Western Area National Park REDD+ Article 6 Project is inspired in part by a) professional insights
into the infrastructure challenges of the Freetown,
Capital City of Sierra Leone, and all the contigous towns that are situated around the Western area Peninsula National Park; and
b) by Mandy Rambharo's take on how African
Country's can benefit from a more holsitic approach by Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+)
and the Paris Climate Agreement's Article 6 combined.
This call effectively sets the challenge to adopt a balanced REDD+ strategy with a goal of promoting
and improving Sierra Leone's capacity around Payment Ecossytem Services (PES)
with sustainable
development of key infrastructure in the Western Areas Peninisula; (Water and Energy). The Western Area Peninsula National
Park was a Forest Reserve since 1916 and a Protected Area since 2012. It is
on the UN's World Heritage site Tentative list since 2013.
The article "Can
Article 6 Benefit African Countries" by Mandy Rambharos was carried on the Forest Trend and IETA Insights websites as
part of their African Climate Week Edition.
The kattcoomba group, PES incubator, lays out a practical approach to incubate and implement this for the size of
Freetown City and the towns and villages around the Western Area Peninsula National Park.
The ultimate test of this project is to demonstrate the nexus among a) national and diaspora professional input a)
institutional backing by World Bank Carbon parntership and C) the Markets of the PES.
Currently in the Western Area Peninsula, the existing water and power infrastructure is
saddled with inefficiencies and insufficient quality of supply to support the populations
growing demands.
If
access to sustainable energy and water investment and sustainable development cooperation is possible through Payment Ecosystem Services, then Article 6 could play a pivotal
role in this regard.
The challenge now is to go well beyond REDD+ linking of forest ( Terrestial) carbon markets only to
mitigation and emissions reductions. Imagination is required to price
the estimated Carbon for the Western Peninsula National Park
not just to drive reductions and have sustainable development as merely a co-benefit. The innovation will be to
price carbon for sustainable development in the water and power Infrastructure not as an add-on benefit,
but to drive development that is sustainable. This is the objective of
Western Area National
Park REDD+ Article 6 Project, Sierra Leone.
Budget strategy
A%
- Ward Contigous to Wapfor to support livelihood activities that do not encroach in the zone. Maintain forest buffer. Paying
Mountain Rangers selected to be part of REDD+
B%- GVWC to support
Infrastructure of DMAs ona pre-set program with payback periods to be funded
C%
Administration, Audit, Oversight and Communities
D% - Invested
E% - Local Research WAPFOR to support Program
D% - Tourism trails with historic and cultural Readings along the way.
F% -Annual School programs to produce teachin kits for use in teaching linkages between WAPFOR, sustainable
living in Freetown for the protection of the forest.
READ Articles:
Deforestation: constructing problems and solutions on Sierra Leone's Freetown
Peninsula, Paul G. Munro1, Modelo University, Mexico
Political Economy
of Forest Ecology in Sierra Leone: A Focus on the Western Area Peninsular Forest (WAPFoR) Emerson Abraham JACKSON1