, e.g. heads of sectoral bureaus, to support coordination and provide strategic advice for the implementation of REDD+ in the region.Representatives from civil societies, unions, universities, and the private sector will also participate. Both these institutional mechanisms are instituted in 2016. The RRCU is responsible for overall coordination with all sectors and relevant programs, and the Regional REDD+ Technical Working Group (RRTWG) with the responsibility of providing technical support and advices.

Government Oversight- at regional state level, the Amhara Regional State through the President's Office is the highest level institution to provide political leadership and decisions to the regional REDD+ Program. The President or Vice President will chair the Regional REDD+ Steering Committee (RRSC), and with the support from a focal person that will be

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assigned by the president office, will oversee the functioning of the Regional REDD+ Coordination Unit (RRCU). This arrangement will provide a political leverage in coordinating relevant regional bureaus together and implement REDD+ activities.

9 Social and environmental safeguards, and grievance redress mechanism

Nationally, a number of strategic options for REDD+ implementations have been identified. Similarly, the regional analysis is expected to come with a number of relevant strategic options. The purpose of safeguards is to assess the potential benefits (social and environmental) and adverse impacts (social and environmental) of the different strategic options, and propose environmental and social mitigation measures for the identified adverse impacts.

The Program will have to fully comply with WB social and environmental safeguards. A Social Assessment (SA), Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF), Process Framework (PF), and Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF)will have to be prepared,consulted up on and disclosed to ensure that any potential social and environment negative impact is mitigated and the positive ones are increased.

The environmental and social safeguard study will specially focus on the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF). The ESMF is to ensure that the implementation of the program will be carried out in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner. It also provides a framework to enable communities, private sector and other grass root level implementers screen program activities and institutional measures to address adverse environmental and social impacts.

The safeguard analysis will be overseen by the National SESA Task Force. ESMF preparation will be through consultations with key stakeholders and communities to identify key issues of concerns and propose management plan for the identified concerns. The ESMF study should also identify the capacity building (human and material) needs and propose ways to fill if there are gaps

In cases of incidences that the program intervention has social or environmental effects, and not properly addressed, it has to put in place a grievance redress mechanism. The programs’ grievance redress mechanism (GRM) is an integral element of program management that intends to seek feedback from beneficiaries and resolve complaints on program activities and performance. Grievances may arise from members of communities who are dissatisfied with (i) the eligibility criteria, (ii) community planning and resettlement measures, or (iii) actual implementation of program activities. The regional GRM system will be contextualized from the National REDD+ Readiness GRM guideline.

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10 ConsultationStakeholders’ engagement is one of the key compulsory activities in REDD+ program design. UNFCCC encourages the full and effective engagement of Indigenous Peoples and other forest dependent communities, civil society and other relevant stakeholders at all levels. Broad-based multi-stakeholder consultations will be held during the design phase and during implementation. Information sharing and consultation on the following issues will be carried out: 1) Concept of REDD+ and Climate Change; 2) land degradation and the ecological and economic importance landscape level restoration;3) The national REDD+ Readiness process; 3) Local causes of deforestation and forest degradation and options to address them; 4) benefit sharing schemes.

The success of the regional REDD+ program will depend on active participation and support of all concerned stakeholders such as forest dependent communities, private sector, the government and non-government organizations. This requires well-designed consultation and participation (C & P) plan and implementation. The C & P plan will ensure engagement of all relevant stakeholders. To do this, the program design will propose how it will reach all levels of stakeholders from federal to grassroots (local communities).

11 Program lifetimeThe regional REDD+ programs will be implemented in three phases; namely design phase, implementation phase and emissions reduction phase. The design phase will last until the end of 2017) while the implementation phase lasts for 5 years (2017 -2022). The emission reductionfrom reduced deforestation and degradation, and/or carbon removal (through A/R) phase will start in 2018, in parallel with the implementation phase, and will last until 2038.

12 Geographic locationThe program will be implemented throughout the regional state. This involves coordination with existing land and forest- related interventions, and direct intervention with the program resources. The direct program intervention areas will be identified and prioritized during the design phase, based on the preparatory study findings and stakeholder consultations. For this, the focus will be woredas with high potential areas for A/R and forest restoration, and those areas with high forest cover, and for implementation of agroforestry and CSA practices. For the energy sector, all woredas of the region shall be considered. Under this initiative, there is a potential for sustainable management of over 740,000 ha woodlands and 464,000 ha of high forest; afforestation and reforestation of 3.2 million ha of degraded forest and grasslands, and restoration of over 1 million ha of sparse forest, climate smart agriculture (CSA) and agroforestry initiatives on more than 675,000 ha of agricultural land (if 10% of agricultural land in the region is targeted).Besides, there are more than 4 million households in the region that can be targeted by the program for dissemination of improved cook stoves.If the program achieves 50% of all these this potential, over 2 million households will be targeted. In a 20

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year implementation period, all these interventions will result in a significant carbon emissions reduction and/or carbon removal and attract revenues to foster sustainable growth and improved livelihoods of diverse rural communities.

13 Additional social and environmental benefitsThe main co-benefits of the program are biodiversity conservation, poverty reduction, ecosystem restoration, and watershed protection. The program willcontribute to biodiversity conservation in Amhara region. The region is endowed with biodiversity habitats, like the Semien Mountains National Park, Alatish National Park, and Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve. The landscape in the region is also the major catchment area for Lake Tana, and irrigation and hydropower dams along the Blue Nile River and its tributaries, as well as the Tekeze and Awash rivers and tributaries. The lowland forests in the region are also sources of gums, and play important roles for income generation for local communities, and export revenue for the country. Besides, the local community shall directly benefit from REDD+ activities and ER benefit sharing, contributing to poverty reduction and livelihood improvement. Tourism activities could also be fostered under the program.

14 Expected emission reductionsAs indicated under section 13, the program targets large areas of degraded areas for restoration and A/R, natural forest, agricultural landscapes for CSA and agro-forestry practices, and large number of households for ICS. If the program can achieve around 50%of the total emission reduction potential in the region described under section 12, the estimated annual ER is 22.6 million tCO2e, or over 453.2 million tCO2e in 20 years.

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Introduction - Ethiopia – RED€¦ · Web viewThough it is one of the poorest countries in the...

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Transcript of Introduction - Ethiopia – RED€¦ · Web viewThough it is one of the poorest countries in the...