This project contributed to the development of pro-poor strategies for adaptation and mitigation that improve local livelihoods and governance of socio-ecological systems in the Congo Basin. Although climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies differ in many ways, synergies exist between them, particularly in the forestry sector.
The objective of this project was to provide policy-makers and practitioners with the information, analysis and tools they need to implement policies and projects for adaptation to climate change and reduction of carbon emissions in the forests of the Congo Basin, with equitable impacts and co-benefits – including poverty reduction, enhancement of ecosystem services, and protection of local livelihoods and rights.
The five-year project started in 2010 and covered six landscapes across different countries of the Congo Basin. The project expected to have an impact on forest and climate change policies at national and regional scales, and helped mainstreaming adaptation and mitigation strategies into national development processes and the regional framework for forest policies in the Congo Basin.
Moreover, the project generated knowledge regarding the role of forests in climate change adaptation and the synergies between adaptation and mitigation based on ecosystem services, which is a link that had not been explored to any significant extent. Capacity building and communication contributed to diffuse and share this knowledge.
Recommendations contributed to poverty reduction, biodiversity conservation, and improving governance of socio-ecological systems at the local, landscape, and regional levels.
PARTNER ORGANISATIONS
– School of International Development (DEV), University of East Anglia
– Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
– Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
