Forest Reference Emission Level / Forest Reference Level (FREL/FRL): In 2018, Zambia completed the technical assessment of its FREL, which had been developed in 2015 and submitted to UNFCCC in early 2016. Making the FREL publicly available on the UNFCCC REDD+ Info Hub marks a major milestone in progress towards the pillars of the Warsaw Framework.

National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS): The NFMS was launched in 2017. It includes a Satellite Land Monitoring System for generating activity data and draws on the NFI (Integrated Land-Use Assessment Phase II) for emission factors.

Safeguard Information System (SIS): Technical assistance was provided to the Government and National Safeguards Technical Working Group to help finalize the national interpretation of the Cancun safeguards and the SIS design document. Furthermore, the country’s first SOI on safeguards was produced for final review and government approval in 2019.

REDD+ IMPLEMENTATION

Following the presentation of the National REDD+ Strategy Investment Plan in late 2017, the UN-REDD Programme supported Zambia to utilize the investment plan for REDD+ implementation, notably through the development and ongoing review of a set of more detailed concept notes for REDD+ investments. A policy brief on key investment options in participatory forest management was finalized, and a special feature on the online global discussion platform (D-Group on REDD+ and Forest Governance) was organized to highlight the opportunities presented by Zambia’s new community forestry legislation.

In late 2018, the Forestry Department made important progress on designing Zambia’s approach to nesting subnational REDD+ efforts (notably the Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape Project (ZIFLP), discussed below) and carbon credit projects within the NFMS and its FREL. Facilitated by the UN-REDD Programme, stakeholders recommended that projects be integrated into the system and that they participate in the REDD+ benefit-sharing mechanism, rather than accessing international carbon markets directly.

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

The Zambian Forestry Department required additional human resources from within the Government to be reallocated to improve delivery and communications. Major challenges related to this have delayed progress on UN-REDD Programme activities.

GENDER AND SOCIAL INCLUSION

Gender parity is a guiding principle when organizing capacity development interventions as part of the UN-REDD Programme. For example, the UN-REDD Programme supported a policy brief on participatory forest management, which integrated gender considerations. It suggested the need for strategies to ensure that women benefit from participatory forest management projects (i.e. through quotas or preferential treatment) and the idea of female-run woodlots to ease fuelwood supply duties.

Zambia’s first SOI resulted from an analytical and participatory process that involved diverse stakeholders: key government agencies, CSOs, the private sector, academia and existing REDD+ project representatives.

The UN-REDD Programme engaged with the Zambia Climate Change Network to review its plan and objectives to participate effectively in ongoing climate change processes in the country, such as the Seventh National Development Plan.

PARTNERSHIPS

UN-REDD programme support is closely coordinated with other REDD+ initiatives, especially at the subnational level. During 2018, the ZIFLP launched in Eastern Province. The ZIFLP is expected to utilize much of the capacity built with UN-REDD programme support and ongoing support is being tailored to be conducive to the ZIFLP.

LINKAGES TO SDGS

The completion of the FREL, the launch of the NFMS and the progress towards the SIS correlate with SDG 15 regarding the sustainable management of forest resources. The gender-sensitive approach to analysing investment opportunities promotes the achievement of SDG 5 on gender equality.

(Update Annual Report 2018)