Alistair
Cowan
Regional Programme Innovation Coordinator - East Africa and Great Lakes
22 Aug 2023
A Father’s Pride
News
The scoping forestry project
DRC Uganda is pursuing a scoping exercise to explore and develop a business case for large-scale forestry projects that contribute to environmental conservation and reforestation efforts, strengthen community resilience. In addition, the aim is to understand if and how projects can be powered by carbon credit revenues in refugee-hosting districts.
Reaching large-scale forestry projects
DRC in East Africa has been exploring how to develop environmental and forestry project approaches that have the potential to reach large-scale environmental impact that benefits refugee hosting districts.
- Reforestation and land restoration activities in locations near refugee settlements and community engagement in activities, including livelihood opportunities
- Clean energy activities to reduce the dependency on firewood, including potentially sustainable access to firewood through forest management
- Inclusion of carbon credits to partly fund the project or provide income for communities
Reforestation and resilience
DRC Uganda will work with a private company that can provide the missing skills, using approaches already readily available, where environment companies actively engage in and fund project development if they can see the revenue potential from future carbon credit sales.
By bringing a project development partner onboard with existing links to climate finance, an understanding of the process and by jointly conducting a scoping exercise in Uganda (West Nile and Southwest regions), DRC will be able to develop an approach that is viable, uniquely displacement/refugee-focused and linked to a new innovative financing model.