Samoa and UNDP agree to $4.9m climate change project

Samoa and UNDP agree to $4.9m climate change risk management project

Apia, Tuesday 19 April 2011 - The Ministers of Finance (MOF) and Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) together with the Resident Representative of UNDP in Samoa held a joint event to sign and launch a USD$4.9m project on the “Integration of Climate Change Risks and Resilience into Forestry Management in Samoa (ICCRIFS)”.

The objective of the ICCRIFS project is two-fold; one, to increase the resilience and adaptive capacity of the communities that depend on forestry resources for their livelihoods, to the threat of climate change through targeted interventions in lowland agroforestry and upland native forestry areas. Two, at the institutional level it aims to integrate climate change risks into forestry policy frameworks by revising already existing frameworks and developing information and early warning systems.

“The ICCRIFS project will be a big boost to our efforts against climate change, especially in reducing the vulnerability of terrestrial ecosystems and forests in Samoa as well as in building strong linkages between this and other ongoing initiatives, “said Honorable Faamoetauloa Lealaiauloto, Dr Faale Tumaalii, Minister for MNRE.

“This project responds to the request from the Prime Minister to accelerate access to climate change financing and is an important move towards implementation of NAPA’s priorities at a sector-wide level. It also supports local communities to adopt new agro-forestry techniques that will enhance their use and management of ecosystem services such as timber production, water management, energy production and protection from natural disasters” said Nileema Noble, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative.

The signature of the Project Document marks the official start of the project implementation phase. Through this event, the representatives of the partner institutions would like to express their comittment to this initiative and to accelerated implementation of actions on the ground.
ENDS

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