The UN-REDD Programme welcomed Colombia as a partner country in August 2010, and approved a US$ 4 million funding allocation to Colombia’s National Programme in June 2013.

Progress against the Warsaw Framework for REDD+

During Colombia’s preparation of its National Programme, targeted support facilitated stakeholder involvement in the updating
of the REDD+ readiness preparation proposal. Colombia has also participated in the regional needs assessment on NFMS in Mesoamerica. Furthermore, the National Programme is focused to support the accomplishment of the commitments established in the MoU signed with the Government of Norway, as well as the enhancement of complementarity with other initiatives as FCPF and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) Programme on Forest and Climate.

National REDD+ Strategy/Action Plan
In 2015, the NP provided support to the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS) for the construction of its National REDD+ strategy. Progress was made in the stakeholder involvement and participation process with a reactivation of spaces for dialogue between civil society actors, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants and institutions leading the formulation of the National REDD+ Strategy. Additionally, conceptual and methodological contributions were made related to the NFMS, the strengthening of the Forest and Carbon Monitoring System, the conceptualization and initial design of MRV for the Forest and Carbon Monitoring System and the analysis of the drivers of deforestation, with a particular focus on the Amazon and Pacific regions, and a construction plan for the development of a National Safeguards System (NSS) and the Safeguards Information System (SIS) which form an integral part of the National REDD+ strategy. Lastly, the NP supported the generation of a baseline to be used in the Cost Benefit Analysis of REDD+ in Colombia.

National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS)
Colombia developed and implemented a NFMS in 2012, which has become an essential tool for managing forests in the country and for the engagement of the Country in results base payment agreements. In 2015, progress has been made on the development of national protocols for monitoring forest national degradation, the improvement of the automated process to compute information to generate early warning on deforestation and the implementation of the first National Forest Inventory (NFI) which will enable the updating of the estimating forest and other vegetation carbon stock in the near future. Finally, close collaboration with the “Third National Communication on GHG Project” (GEF – PNUD) has been ensured through the support of the consolidation of QA/QC Process for agriculture, forestry, and other land use sector.

Forest Reference Emission Level / Forest Reference Level (FREL/FRL)
Colombia submitted a proposed FREL for the Amazon region to the UNFCCC in 2015. A technical evaluation of the FREL carried out by the UNFCCC noted that the data and information used in building the FREL were clear, complete and followed the guidelines of the convention. Following this positive evaluation and with support from the NP work for the construction of a national FREL, as agree in the MoU with de the Government of Norway, commenced with the definition of road map by the government.

Safeguards and Safeguards Information System (SIS)
In 2015, an interagency working group was established by the MADS focusing on building the national focus on safeguards. The working group has established a roadmap for the construction of the SIS, with the goal of presenting a first summary of information on safeguards to the UNFCCC in early 2017.